with donald trump on one side and kim jong-un on the other that says unite. you must be high. >> that does it for us. thank you so much for joining us. ac 360 joins now. advisers, who needs advisers, jim sciutto sitting in for anderson. to his own legal defense, the president increasingly seems to be doing it his way and going it alone. one recent item puts it this way, for the better part of last month donald trump has seem to be winging it. right now, the pentagon and state department are scrambling to respond to the latest example. the president's surprise

announcement yesterday in ohio during a speech build about infrastructure. talking about everything from north korea to roseanne ratings to this. >> let the other people take care of it now. very soon. very soon, we are going to have 100% of the caliphate, taking it all back quickly. we are going to be coming out of there real soon. >> with those words the head scratching began. nobody knew what he meant. because nobody saw it coming. even a day later, nobody knows what to make it. industrial trying to figure out what he meant about syria

yesterday. national security counsel quoting the president's comment speaks for itself. keeping them honest though, it seems like the president spoke before any such case was even made to him one way or the other. there is a reason after all that these decisions usually come after a whole lot of knowledgeable people, give the president their advice. a whole lot of lives are at stake at syria and neighboring countries. let's take the nsc's advice, when president trump said quote let the other people take care of it. did he know these people were likely to be iran and russia, we don't know. and when the president said we

will be coming out very soon. he himself railed against on the campaign trail and boasted that he would never do. >> i don't want to tell the enemy how i am thinking. they used to call it the element of surprise. i keep saying, whatever happened to the element of surprise. we are too predictable. we need to be unpredictable. we want to be unpredictable. i'm not going to tell you about what response i do. i don't want to be one of these guys that says, yes, here's what we are going to do. they shouldn't know. >> and yet, here we are. just like you can make a case for or against involvement in syria, you can also make a case for and against strange

surprise. sometimes it is better to send clear signals. sometimes it is not. is it better to have your inner circle out of the loop or not. it is however whether he is even listening. not only does the president get the last word, the president also has the ultimate responsibility. we have experts tonight about this and other instances where this president goes it alone. first though, is cnn's jim acosta with more insight in who is advising the president and who he is listening to. aides in the white house, what more can you tell us what you are hearing there? >> reporter: they are trying to figure out what the president is saying yesterday when he said in

ohio that the united states is going to be getting out of syria soon. earlier today, said to me, they were trying to figure out what the president meant when he said that. my sense is the president announced a change in policy in syria yesterday unless the white house wants to come out and say that is not what he did. he indicated he would like to wrap up soon. it is an indication of the president trying to move in the direction of where he was during the campaign which is being somewhat cautious about being involved in protracted military contracts in the middle east. he said repeatedly during the campaign and while being president of the united states that he doesn't like to telegraph his moves. he also savaged president obama

in the latter months of the campaign accusing barack obama about being the founder of isis for pulling out too quickly. a sudden withdraw from syria would essentially create the same kind of scenario. what are we hearing from the pentagon. >> reporter: in the last 24 hours, it has been reported that u.s. service member and a british service member both on a counter isis operation in syria lost their lives and they were killed when their vehicle hit reminiscent of deaths occurred in iraq for so many years in 2000. dana white saying in response to that, there is still important work to be done in syria and

that means that according to the pentagon, it is not mission accomplished yet. they are not there yet and so you have to wonder if the left hand knows what the right hand is doing and it is such a critical issue covering these issues as you do, it would be something else for the president of the united states having criticized barack obama for pulling out of iraq too quickly to do the same thing in syria. >> and leaving it to america's adversaries. thank you very much. perspective now on the president calling an audible on syria. chief executive who seems to be making a habit making gut decisions.

department and the pentagon during the obama administration. admir admiral kirby, it is not the first time that the president has had public difference on key national security issues. with close advisers and cabinet secretaries how do foreign leaders receive this information. >> it is confusing them. it is confusing the agency and international partners. the saudis are urging publicly he does not pull. international partners and friends don't have the luxury because they have to go by what the president said. much harder for allies and partners to want to come out our

help. you commanded forces in iraq. and let's imagine you are a military in iraq. and you hear the president saying we are going to be coming out soon forces are still spilling blood on the battlefield. what does it do to military planning on the ground? >> i am going to reinforce what admir admiral kirby just said. what is going on in washington, and what is going on in the government of foes. like russia, iran, and turkey. and they are countering some of our moves in syria. but that is all discussed. i am going to talking about it from the standpoint of the soldiers on the ground. people who are part of the special operation forces. they get this information.

they get information in terms what have our political leaders say. when there is this kind of disconnect between what they say the mission is being and what they are doing on the ground with kurdish allies and they hear the president contradicting both the state department and the department of defense on what they are supposed to achieve in terms of objectives, it causes churn and angst and then you are going to have the allied forces on the ground coming up to all of those commanders, guys like general thomas who are the key elements in the theater saying what the heck is going on. are you with us or not. are you going to continue the action or pull out? it causes a great deal of angsts within the forces that are allies. >> they have to make plans for the possibilities that u.s. soldiers won't be shoulder to

shoulder with them. the president said in that speech, we will leave it to others. who are the others in syria. >> the others we have to worry about is he russia and iran. those are the others that we have to worry about. the military presence was not about solving the civil war. it was about going after isis and that fight is not over. we lost a soldier today and that fight is not gone. pulling out would render what is left of that fight moot. and it also seeds, whatever influence we have in syria she'ds aseeds all of that. general, does it make any sense to you that the president said the u.s. will be coming out of

syria soon, he has said he doesn't like to telegraph and in the campaign trail, immediamade deal. >> as john just said, these kind of signals sent by our presidents and other elected regions will cause things to happen in other societies and other government. just a misread of a signal by s sadd saddam -- telegraphs by our president, seemingly a disconnect with the state department will cause other governments and other militaries to do things that we don't want to do. the president said throughout the campaign saying he wasn't

going to telegraph, and he just got on the mega phone. and other people are listening. >> john bolton, tweeted in be account, the caliphate in syria and iraq are gone. and iran is becoming a bigger pla player in the region. so you have a john bolton coming in who seems to be echoing some of the criticism i am hearing from you and the general. is he going to be the guy that goes to the president and says, that is not something we should do. >> that is the job. he will be joined in that effort by jim mattis i am sure. i don't know where pompeo is for sure. but the state department in

general have been in favor of a continued presence there. i hope bolton will take that to the president. and bolton is no isolationist. he doesn't want us overinvolved but not bashful. clearly, the fight against isis is in our national interest. they will reconstitute again in iraq as well and we will be facing the same place we were two years ago. i hope he is able to have that candid conversation. >> if i can just add, john is exactly right, there are a lot of comments about isis is finished, that is not the ideology, there is a lot more to go to defeat that ideology.

>> thanks to both of you as l always on this good friday. >> the president, he may decide he may not even need a chief of staff. the family seeking answers in the police shootings that took the life of an african american man. that is ahead on "360." feel the clarity of non-drowsy

claritin and relief from symptoms caused by over 200 allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones. feel the clarity and live claritin clear.

how'd i get this yard? behind pete's great looking yard, is his secret weapon... the scotts turf builder program. all it takes is 4 feedings, with a scotts solution for every season. it's that easy. this is a scotts yard.

sarge, i just got a tip. that'll crack this case wide open! turns out the prints at the crime scene- awwwww...did mcgruffy wuffy get a tippy wippy? i'm serious! we gotta move fast before- who's a good boy? is him a good boy? erg...i'm just gonna go. oh, you wanna go outside? you gotta go tinky poo-poo? i already went, ok? in the bathroom! as long as people talk baby-talk to dogs, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

just before the break, we talked about a president increasingly going it alone. confident it seems in his own gut level decision making. compounding that process, his shrinking inner circle. the departure of people who at least know what they are actually doing. today was the president's first full day in office without hope hicks. on known who will replace her as communication director or in anyone will. unclear if anyone can replace her. which as we have been discussing is vital. as is being qualified for the job which gets straight to mr. trump's latest personnel move. firing shulkin and replaced him

with someone he is close to but having no experience. until now, he was best known for this. >> i think he will remain fit for duty for the remainder of another term if elected. >> can you explain to me how a guy who eats mcdonald's and diet cokes is in good shape. >> genetics, incredibly good genes and how god made him. >> someone who is widely respected as a doctor but now responsible for 370,000 employees and providing health care and benefits to more than 20 million veterans. also replace a three year combat tested general with john bolton

despite having been u.n. ambassador is more widely known as a tv pundit. then there is chief of staff jo john kelly. will the president fire or keep him? cnn has learned that the president is weighing a white house without a chief of staff. we should say that a president can take advice from anyone he wants. that is not the question here. the question is, is it a good idea. two views from david gergen and gor glor gloria borger. >> it seems that he is choosing

agreeable advisors as well. picking loyalty over qualification. is this a good, healthy and productive way to structure an administration? >> well, it is very healthy for a president to have a good friend, someone who can look him in the eye and tell him what is going right and also what is going wrong. to give candid advice and not be intimidated by the office and by the man himself. that is healthy. what is not so healthy and what is odd and unprecedented is to have your daughter, your son-in-law, your pilot, your physician, you know, you can go down the list and have them all have jobs around you. i think that reflects a what is at the bottom of a lot of what we see with this president and that is there is a personal insecurity there. and he wants to have people around him that he trusts and

has trusted for a long time. >> now, gloria, i know you speak to people close to the president and people who advise him, do any of them express concern even amongst that group? >> yes, they do. and you know, they say to me quite often that he is reverting back to be the way he ran the trump organization for decades which is what he is comfortable with. while he was the chief, there were a lot of vice presidents and hardly anybody in between because donald trump trusts his own instincts. he believes he has figured out how to run the white house. he didn't like the way general kelly isolates him from people and that he has decided loyalty is more important than anything else and he wants people around him who agree with him which i

think is the most dangerous thing of all because david knows this better than i do, when you are in the white house you want a variety of opinions. you want people who not just flatter you, but people to say to you you know mr. president, i think you are wrong about this >> ronny jackson -- david, you heard gloria talk about a chief of staff list white house. can a white house in the modern age run without a chief of staff? >> no. it would be a serious mistake to go without a chief of staff. there was a time, time when democrats tep democrats tend not to have chief of staff. now, in four years going back to

the reagan years, every president has had a strong chief of staff. the president cannot do it by himself and cannot have eight or nine people reporting to him. it becomes complicated. this talk of not going with a chief of staff is really misguided. and it is not good for them and much less for the country. >> gloria, thrown into this mix now, this smaller group of advisers, you now have john bolton, very strong personality as national security advisers, cnn that distribution struck me because that is not how i see many people see john bolton. >> he is an opinionater not an

ago grenator. i think he understands probably intellectually that is what the job is. and even mcmaster who can can argue served as an aggregator got fired. and they disagreed on certain things. if bolton wants to survive, perhaps he has to have amnesia. but i think that is difficult when you spent your entire life developing serious policy. >> well, gloria borger, david gergen, thank you for your

astute analysis. >> the special counsel team has been getting help. linked him with persons of ties and russian intelligence. more on that and what we know about mr. gates in just a moment. it'll connect us to everything that's going on in the company. get it for jean who's always cold. for the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. give us the data we need. in one place, anywhere we need it. help us do our jobs better. with domo we can run this place together. well that's that's your job i guess. ♪

fvo: he's encouraged other people to look around and notice one another and take the time for each other. that's his gift. ♪ i'll stand by you. at a comfort inn with a glow taround them, so people watching will be like, "wow, maybe i'll glow too if i book direct at choicehotels.com." who glows? just say, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com.

welcome back. prosecutors on robert mueller's team are linking rick gates to a person with ties to russian intelligence. all of this during the 2016 presidential election campaign. so, just who is rick gates and

how did he become so close to candidate trump? here is randi kaye. >> reporter: rick gates now at the forefront of the russian investigation. the 45-year-old four of four entered trump's orbit through paul manafort. gates inintern gates interned at manafort's firm. a decade later, in 2016, manafort joined the trump campaign and brought his trusted deputy along with him. >> paul manafort has done a terrific job. and all of his team. >> reporter: manafort took over

the campaign and gates became his number two. they die -- devised a strategy. sources say gates oversaw the process of putting together the plagiarized speech melania trump gave which he denied. >> your willingness to work hard at them. >> your willingness to work for them. >> reporter: court filings exposed what prosecutors described as an 11 year scheme they did while doing laundering

work. among the charges, conspiracy to launder money and failing to report foreign bank accounts. manafort pleaded not guilty and so did gates initially. in february this year, gates struck a deal. conspiracy to fraud the u.s. and making false statement. >> i think those are issues that took place long before they were involved in the president. >> turned out gates who has a reputation for being a low keyed guy, may have lied about his assets. "washington post" alleged he -- his wife was worth 30 million. prosecutors say gates controlled as many as 30 bank accounts. including one in cypress which contained more than $10 million.

just this week, mueller's team alleged in court filings that gate was in contact during the campaign with a french of manaforts which was a russian intelligence officer. randi kaye cnn new york. >> i am joined by former nixon white house council and laura coates. john, if i could begin with you, the narrative throughout had been that manafort and gates had been about their business dealing et cetera. now we know that mueller is zeroing on contracts with rush during tsiae campaign. >> it indicates that there were some sort of liaison in october

and november of 2016 -- excuse me, september and october of 2016 that this was lied about. and why vander swaen had got in trouble with with holding that information from the special counsel. so there is a direct link into the russian former high intelligence officer in russian investigation. >> the white house has repeatedly tried to say that any legal issues gates is facing stems from a time before he was involved with the president. but this contradicts that. >> it is. it is a nice pivot at first to change the narrative. at some point in time before gates had become a cooperator, as more and more information

comes out. very difficult for the white house and the trump campaign which gates was a part of to say it had nothing to do with us. prior to his guilty plea involved things prior to him being part of the campaign. at this point in time it is clear that the idea he is there to flip on manafort is not true. it is about the links to the trump campaign and that can be a problem to the white house in the long run. >> this shows some of the hardest evidence we have so far that mueller is looking into those russian contacts during the campaign between senior trump campaign officials and russians and in this case, someone who is a former russian intelligence agent. that would indicate the question of collusion or at least what the meaning was of this contacts and it is an open question was

for the special counsel. >> indeed. the sentencing memo in which this arose in the contacts of alex van der swain, the government is brief. there is a 30 page memo filed himself is much more detailed and explains that he did have a relationship. and more worried about his job at the time and that is why he says he lied because he recorded conversations not only with this russian and gates but also one of the partners. and this is what provoked him to lie. but this looks, and it is serious because this is exactly what the special counsel was looking for. and was being withheld. that is why they charged him obviously. >> laura, so you have rick gates

cooperate with the special counsel. he has young kids and an enormous incentive to cooperate. so if he is cooperating, special counsel has in effefact ceded, expect. >> mueller is case is hoping for res sip pr reciprocity. remember, there is no incentive. if they have access to the information or they have evidence about motive and intent which is all part of the issue of whether it was witting or unwitting collusion, you need that evidence from somebody who is in the game. somebody who has skin in the game and somebody who may know.

and if you are mueller's team, you have that. you are dangling in front of him the carrot still. i can up the anteonce again if you are not cooperative. if you are gates you will not do that thing if you cooperate. mueller has far more leverage. >> thanks very much. you know these issues well. coming up, a look at the company called cambridge analytica. wage a cultural war on an unsuspecting america. because it's tough on grease yet gentle. i am home, i am home, i am home

and i am a senior public safety my namspecialist for pg&e. my job is to help educate our first responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. i live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california.

>> right now you may have heard of a london based data company called cambridge analytica gained access to more than 50 million users. a key player back then was steve bannon now banished from the white house and now an important cog in the trump machine. drew griffin went to london to dig further about the group's message and practices. >> reporter: cambridge analytica was born out of steve bannon

vision for america. he had produced propaganda inspired films. but in 2014, he was looking for another tool in his arsenal. christopher wylie said from his first meeting with bannon, it was clear the goal. to fundamentally change america. >> he sees this as warfare. he is going to use as aggressive techniques that he is going to get away with. this is steve bannon and robert mercer using a foreign military contractor to use some of the same techniques that the military used to fight isis on the american electorate and that is what they got.

>> reporter: cambridge analytica is a british subsidiary for scl group. helping battle crime, drugs, terrorists by chaeking the opinions of foreign populations. >> sales pitch was we go into foreign countries and we use our tools, our profiling to manipulate public opinion. that is what bannon wanted to do in the united states. >> so he created american arm cambridge list cambridge analytica. wylie says using psycho graphic data gathered from a facebook app, cambridge analytica targeted specific groups of people trying to influence them and push them to the right. >> it wouldn't always look like a campaign ad.

you are not necessarily aware that what you are seeing is content that has been created and targeted at you to make you perceive an issue differently. >> reporter: the company worked on the 2014 midterms. the questionable use of psycho analysis, the micro targeting of the technology allowed. bannon's goal was bigger than that according to wylie. >> he wanted to change people's perspective. >> reporter: part of that was developing and testing messages. imagery of walls, deep state, increasing paranoia about government spying. bannon had worked for two years to refine his messaging.

in 2015 the person candidate came along. >> a lot of the narratives of the trump campaign were what we were testing in 2014. >> reporter: they are now down-playing its work for the trump campaign insisting it did not use controversial. as for steve bannon, he wouldn't respond to cnn but told a business forum his techniques were used in the past by democrats and no one complained. >> we learned earlier this week that cambridge analytica may have violated election laws to send foreign works to work on u.s. campaigns. >> it is true and we have talked to several former cambridge employees saying they were not u.s. citizen.

and they worked during the 2014 cycles. keep in mind, this is a subsidiary of a london based military contractor. much of the work the company did was done in london and many workers who were sent to work in the u.s. elections were uk and canadian citizen. >> thanks very much for following this. coming up, new developments in the police shooting case that has led to days of protest in sacramento. new autopsy shows how many times gun fire from police hit 22-year-old stephon clark and where. ed to show you something i've been wo- ♪ "9 to 5" by emily ann roberts ♪ james r. and associates. anna speaking. james r. and associates. anna. (phone ringing)

baker architects. this is anna baker. this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important, but you're ready to bet on yourself today. spend your life living. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com. non-drowsy claritin 24 hour relief when allergies occur. day after day, after day. because life should have more wishes and less worries. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. >> vo: they want more out of life in every way. so they're starting this year's garden with miracle-gro potting mix and plant food. together, they produce three times the harvest to enjoy... and of course, to share. this soil is fresh from the forest and patiently aged

to guarantee more of what matters... every time. three times the harvest. one powerful guarantee. miracle-gro.

attorneys for the family of stephon clark say new autopsy results are raising more questions about how sacramento

police killed the 22-year-old man. the killing set off days of protests. police killed him in his mother's -- grandmother's backyard after pursuing him over a call that a man was breaking car windows. >> show me your hands. [ sound of gunfire snrkts ] >> police said they thought he had a gun. only a cell phone, however, was found at the scene. ryan young joins us from sacramento with the latest on the results of this new autopsy. ryan, what does this autopsy show about the number of shots, and how does it line up with the police department's narrative? >> jim, you know that initial police narrative from the sacramento police department, according to the family is that stephon clark was charging toward the officers. well, the new narrative is different in terms of where the lawyers are coming from. they believe with their pathologists that he was actually shot right here on the side and that turned his body. then he received six more shots to his back area and then one in the leg.

they believe that directly contradicts what the police department has been saying. and of course we even reached out to the police department to see what they were saying about this. they said right now with this investigation ongoing, they're not going to comment, going back to the lawyers. in that room where this news conference was and the pathologist talked about stephon clark, a 22-year-old father of two getting hurt several times. we heard several people in the crowd saying murder, murder, murder. protesters have been walking through the streets, sharing their concerns with what's going on in this community. but today with this new evidence, at least from the family attorney, a lot of people are questioning what the sacramento police department has said over the last few days. >> no question. i understand there's an event scheduled for later tonight that's hosted by black lives matter? >> reporter: right. so there's going to be several different events over the next two days. this first event today with black lives matter is going to be the connection with the kings. they're going to go down and talk about ways to enrich

children's lives in this area. the sacramento kings have definitely been affected by the protests because protesters stepped in front of that nba arena over the last few days to stop people from going in. last night was one of the first games they did not block the arena. in fact, the family asked them not to block the arena. there is a game tomorrow. we're told there will be another rally around noon tomorrow here where people will gather once again to have another conversation about this shooting. >> we've seen scenes like that so many times before. ryan young, thanks so much for covering the story. coming up, does the president have a plan for getting u.s. troops out of syria that no one else knows about, including the pentagon? he told a crowd in ohio the troops would be getting out very soon. a defense official says it is not clear exactly what he meant. the latest is next. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase.

if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, ... with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ♪ otezla. show more of you.

♪ ♪ ♪ aah! ...i would have said you were crazy. but so began the year of me. i discovered the true meaning of paperless discounts... and the indescribable rush of saving drivers an average of $620. why does fear feel so good? i fell in love three times -- once with a woman, once with a country, and finally... with myself. -so, do you have anything to declare or not? -isn't that what i'm doing?

-so, do you have anything to declare or not? if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. this condition has not been reported with entyvio. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. if your uc or crohn's treatment isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. entyvio. relief and remission within reach.

the president is at mar-a-lago this good friday, and officials in washington are scratching their heads after what you might call baffling thursday. the president out of the blue, it seems, during a speech on infrastructure in ohio declaring that the u.s. is pulling out of syria. >> and by the way, we're knocking the hell out of isis. we'll be coming out of syria like very soon. let the other people take care

of it now. very soon. very soon we're coming out. we're going to have 100% of the caliphate, as they call it, sometimes referred to as land. we're talking it all back quickly, quickly. but we're going to be coming out of there real soon. >> to call that a surprise doesn't begin to describe it. it was a surprise to his own staff. and tonight the confusion it caused remains. cnn's boris sanchez joins us now not far from mar-a-lago with more. so, boris, what is the latest on this uncertainty that apparents exists between the president, his public comments and really his security apparatus, his own closest advisers in. >> reporter: hey there, jim. confusion is certainly an understatement. we heard from a senior white house official today who essentially told us they had no idea what the president meant by his comment during his speech yesterday to a union in ohio. he further said that we should let everyone else