poor judgment. and those who met with the trump officials in 2016 now admitted she has closer ties to the kremlin than previously disclosed. was she lying all along. the nra connection. allegations that the russians may have funneled money through the nra. it is a cnn exclusive. and korean thaw, a historic meeting between kim jong-un and the south korea president, the two vowing to finally end the korean war and work toward denuclearize is. is north korea already dismantling the test site. wolf blitzer is off. i'm jim acosta. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. we're following breaking news, including a new report that russian lawyer at a 2016 meeting with top trump officials had closer ties to the kremlin than previously disclosed including working as an informant and sources say nra is setting aside documents related to the kremlin with allegations they may have illegally funneled money to help the trump campaign. and the breaking news and more with congressman david cicilini and our reporters and experts are standing by. but first we begin with new details of a key player in the 2016 trump tower meeting between top members of the trump campaign and a group of russians and the cnn chief constituent jim sciutto is working the story. jim, we're learning more about this russian lawyer with kremlin connections? >> we are. and this trump tower meeting in june 2016, we know already it has been a focus of the special counsel robert mueller because of the contacts and the subject of the conversation being dirt offered by the russians on hillary clinton. and now we know that one of those russians offering the dirt, that lawyer had very deep connections to the russian government. the russia lawyer who met with trump campaign officials in 2016 touted as having dirt on hillary clinton now admits she had closer ties to the kremlin than she previously disclosed. in fact she calls herself an informant for the russian government citing newly surfaces e-mails, reports that are net -- natalia veselnitskaya said i'm a lawyer and informant she told nbc news. since 2013 i've been communicating with the russian prosecutor gem. just last year she said just the opposite. >> have you ever worked for the russian government? do you have connections to the russian government? >> no. >> reporter: the trump tower meeting of is interest to robert mueller for two potential reasons. first, to see if there is evidence the trump campaign colluded with the russian government during the campaign. and second, to see if the president attempted to obstruct justice by helping to draft a misleading explanation for what was discussed meeting and adam schiff said it makes russia's intentions clearer. >> what is your importance by the russian lawyer that she wasn't just a private lawyer but working for the ruran government. >> it corroborated what we've seen of veselnitskaya. what we've seen of her contacts within the russian government and as well as her persistence in terms of one of putin's top priorities would indicate this is not a solo agent. this is someone working on behalf of the >> he said that veselnitskaya reached back out to trump aides after trump won the election. >> you're saying it has the impression of a quid pro quo. >> it certainly does. the russians thought they had reason to believe after the campaign that they now might get the help that they sought in that meeting in trump tower. >> the revelations come as republicans on the house intelligence committee released a redacted report concluding they found no evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. the republicans, however, did fault the campaign for meeting with the russian lawyer. saying it, quote, demonstrated poor judgment and they criticized trump's repeated praise for wikileaks. >> i love wikileaks. >> reporter: stating it found, quote, the trump campaign's periodic praise for and communications with wikileaks, a hostile foreign negotiation, consistent with national security interests and president trump praised the republican report. >> we were honored. no collusion. it is a witch hunt. >> and the report revealed michael flynn and his son contacted the russian government earlier than previously known in 2015. meeting with then russian ambassador sergey kislyak at his residence, requested by either flynn or his son. the meeting was later described in an e-mail to the russian embassy as very productive. and trump's personal lawyer michael cohen and russian-american business associate felix satir would settlement ties between trump and vladimir putin. during an e-mail exchange about building a trump tower in moscow, sadir wrote to cohen, if quote, putin gets on stage with vladimir putin for a ribbon cutting, donald opens the republican nomination. >> the president welcomed the report but only focused on the headline, the republicans determined there was no evidence of collusion but there is a lot of new information in here and including, jim, a contact between the nra and e-mail describing how russia wanted to establish a back channel with the trump campaign using the nra and also this issue with veselnitskaya, and the contact yz the russians did not end in june but after president trump was elected they reached out again. >> and it is important to know the special counsel office has not reached the conclusion of its investigation either. >> no. >> jim sciutto, thank you very much. and also breaking, sharp words for president trump as the sim -- the summit with kim jong-un moves close to reality. jeff zel annie has the the president is basking in the success between the north and south korean leaders and seems to be taking the credit. >> reporter: good evening. he is talking about that meeting and looking ahead to what he hopes is another historic meeting, a summit with kim jong-un in late may or earl ji june. and the president said this is great for the world but not being naive and would still walk away if north korea doesn't live up to its word. on the korean peninsula -- >> this is a world problem and white house. >> a lot of cabinet chaos. jeff, thank you very much. let's get more on this with democratic congressman david cicilini of rhode island, from the foreign affairs and judiciary committee. thanks for john -- joining. and information about this russian who met can trump officials and working with the kremlin. how concerning is that and how much of a surprise was it? >> well i think it is very concerning. remember this is a meeting according to donald trump jr.'s only e-mails that was set up because the russians had dirt that they wanted to share with mr. trump's political opponent hillary clinton. this included his campaign manager and other trump officials, including his son. this is an individual who -- let's remember they first lied about the purpose of the meeting, issued a statement they discussed adoptions. we know that wasn't true. this is one more example of a meeting between trump campaign officials and the russians that folks have lied about or attempted to conceal and now we learn that this woman lied about her own role there. that she wasn't just a private attorney, but she, in fact, had ties to the kehm ly-- kremlin a worked for the government as an informant. so this is very disturbing. this is, i think, just one more piece of evidence about this relationship and this ongoing relationship between the trump campaign and russia officials that continue to be the subject of meetings and secret conversation and concealment. so i think it is very concerning. >> and how does this change or change the way you see the offer of russian dirt on hillary clinton that apparently came before this meeting? what do you make of that? >> well i think, again, there is a lot of suggestion from the president there is no evidence of collusion. there is a lot of things already in the public domain that special provide evidence of contacts between the campaign by the russians with an effort to help donald trump led by vladimir putin himself, obviously intelligence collection that support that. and now we know about a meeting in which that discussion took place that a person who had ties to the kremlin participated. and you have to ask yourself, why did she conceal her real identity. what was she worried about by revealing she had contacted with the kremlin and a government informant. so it is further evidence -- >> when the president said there is no collusion, you don't buy that. it is too early to say. >> i mean, look, of course. robert mueller is leading an investigation. there has been a lot of effort to interfere and attempt to shut it down. what we have to do is be sure we can continue his work to lead us to wherever the facts will take us and that it is free from any political interference and the resources needs to get this done and i think it is too soon to lead to no col lugs. >> and in north korea, the fascinating images over the last 24 hours, do you believe the president's policies deserve some kind of credit for the break-throughs we're seeing right now? >> well, i think it is much too early to know. let's be very clear, the north koreans have a history of being very provocative and then encouraging the international community to provide them relief from economic sanctions to bring them back into the world community in some way and then they break a promise and go back to clandestine activities to develop the nuclear program so we need to understand the history. obviously this is a very important step to north and north korea are talking and committing to an end of the conflict and hopefully a denuclearization of the korea peninsula and this is just the beginning and what we have to do is be hopeful but very, very skeptical. >> and senator -- >> look at the history of -- >> i was going to say, lindsey graham said if a deal is reaching, president trump what the judge will do in the stormy daniels case versus donald trump. the civil case if federal court. the judge issued a 90-day stay in the case. that means that if case will be essentially put on hold for 90 days. no movement in the case for 90 days. the judge basically saying there are several different reasons why that is. one of the main cases is because of cohen's significant interest in preserving his fifth amendment right. you remember that cohen had put forth a declaration saying that he believed it would impact his fifth amendment rights because there is a criminal investigation against cohen right now. he didn't feel that he should be able to take part in this civil case with the criminal case looming. now there is also -- the judge said a potential for significant impact in this proceedings on the criminal investigation against michael cohen. as well -- and one very important point that the judge is pointing out, the lack of significant prejudice to the plaintiff -- so he's saying this does not hurt stormy daniels to stay this case for 90 days. what does this mean ultimately? it means that michael avenatti cannot depose the president or depose michael cohen himself as he has repeatedly said he would do if this case was going forward. at least for the next 90 days, he will be unable to do that. now michael avenatti stormy daniels's lawyer has tweeted and put out a statement and i spoke to him a few moments ago and i will read it. while we certainly respect judge otero's 90-day stay ordered based on the michael cohen's pleading of the fifth and we do not agree and we will be filing an appeal to the ninth circuit early next week. justice delayed is justice denied and #basta means not enough -- >> and thank you very much. and we'll have more on the breaking news ahead. remarkable images if you haven't seen them with the meeting between the north korean and south korea leader and kim jong-un's remarks about his own country and did a russian banker try to funnel money through the 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tell us they're taking steps as if preparing for a possible probe. the national rifle association is setting aside years of documents related to the interactions with kremlin-linked banker alexander tor shin as it is bracing for a possible investigation. the gun rights group is facing congressional scrutiny over finances and ties, a lifetime member of the nra and one of the prominent russian government officials the u.s. recently slapped with sanctions. the nra is battling allegations that he may have illegally funneled money through the nra to bolster the trump campaign. >> there have been allegations that russians were going to funnel money through the nra and we sought to investigate that. there were witnesses with direct knowledge regarding those allegations that we sought to bring in. the republicans refused. >> reporter: the nra is publicly denied any contact from the fbi or accepting any illegal donations but sources say they are preparing, collecting documents as due diligence and dealing with congressional scrutiny. the renewed attention highlights the uneasy alliance between nra and tor shin, a relation shaip that ensnared members of trump campaigntreme and including advisers like donald trump jr., jared kushner and jeff sessions. the nra went all-in for trump in 2016. >> i've been a member for a long time and my boys are members so to get the endorsement, believe me, is a fantastic honor. >> reporter: it spent $30 million backing the trump candidacy, more than 2008 and others combined. behind the scenes, tor shin was using nra ties to arrange a meeting in louisville. in an e-mail to the trump campaign, an associate said he's cultivating a back channel to president putin's kremlin, adding putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with mr. trump. >> here you have in black and white evidence that there was an effort by the russians to use the nra as their channel -- one channel to the trump campaign. >> tor shin didn't meet trump at the nra meeting but met with trump jr. and some wonder if it was a set ip but the russians. trump jr. said he didn't recall discussion the upcoming election with tor shin and now david keene an nra board member and in 2015 he took nra backers to moscow, hosted by maria battina, attracting attention for starting a gun rights group in russia. a country known for the strict firearms laws and the nra group went sightseeing. by 2016 they had become fixtures at the nra high dollar donor events and the nra said tor shin hasn't made any donations aside from membership dues. but russia experts say the close ties to putin and division around guns in america mean his coziness with the nra looks like a classic russian influence operation. >> vladimir putin is using these issues to divide us and split and make weaker the united states and that is something i believe all of americans ought to be concerned about. >> reporter: now the white house and the trump campaign and the nra did not want to comment. david keene did not want to comment on the trip to moscow but did s-- did say he was not aware of any donations from alexander tor shin. >> and there are may be other very manies. thank you. a russian lawyer who met with top campaign officials reveals herself as an informant. how will that play into the robert mueller investigation. and a newly released report that clears trump from colluding as russia as he claims? we'll elect new representatives who will. hello. let's go for a ride on a peloton. let's go grab a couple thousand friends and chase each other up a hill. let's go make a personal best, then beat it with your personal better than best. let's go bring the world's best instructors right to you. better yet, let's go bring the entire new york studio - live. let's go anytime, anywhere, with anyone who's willing. and let's go do it all right here. ready to go? peloton. breaking news. president trump is offering up strong praise for the leader of north korea and south korea after a historic meeting while criticizing his predecessors for being played leek a fiddle. he has narrowed down two or three locations for the site for the meeting. and let's bring in samantha vin grad and you served with president obama. tell us -- give us a window into how difficult this must have been to make all of this happen? it is pretty extraordinary to watch. >> it is. and this was a historic inter-korean meeting but the key point to remember is that break-through and denuclearization mean different things in d.c. and pyongyang and seoul. it doesn't mean the removal of nuclear weapons or more hand shakz a-- more handshakes and talking and that is what we need to know. >> do we think the meeting between donald trump and kim jong-un will happen. he said maybe it will happen and maybe it won't. we'll see what happens. >> he has been cautiously optimistic but we -- it does seem more likely to happen than when the president first announced he had accepted the invitation. everyone is skeptical but it does seem -- he sent mike pompeo to north korea and met with kim jong-un and they've narrowed it down to two locations an it was fascinating to acknowledge things went from him and kim jong-un trading insults and the president calling him short and fat on twitter to where they are now. and the president i think recognizes how much things have changed but he does seem cautiously optimistic. >> and he didn't want to comment about whether or not he had spoken with kim jong-un. and i'll ask you this, lindsey graham today said get that nobel peace prize ready for president trump if this works out. obviously that is spiking the football slightly before the end zone. but what do you make of that? he is going to deserve some credit at the end of the day if this pans out. >> i think certainly most expert as -- expert as agree the president deserves credit for bringing them to the negotiating table but talk of a nobel peace prize is -- and you think about 1994 and clintonon and with kim jong-un's father and that fell apart. we don't have a commitment to dismantle the nuclear program and don't have clarity over what concessions they might be seeking from the united states. and recall, president trump said that if he's not happy with the trajectory of the deal, he will walk away from the table. so we're a long ways away from a peace prize and some credit of course for the most recent developments that do go to the president. >> and we have no idea if the north koreans are playing the long game and see what they could get out of the united states and the international community and ultimately do nothing. and laura coats, to you on the this new report in the new york times about natalia veselnitskaya. the russian lawyer who met with campaign officials in 2016 and we find out she has kremlin connections. this is long suspected that is now confirmed. how serious of a development do you think this is and what does it mean to the investigation of the special counsel's case. >> i think it is likely that mueller and his team were aware all along, which is why they had an interest already in the meeting. it is one of the first instances where we knew about somebody with a direct connection to russia meeting with members of the campaign -- and manafort was in the that room and kushner and donald trump jr. and so there was an inkling there was an issue. and it is important because she's admitting she is not just there for the magnitsky act and talking about russian adoption. she's saying that she was an informant and with a close tie in many ways to the prosecutor general in russia. that is very, very big and very disturbing considering that what is her incentive now to come out and tell us if everyone suspected, is there an end game. but i think mueller was already well versed in this area but it does have ramifications. >> and samantha, this is what the russians do. this shouldn't be that surprising. >> standard operating pleaseure. and i don't think anyone is surprised, including manafort and donald trump jr. or kushner. and we've had this woman saying for months that didn't have ties with the kremlin and a lawyer. and then out of nowhere we have this admission that she works with the kremlin. putin had to sanction sher saying that publicly. and so to me this is vladimir putin engaging in a putin-esque show of force and telling donald trump and everyone else in the meeting he has information that could impact the investigation and could impact them. >> and i have to think there are people inside of the white house who are pulling their hair out over this. we'll have more on the exclusive. did a russian banker illegally try to help the trump campaign by funneling money through the nra. more on that coming up. vo: gopi's found a way to keep her receipts tidy, every day we hear from families who partnered with a senior living advisor from a place for mom to help find the perfect place for their mom or dad thank you so 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(laughs) yes. ellen. that's my robe. you could save $782 when liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance. welcome back. we're back with the panel. laura coats, i want to turn to you on the national rifle association and they're bracing for an investigation into possible ties, financial ties to russia. what do you make of that? it is pretty astonishing to think that the nra, which is considered perhaps the most powerful lobby in washington to have this kind of connection going on. >> it is. but remember they are responsible like many other lobbying organizations or special interest groups to report to the fec but there are caveats. first of all, the nra can accept foreign donations. it is not against the law. only if those foreign funds are used for election purposes. and they have ways to maneuver the money around. their political action campaign could say well our victory fund will report, but if it is a school assessment or training for our nra members, we can move that money around and not have the same transparency reporting requirement. so they're bracing themselves to have that veil lifted and many times the first time to say, hold on, where is the nra really funneling the money and how are you able to discern from the election purposes and other things and can we believe in your transparent reporting? it will take note that this is a cause for concern. >> and caitlyn, we know about the close ties between the president and the nra and when he was considering the gun control policy and then the nra came in and had a meeting with him and then they ended up not having as many gun control policies. what does this do to the relationship between the president an the nra. >> it raises questions because as you said, they're fundraising is tight knit and they did give the trump campaign $30 million. so it does -- we do know this white house and the nra are very close and the president and the head nra wayne la pierre are close and chris cox, the top lobbyist and they are close and all of this comes as vice president mike pence is going to speak at an nra summit in dallas next friday. so certainly a white house that is very close to the nra and i think it would raise questions for them. >> and what kind of signal zz this send to capitol hill? republicans in congress when the nra speaks they listen. >> and i think anything involving the nra has largely become a partisan affair on capitol hill. they donate to both democrats and republican as like, but republicans tend to me more supportive of efforts to protect the nra. one thing that is important to recall, as others are saying, is that they use a dark money organization which is their lobbying arm to protect their donors from public scrutiny and in doing so shield themselves from accountability but it is significant if they were willing to shed more light on the kremlin-linked bankers because they want more details and information about those interactions and so far they have resisted so this could be a turning point. >> and sam, what does this mean from a national security point with a powerful lobby group in washington. another dimension from this we've never experienced before. >> they have a pretty substantial track record and by they i mean the russians of supporting or financial or laundering information from extreme groups on the right and left. the russians don't love guns. they chose the nra because the nra is divisive. >> they love discord. >> and so giving money to groups like the nra or even far left groups on the environmental side is a way for them to sew discord and any were a special interest group and hi taken russian money, i would be yoired. >> don't take that meeting in the future. thank you very much. coming up, the leaders of north korea and south korea coming together for a historic summit and could it lead to a break-through? 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>> it could be. given the pace all of this has been moving. we're told there's serious challenges to kim jong-un and kim moon with the agreements they made at the summit. the fact we have arrived at this moment given where we were a few months ago is astoundsiiastound. a dramatic greeting. kim jong-un steps over the military demarcation line into south korea. later kim talks about the gravity of that moment. >> as i was stepping over it, i was thinking why did it take so long, 11 years to get to this historic moment and why was it so difficult to come here. >> reporter: tonight veteran korea watchers say it's remarkable given the tensions in this stand off that this summit took place. >> just the fact that north korea and south korea are talking and nuclear missiles tests have stopped for now is a cause for optimism. the symbolism of this meeting is important. only a few short months ago we were deeply concerned about armed hostility breaking out on the korean peninsula. now that threat has receded. >> reporter: kim and south korean president said a goal of denuclearizing the korean peninsula. a high hurdle was a that has two gift meanings for both sides. if the u.s. it means kim dismantling his arsenal. >> north korea wants the u.s. to remove troops from korean peninsula and stop threatening north korea with sanctions and to remove the sanctions. >> reporter: kim and moon pledged to bring an end to the war which will be challenging because the u.s. and china would have to sign off on it. with the north koreans none of these deals come without a price. >> the north korean leadership doesn't hold summits unless they think they will get something for it in return. in some cases literal cash. in other cases it's concessions and political benefits. kim jong-un will be pushing for an end to sanctions. >> reporter: for now the two leaders are basking in the imagery. kim's departing limo flanked by running security agents and kim speaking about trngs in his country. >> it's more convenient to come by airplane. our roads are uncomfortable. i know because i just came down here. i would greet you at the airport if you came by plane. >> reporter: moments that may not have unfolded some analysts believe if kim hasn't been alarmed by president trump's volatility and his tougher stance on north korea. >> there's been a lot more pressure placed on north korea and i think without the pressure that he has been willing to place, it's not at all clear that north korea would have been willing to change its stance. >> reporter: another dramatic moment in the summit came when kim jong-un and north korea and south korea will be reunited as one country. for kim that means one country under his rule. something south korea and the united states just won't accept. jim. >> there's one person aside from the key leaders who stays on the sideline but instrumental this making this happen. that's kim's sister. >> that's right. kim was at her brother's side at the dmv. she was taking notes and exchanging paper. trying to stay out of limelight but she was crucial to all of this. her trip to the winter olympics in south korea made this possible. she was a key go between with her brother and moon. she really is the only person in that regime who kim jong-un completely trusts. don't be visurprised if she pla a key role in a summit with donald trump. >> fascinating. thank you very much. breaking news, next. a judge puts stormy daniels lawsuit against president trump and his attorney on hold. we'll talk live to daniels lawyer. about what this means for their case. diagnosed with cancer, searching for answers may feel overwhelming. so start your search with our teams of specialists at cancer treatment centers of america. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts if you'd have told me three years ago... that we'd be downloading in seconds, what used to take... minutes. that guests would compliment our wifi. that we could video conference... and do it like that. 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