Good morning. Welcome to Exios today. It's Tuesday, October 4th. I'm Nyla Boodoo.

Today, why we stay and rebuild in the face of devastating storms. Plus Kim Kardashian's

$1.26 million settlement with the SEC. But first, a reality check on Putin's threat

of nuclear war. That's today's one big thing.

Concerns are growing that Russian President Vladimir Putin will escalate the war in Ukraine,

including via a nuclear strike. Last week in a televised address, Putin announced that Russia

would use all available means to protect itself and he stated, this is not a bluff.

Just how credible are these threats? Angela sent as a senior fellow at the Brookings

Institution and author of Putin's World Russia against the West and with the rest.

Hi, Angela. Hi. So Putin's warning about nuclear capabilities is clear. I guess the

big question is, is this a bluff? I think we have to take what he says seriously, but

we shouldn't exaggerate it. He's obviously trying to intimidate the Ukrainians and to deter

the US from continuing to supply Ukraine with the weapons that are pushing back against Russia.

But it's a huge step from that to actually believing that he would instigate a process

where he would detonate some kind of nuclear device. People also think that what Putin

might do first is to test a nuclear weapon. They have some new fancy nuclear weapons that

Putin displayed already in 2019. So they might do that again just to intimidate people

before actually exploding a device. And how likely is it that if there was some sort

of nuclear attack, it would be a surprise. Is this something that the US and other allies

in the West would be able to detect? I don't think it would be a complete surprise.

I think the US and its allies would be able to detect some of the preparations beforehand.

What's the White House's view on all of this? The White House takes it seriously, but the White House

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