*By Max Godnick*
Russia's suspected interference in the 2016 election was so complex that even a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who's spent the past two years working on the story can't always keep things straight.
"It was impossible to stay up, it was impossible to make sense of a lot of it," Greg Miller, author of "The Apprentice: Trump, Russia, and the Subversion of American Democracy," said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
In his new book, the national security correspondent for The Washington Post set out to provide a Readers' Digest version of Russia's involvement in the last presidential election and all of its fallout.
"The main objective was to try to write something that's comprehensive, that people can wrap their heads around," Miller said.
The book's title is not just an obvious reference to Trump's former NBC reality show. Miller said it also calls to mind the political novice's early experiences in The White House, behavior that resembles, in Miller's view, an "untrained apprentice."
But the title has yet a third meaning: Trump's relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
"There's this aspect of subservience to the word," Miller said. "\[Trump\] sort of emulates, admires, imitates Vladimir Putin."
That relationship is the central dynamic around which the rest of his book orbits, Miller said.
"His inexplicable affinity for the Russian president is, of course, the most important idea and theme cutting through the whole book," he explained.
After over a month spent fixated on the Supreme Court confirmation, the political world is turning its focus back on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe on Russian involvement in the election.
Miller described the investigation as "absolutely leak-proof" adding that, despite its 32 indictments and guilty pleas, America has yet to see "Mueller's final act."
By contrast, the president can't seem to say enough about the investigation, tweeting and railing about the so-called "witch hunt" on a seemingly weekly basis.
"It's such an enormous clash of different ideas and different moral codes," Miller said of the dueling approaches.
It's been a long process as Mueller has conducted his investigation, but Miller predicts that, with under 30 days remaining before the midterm elections, the wait won't be much longer.
"You've got to believe that he's got just as much left up his sleeve," he said. "We're just around the corner from that now."
"The Apprentice: Trump, Russia, and the Subversion of American Democracy" is available in stores and online.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-apprentice-goes-inside-trump-putin-relationship).
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, breaks down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska; Kristen Miller, Acting Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Magic of the Wild.'
Kristen Miller, acting executive director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it.
The Department of Treasury is warning Americans to expect delays on their tax returns this year as the IRS manages staffing shortages due to the pandemic.
The United States and Russia remain distant following a meeting between high-level officials for the two countries in Geneva, Switzerland. The nations remain conflicted over Washington's concern of a potential invasion of Ukraine by Russia and Moscow dispute with NATO expanding into former Soviet states. Hagar Chemali, host of Oh My World on YouTube and former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the U.N., joined Cheddar's "News Wrap" to give her take about the careful diplomatic negotiations underway. "I would expect more rounds," she said about the talks. "Both sides really remain adamant that we're not going to talk about Russia's proposal, and Russia doesn't want to talk about anything but its proposal. So once they start talking about the other items on the table, and there are a few other items, that's when negotiations can start."
Markets closed the day mixed, and well off their lows of the day following a market meltdown earlier in the session. The Nasdaq staged a comeback late in the day, even amid ongoing worries about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. Doug Flynn, certified financial planner and co-founder of Flynn Zito Capito, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the markets' close and what's driving the major indexes.
Eli Yokley, Senior Reporter at Morning Consult, joins Cheddar News to discuss how Americans are prioritizing economic issues over the pandemic when it comes to voting.
President Biden's disapproval rating hit a new high in December according to a poll from CNBC and Change Research, as Americans expressed their disapproval over the current state of the economy. This comes just months after the president signed a historic infrastructure bill back in November that was promised to bring a surge of jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector.
Change Research Senior Pollster Nancy Zdunkewicz spoke to Cheddar News about just what is driving the President’s disapproval rating.
