No one in NASA management is going to tell any of the astronauts that they can't talk about impact mitigation.

Of course, the way you handle this problem is by using a probe equipped with a nuclear electric generator. The electricity is first used to power an engine to get to the potential impactor at a good distance out, and then used to power a laser which is fired at the potential impactor. The laser vaporizes the surface of the impactor, and thus the impactor's own mass is used as the fuel in the jet reaction which changes its course.

That's the CAPS deflection system, and yes, it would work.