Russia's Attack on Our Democracy
GREG MILLER, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON POST": A leader looks like, resembles Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin is somebody he envies in terms of how he runs the government of Russia. He doesn't have to deal with things like a Mueller investigation or pesky reporters getting in his face that -- and causing problems for him. So I think he envies that sort of arrangement. But, at the same time, I think that, you know, Putin does have something ultimately over Trump. We don't know yet for sure. We haven't learned from Mueller yet whether there is some kompromat that is -- that is leveraged in the relationship. But Putin knows exactly what lengths Russia went to, to help elect Trump. And Trump's the sort of fiction that he clings to most ferociously is that there was no Russian interference in the election. Putin has that over Trump.</s>CAMEROTA: Everyone is waiting, of course, with what, if anything, Robert Mueller has uncovered and what he'll be able to share. What is new in here that will surprise us?</s>MILLER: There is a lot new. So this is building on the stories that "The Post" published that won the Pulitzer Prize last year, but it is going back over all of that ground. This is the book that takes you from the very beginning, the first hack, the entry, the Russian intelligence operatives and their hacking entry into the DNC. It carries you all the way through the Mueller investigation right into this moment. There's lots of new material about the Mueller investigation, about the sort of unraveling of Trump's legal team and lots of different fronts.</s>CAMEROTA: One of the things that I was interested to read in the book is that then CIA director went right before the election to try to sound the alarm about what they were already seeing with Russia trying to interrupt the election. And it was not well received by some Republican leaders in Congress, including Mitch McConnell. Here's a portion of the book. Republicans had always cast themselves of the protectors of American's security, the champions of its military and intelligence agencies, and yet McConnell seemed to see a greater threat to the election from Brennan than from Russia. Brennan erupted with anger and McConnell's accusation and their conversation turned into a shouting match. So Mitch McConnell didn't want to hear what the CIA director had to say about Russia?</s>MILLER: He didn't want that to come out publically. I mean this was -- this is a scene in the book that I write about. It happens before the election, as you said. The CIA has learned that Putin is overseeing this operation. They're trying to help elect Trump. Brennan sets in motion a series of private briefings with all congressional leaders. It's really an unusual and crazy moment in our history. He's trying to get their attention. Trying to grab them by the collar. He's meeting with McConnell. And McConnell is basically telling him, you're telling us that Russia's trying to help elect Trump? If you try to come forward with this, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to sign on to any sort of public statement that would condemn Russian interference, but I will condemn you and the Obama administration for trying to mess up this election.</s>CAMEROTA: So he -- they immediately saw it as political rather than the CIA doing their job as sounding alarms?</s>MILLER: Absolutely. And this is just one of many, many behind the scenes moments that we capture in this book.</s>CAMEROTA: Rod Rosenstein, as you know, is tasked with now overseeing Robert Mueller's investigation. Last week it seemed as though Rod Rosenstein didn't think he was long for the job. He was supposed to be having a meeting with President Trump on Thursday, but, of course, the Brett Kavanaugh stuff has changed that whole schedule. Does Rod Rosenstein hang on? Does this meeting ever happen with President Trump? What is the fate of all this?</s>MILLER: I think, you know, it looks like he might hang on, largely because it would be politically perilous for the White House to dump Rosenstein right now. Then you look like you're simultaneously impeding two separate investigations, like, you know, keeping your heel on the Kavanaugh investigation while also removing the person who's overseeing the Mueller investigation. It might be bad for Republicans in the midterms. But it's Trump. We never know. He could be out with a tweet later this afternoon.</s>CAMEROTA: President Trump is, as you know, very reluctant to ever say that Russia interfered in the election. He says maybe it was Russia, maybe it was a lot of other places, but it was definitely China. He talked about that last week. Did Russia do something different than any other country has done in the past or is trying to do?</s>MILLER: Absolutely. I think that Russia -- many countries engage in espionage, including our own, including the United States. We try to get information on what other candidates and what other elections are up to, where their policies might go. That's what everybody assumed Russia was up to here. When they take what they were able to steal out of the DNC, distribute it on WikiLeaks, lay it bare for the entire world to see, that was really unprecedented in an American election to be that forcefully involved in it was astounding. And that's only part of it, right? I mean the rest of it is, they're all over FaceBook. They have propaganda in front of more than 100 million FaceBook users in the United States during the 2016 race.</s>CAMEROTA: And they're trying to do it again, we're told. The book again is "The Apprentice." Greg Miller, thank you so much. Great to have you share it with us.</s>MILLER: Likewise. Thank you so much.</s>CAMEROTA: John.</s>BERMAN: Voters in the Alaskan wilderness could influence the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. That's next. Plus, a horse walks into a bar. And this is not a joke. Oh, my God.