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 jongun 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. Im jim acosta. Youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. Were 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, were 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 emails, reports that are net Natalia Veselnitskaya said im a lawyer and informant she told nbc news. Since 2013 ive 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 russias intentions clearer. What is your importance by the russian lawyer that she wasnt just a private lawyer but working for the ruran government. It corroborated what weve seen of veselnitskaya. What weve seen of her contacts within the russian government and as well as her persistence in terms of one of putins 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. Youre 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 trumps repeated praise for wikileaks. I love wikileaks. Reporter stating it found, quote, the Trump Campaigns 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 AmbassadorSergey Kislyak at his
residence, requested by either flynn or his son. The meeting was later described in an email to the Russian Embassy as very productive. And trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen and russianamerican business associate felix satir would settlement ties between trump and Vladimir Putin. During an email 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 email 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 jongun 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 jongun 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 doesnt 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. Lets 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 emails that was set up because the russians had dirt that they wanted to share with mr. Trumps political opponent Hillary Clinton. This included his Campaign Manager and other Trump Officials, including his son. This is an individual who lets remember they first lied about the purpose of the meeting, issued a statement they discussed adoptions. We know that wasnt 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 wasnt 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 byVladimir 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 dont 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 breakthroughs were seeing right now . Well, i think it is much too early to know. Lets 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 Trumpwhat the judge will do in the Stormy Daniels case versus donald trump. The civil case if federal court. The judge issued a 90day 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 cohens 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 didnt 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 hes saying this does not hurt Stormy Daniels to stay this case for 90 days. What does this mean ultimately . It means that Michael AvenattiCannot 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 AvenattiStormy Danielss 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 oteros 90day stay ordered based on the Michael Cohens 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 well have more on the Breaking News ahead. Remarkable images if you havent seen them with the meeting between the north korean and south korea leader and kim jonguns remarks about his own country and did a russian banker try to funnel money through the National Rifle association. It is a cnn exclusive and it is coming up next. Shrimp fans this ones for you. Its red lobsters new create your own shrimp trios. Pick 3 of 9 craveable creations for just 15. 99. You can enjoy the classics you love, along with new creations like savory crabtopped shrimp, decadent parmesan truffle shrimp scampi, and creamy shrimp and lobster pasta. Your perfect shrimp plate is just waiting to be discovered. But shrimp trios wont last, so get to red lobster today. And get your red lobster fix with our Weekday Lunch starting at 7. 99. So we swapped your car out for the allnew chevy travyes. Do you think its going to surprise your daughter . Absolutely. Wait, is mom here yet . Wheres mom . Shes in this car. What the heck . Whoa. Yo, whose car is this . This is the allnew chevy traverse. This is beautiful. It has apple carplay compatibility. Do those apps look familiar . Ohhhhh. Do you want to hit this button . Theres a hidden compartment. Uhh, whoa. Mom, when im older can you buy me this car . I wanna buy me this car. We just switched to geico and got more. More . Theyve been saving folks money for over 75 years. A company you can trust. Geico even helped us with homeowners insurance. More sounds great. Gotta love more. Right, honey . Yeah geico. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. Im the one clocking in. When youre clocking out. Sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. I can also help with this. Does your bed do that . Oh. I dont actually talk. Though im smart enough to. Im the new sleep number 360 smart bed. Lets meet at a sleep number store. Kremlin. Sara mary is working the story. You have new information before the sore sources about this. This is very interesting. Sources are telling us that nra is anxious about the years long relationship with this kremlin linked banker and even though the nra has denied it is under investigation, privately sources tell us theyre taking steps as if preparing for a possible probe. The National Rifle association is setting aside years of documents related to the interactions with kremlinlinked 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 allin for trump in 2016. Ive 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 usi