together in places like syria. >> shannon: senator graham said, they're not always a reliable partner, russia isn't when it comes to isis. last night, general mcmaster made a bold statement, he didn't take questions. that's going to change. >> bill: "happening now" search right now. >> jon: a fox news alert on the president's response to those explosive reports that he allegedly revealed a highly classified information to the russians. good morning to you. i'm jon scott. >> heather: and i'm heather heather childers and for jenna lee. the president share details of an isis terror threat involving laptops on airlines with the russian foreign minister and the u.s. ambassador during their meaning meeting last week. >> it would be almost inconceivable if any president

would put something of that nature out, anything that would disclose sources and methods. those of the things we protect. >> heather: the president did not break the law. >> the only implication here is that he's unschooled. this is first go around and he might have slipped up. if he did, that's not good. if it's not deliberate, it's not exactly a high crime and misdemeanor. speak to national security advisor denied that any methods were disclosed. but general mcmaster did not deny that classified information was revealed and now we are waiting for general mcmaster to hold another briefing at the bottom of the hour after president trump defended himself in a tweet this morning. a chief white house correspondent, john roberts does lie with the story, develop and by the minute. >> good morning to you. the white house is pushing back hard against the idea that the president disclosed anything to

the russians that he shouldn't have in that meeting last week. h.r. mcmaster will be and the briefing room at 11:30 this morning. this is to tee up the president's trip to saudi arabia, israel, belgium, and italy which begins at the end of this week. you can bet the most of what will be talked about this morning is the story that broke last night. h.r. mcmaster came out of the white house last evening, just before 8:00 to say that the story but the president did something inappropriate was completely false. listen here. >> two other senior officials, including the secretary of stat state, -- the on the record accounts should outweigh those of the sources. i was in the room, it didn't happen. thanks everybody. >> what do we know? of course, there is the meeting at the president had last tuesday with the russian foreign minister in the russian ambassador to the united states.

terrorism was on the agenda for that meeting. the president tweeted this morning. as president, i want to share with russia, at an openly scheduled white house meeting, which i have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism airline safety. humanitarian reasons, plus i want russia to greatly step up their fight against isis and white house officials say that russia is under similar threat as the united states, don't forget a russian jetliner was brought down by isis on october 31st, 2015. the u.s. has issued a ban on laptops and are considering expanding that ban to europe and maybe beyond that. officials are saying it's logical. as to the leak, the white house is close to apoplectic to the leak. a white house official told me last night that the fact that

someone would leak information like this is astonishing that it shows an extraordinary lack of concern for national security. officials hear do have an idea of where this leak originated, who leaked it, though they are not prepared at this point to point fingers at anyone. it does look like, what happened here, this is not to say it it is what happened, but what it looks like our that the notes of the meeting were circulated to a small group of people electronically through an email and then somebody booted that information out the back door, outside the white house and to "the washington post." >> heather: emails getting people in trouble again. john roberts, thank you so much. >> jon: to more of the follow now with lawmakers voicing concerns. west virginia democrat, senator joe mansion says the president's actions jeopardized our country security. >> the rules of the senate and the rules of the executive branch for the president are much different than what you all

have been reporting. with that being said, the security of our nation is put at risk any time these types of things, no matter who says them. i'm not defending, i am not jumping on, but i would say mr. president, this country depends on you. 330 million people depend on you to keep us safe and secure. that means having the best flow of information. ed allows us to protect ourselves in making sure we can stop any attacked that might happen anywhere to america. this is not the way to conduct that. >> jon: joining us now is bob cusack, editor in chief at the hill. so interesting what's going on here. since about 4:30 yesterday afternoon when this story broke, all of washington has been a flame with reports that the president has betrayed some kind of national security secrets and yet, his national security advisor is about to step to the

podium in the white house and saying it didn't happen. what are we to believe here? >> it's definitely a tumultuous time in washington. i've never seen such a time with some -- how much angst. it's a good move for general mcmaster, he had just -- you're a bombshell on top of bombshell. jim comey being fired, investigations about that, and now you have this information getting out to "the washington post" that the white house denying it, but we need more information of exactly what they are denying and i do think is a small group of people that had access to that meeting and to those emails. this is among the republicans want to get back to the agenda including mitch mcconnell. he is not fond of the presidents tweeting and he wants to talk about health care and tax reform, but this is just taking all the oxygen out of the room. >> jon: of course, president trump lassen hillary clinton during the election time and time again for

mishandling classified information and now there is this allegation, it's difficult to know what happen here exactly, but there is this allegation that the president somehow spilled the beans to the russians. >> that's right. the fact that he hammered hillary clinton throughout 2016 on her mishandling of glassman information makes this a big political problem for the president. at the same time, is it normal for the president to be talking to russian diplomats about isis, about terrorism? yes. that is the one thing that bonds russia and the united states is battling isis. of course, there's complications with syria and the assad regime, but what did he reveal, was a classified, or was it kind of normal discussions? that remains to be seen. >> jon: there obviously a lot of people in high places in washington who do not like this president, some even don't think he is legitimate. i'm just stating their point of view. clearly there are people who

will do anything they can to undermine his position. >> that's right. that's what frustrates the white house and the president is at the intel community is definitely at war with president trump. i don't see that ending anytime soon. there have been a lot of leaks from the intel community which reveal, especially in the flynn case, sources and methods and that's a crime. you have this tumultuous time in washington where ray's kind of rolling their eyes with the next thing that's going to drop. republicans have the white house, they have congress, they need to get a big legibly to win. before this, trump got a big win with health care getting through the house. it's already mid-may, but they don't have a big signature law that's been signed by the president and they need that within the next two have been three months. >> jon: h.r. mcmaster came after the podium yesterday and said i was in the room and it did not happen. it's hard to understand what more he might say at this press briefing that's about to take

place. would put this issue to bed once and for all. >> not on his national security team, whether it's mcmaster or matt doug mattis at the pentagon getting bipartisan support. they're going to have to be putting their reputations on the line with whatever happened during that meeting. they've got a lot of credibility, but how they handle this at 11:30 is going to be a big indication of whether the story fades or goes up in flames. >> jon: bob cusack from the hill, it's going to be interesting to hear what the national secured advisor has to say. he scheduled in about 20 minutes from now. >> heather: as we continue to watch that, some breaking developments, a possible suspect in the cyber attack holding computers hostage all around the world. cybersecurity experts now believe that the lazarus group, a hacker organization linked to north korea could be the hind the ransom where attacked. joining us now from london is

greg palkot. what's the latest? >> experts are saying that at least circumstantial evidence are pointing to the possibility that north korea could be linked to these attacks involving a worldwide cyber attack against computers. so far, the ransom where which literally holds these computers hostage, they say the ransom is paid out have been relatively low. but economists now say that the cost could be literally in the billions of dollars and experts are now saying north korea could have a hand in all of this. cybersecurity firms including in south korea today are underscoring this. we've known for a long time at kim jong-un still has a small army of crooks that have done damage in the past. in the past 24 hours or so, some

experts are saying similarities in what they call the computer code involved in these attacks and their finding similar to what north korea was involved in. they've always denied they were involved. including the 2014 attack against sony pictures. they're putting out a movie making fun of the north korean leader. again, not definitive, but it's another black-market. they're pointing to the experts today. this part of the cyber attack, it is slowing. some companies got off lightly. cyber defenses seem to be a little bit better in the u.s. we got a last-minute rescue from one young fellow. over here in the u.k., hospitals were really hard hit. they're still reeling from this today. there are reports that still some surgeries and other

treatments, car companies, rail lines have also been hit in europe, but now they are getting back up to speed as the hunt by investigative agencies look for what is really behind this. back to you. >> heather: difficult to trace. we'll talk more about it a little bit later. greg palkot live for us, thank you. >> jon: we are waiting for the white house briefing to begin. general h.r. mcmaster is said to hold a news conference moments from now after all of this new fella from reports of the president shared highly classical classified information. coming up, why he claims a woman's death was just an accident. >> she went limp. at first i thought she had passed out or something. i had that happen before. passed out, proceeded to start

shaking her shoulders, after on the face a couple of times trying to get her to come around, i was getting no response

i'm only in my 60's. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp.

don't wait. call now.

>> jon: fox news alert, we are awaiting a briefing right now at the white house from the national security advisor, h.r. mcmaster, who last night, disputed reports that the president shared classified information during an oval office meeting he had with the russian foreign minister and the russian ambassador to the u.s. last week. those allegations first reported by "the washington post" ." reg miller, a pulitzer prize winner cole wrote that story. he joins us now. a lot of people are confused about what exactly transpired here. when you hear the idea that the president shared sensitive intelligence with the russians, it sounds like he said okay, we have a guy here who said this. that's not exactly what we are talking about.

>> that's right. the president has sought to create the sort of confusion about this in an effort to deflect the blunt impact of the story here. there are two things that are sensitive and the role of intelligence. one is the information that you get and the other is how you get it. in our story, we never said that trump revealed how this information was obtained. at only so that he revealed what was in it. a lot of detail about it involving islamic state plots involving laptops and aircraft. enough detail, in fact, that some sources we talked to thought it would not be that difficult for russia, which has its own very capable intelligence services to reverse engineer that and take that information and figure out how the united states came to get it. >> jon: this information was not developed by the united states, but rather one of its partners. >> that's right. that's a critical, critical point here. one of the golden rules and intelligence is that the country, or even sometimes the agency that gathers the

information, has control over its dissemination. this information came from an american ally. the united states and not have permission to pass along to other countries, let alone russia. >> jon: the u.s. and russia both consider isis and its intelligence -- we both consider isis enemies. what is the harm, potential har harm, and giving up information about isis? >> in fact, the united states and russia do share intelligence on a very limited basis on counterterrorism and other things. if united states learned about a plot that was going to hurt russian civilians, i'm sure the united states would pass on information along. how it got it would be protected. in this case, the concern is that russia and the united states, as much as they regard isis is a common enemy, they have really conflicting agendas beyond that in syria.

russia is backing the assad regime which the united states desperately wants to displace. russia has put a lot of little y assets. they're trying to also understand what happening inside isis that will help provide intelligence on where russian military assets are or what russian planning might be. russia would have a keen interest. >> jon: we are about to hear from h.r. mcmaster, the national security advisor. you heard him last night when he served as the podium and say i was in the room, it did not happen. he's essentially denying your story. what would you ask him today that news conference question marks me through there are couple of things. one, he denied it but if a carefully worded way without addressing the central points of the story. he said that trump didn't disclose sources and methods, but that's not what our story asserted and he knows that. the second thing is that if this was so unproblematic or so

aboveboard, why was it that his own staff felt it necessary to come out of this meeting to call a cia director, the nsa director and tell them that the boss, president trump, had just shared too much information with the russians quest to mark because the cia and nsa, those are the agencies that would be dealing with the fallout. >> jon: you're suggesting or maybe he's suggesting that there is a learning curve to learning information when you're the president and this president released more than he should. >> i think there's a lot of concern among serious national security officials in washington about his discipline, about his ability to protect secrets, about his ability to distinguish what needs to stay classified and what he can share. >> jon: the white house says you might have heard john roberts say off the top that it's close to apoplectic about the leak of information led to your story. what do you say to the white house about the fact that

the stories even out there? >> this story is out there and has been confirmed by multiple other news organizations at this point. i think it's indicative of one of the problems here that the white house is really reacting with concern about the leak to news organizations more so than reacting to the disclosure of the president himself made. >> jon: greg miller, we appreciate you coming on with us today. thank you. we will be having that briefing and any moment. >> heather: keep an eye on that. in the meantime, a possible suspect has been i.d. to end the massive global cyber attack while experts are more concerned with stopping the spread of the ransom where a virus. more ahead. >> it's beyond anything we have seen before. the level of damage that's

inflicted -- ke! shake! ke! shake! done! you gotta shake it! i shake it! glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. except for every ladies' night. vegetarian... only glad has forceflex to prevent rips, leaks, and punctures. so whatever you throw in the bag... stays in the bag. be happy, it's glad.

>> heather: experts now believe that last weekend's muscle test out of north korea but the rogue nation closer than ever to an operation long-range missile that could carry a nuclear warhead. now the country is apparently tied to that global cyber attack that is still causing chaos around the world. cyber security experts say that they are now more worried about containing it. >> that would be satisfying to holding those are accountable for those hacks. >> heather: for more, we are joined by the security reporter for "the wall street journal" and the papers online service. thank you for joining us.

nothing is conclusive, there are digital clues that could possibly link north korea to this ransom randomware. >> there is something in the code that they have looked at. however, it is fairly simple for somebody to also plan to the markers that would indicate someone is the guilty party. it has been used before by lazarus back in february. this is the first time it's recognized. cyber investigations take a great deal of time. >> heather: people may be more familiar with the sony hacks. that was billions of dollars, but this is perhaps not a criminal group because not a lot of money is being made. >> that's right.

a lot of the speculation is stunning from the fact that if these are criminals behind these attacks, they're not very good at crime, they're not making any money off of this. they're not keeping it quiet. all the law enforcement agencies are after them. the bottom line is they are not making any money. people are wondering what's the point of this? they want $50,000 total for ransom paid. however, how the speech 27 works as the files are encrypted, you pay for the key. they're not getting their files back. >> heather: overall, it's incredibly difficult to trace. >> were just at the beginning, it will take time. >> heather: you been working on this way before this.

>> ransomware has been a huge growing threat. we've looking at this for months. ibm said that just in 2016 alone, it's been up 6000%, around 30% of u.s. companies has been hit by some form of ransomware. >> heather: were not paying attention to it enough. >> i don't think so. >> heather: think so much for joining us, we appreciate it. >> jon: we are still waiting for the news conference scheduled to take place a couple minutes from now at the white house. h.r. mcmaster, the national security advisor expected to address those reports in "the washington post" and other places and president trump. when we get the news conference from h.r. mcmaster, the national security advisor, we will take you back there live i need someone that understands my unique needs.

my dell small business advisor has gotten to know our business so well that is feels like he's a part of our team. with one phone call, he sets me up with tailored products and services. and when my advisor is focused on my tech, i can focus on my small business. ♪ ♪ at angie's list, we believe there are certain things you can count on, like what goes down doesn't always come back up. [ toilet flushes ] so when you need a plumber, you can count on us to help you find the right person for the job. discover all the ways we can help at angie's list.

listen up, heart disease.) you too, unnecessary er visits.

and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done. >> jon: a fox news alert. again, the big event in washington this morning, the national security advisor, h.r. mcmaster will hold a news conference there in the briefing room any minute now. he is expected to address those allegations that the president somehow revealed top-secret information to the russians during the controversial overall flow's meeting he had with the russian foreign minister.

when general mcmaster takes the podium, we'll take their life. >> heather: there are new developments in the search for the new fbi director with eight candidates in the running to replace james comey and for some democrats, it's not the candidates that are causing concern, but the man who is leading the search, attorney general jeff sessions and that came up at the white house press briefing. >> this is a process that's running completely as it should and it's being handled by the deputy attorney general. the fbi director reports to the attorney general. we continue to move through a series of highly qualified candidates and obviously, this is a huge piety for the president to make sure we have someone that has the ability to give the proper leadership. >> heather: joining us now is an award-winning basket of journalists. thank you very much for joining us. >> great to be with you.

>> heather: first of all, i want you to comment on this developing story. the director of the fbi, that position, all the more important with all these leaks coming out of the white house from all of these organizations. what do you think about that? they say they're very close to putting where the links are coming from. >> it puts the focus on the need for new fbi director who won't take years to learn with the fbi is all about. it's a very complex organization that takes literally years to learn the different facets, the issues, you don't want someone who's going to spend his time being a student. that's why i think the ideal candidate would be acting director, andrew mccabe. it's not the secret service where you need someone from the outside to shakeup management. fbi is doing its job, and some of these candidates, for example, merrick garland would

be the worst choice because he has no idea what the fbi is all about. today, he has almost no management experience. fran townsend, she belittled the fbi. she referred to agents with contempt and said they were incompetent. that's widely known in the bureau and it still is today. we need someone who is going to protect us. >> heather: you're looking for someone with experience that doesn't have to learn the job from the very beginning, but when you're talking about the acting general, mccain, he has close ties to terry mcauliffe. do you need to go outside to find someone who not politicize or possibly politicize the position? >> that connection is way overblown. it was a contribution to his wife before he was named deputy director.

wives and husbands can have different views, political views and it doesn't influence the other person. let's be grown-up about this. mccabe came off beautifully in the hearings. he did stand up for comey. donald trump doesn't seem to care about criticism. for example, he is deploying some of the candid and chill presidential candidates. i think you will go with mccabe. >> heather: when you spoke about jim comey in the past, you said he has an impeccable reputation for integrity. what was your reaction when you first heard that he was fired by president trump? >> the bottom line is the memo that rosenstein wrote.

if your own boss has no confidence in you which is what he said about comey, how could you possibly vote for that person? that was his right and certainly the right of the president. >> heather: i know you don't necessarily want to talk about the morale of the fbi right now, but someone that has been on the inside and written all of these books regarding the fbi's inner workings, who do you believe in terms of the morale right now? we heard from the white house that they have been given their support to say that we support the fact that you fired him and then you have other sources within the fbi say that this was handled wrongly. >> there were some were very

upset about comey, not prosecuting hillary, there were some who do respect them. you have mixed views. they written three books. i can tell you, there is no single way to summarize the fbi views. >> heather: thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate your insight. >> jon: breaking now, as we await that news conference from the national security advisor, the state department is releasing new satellite images of a prison in syria were it claims the assad regime has held mass executions during the seven year civil war.

>> this is pretty grisly stuff. once again, we are hearing from syria. the foreign ministry today said that categorically, they deny the u.s. state department allegations of not only mass killings, but of the incineration of these bodies in the crematorium. as you just mentioned, describing allegations as a new hollywood plot and lies. that said, take a look at these images that the state department released yesterday of what the u.s. says as a prison where u.s. officials say they are systematically incinerating the corpses of prisoners to cover up the mass executions u.s. official said the photos were not necessarily definitive evidence. one picture shows several things covered in snow and that is in suggesting an internal heat

source, they confirm rancid and terrible smells coming from this building and basically describing what is believed to be the crematorium. assad regime as we know has been accused of carrying out mass executions, but burning bodies in the crematorium is a new claim. because of that, some have criticized the obama administration for not to classifying the photos sooner and basically sitting on them. another round of peace talks is underway in geneva, ending syria's long-running civil war. the timing of the accusations could be the pressure russia and allies of the assad regime need to condemn the mass killings and the incineration of the victims bodies as we are talking about and also, what u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley describes as the horrors of the regime. >> jon: another horrific story from a very troubled part of the

world. thank you. we are still awaiting the national security advisor, h.r. mcmaster. syria could figure into this on camera press briefing. he will -- he has said that these claims did not happen. we expect him to remain firm. we will take you there alive when he stepped to the podium

>> jon: big news out of washington, we are waiting for the national security advisor, h.r. mcmaster to hold an on camera press briefing and you know it is going to be a tense one. the allegation first published in "the washington post" last evening is at president trump released a sensitive national security at information to the russians during that oval office

meeting last week. the national security advisor has disputed the contents of that reporting for "the washington post" was reporter we just interviewed a short time ago. we expect a lot of pushback from the national security advisor. we don't know whether he will take questions. that will be an interesting part of this, but when it begins, and you want to watch it, we'll take you there life. in the meantime, democratic senators are calling for action on the deadly opioid crisis just this morning. the lawmakers saying an obamacare repeal would hurt the fight against the epidemic. >> it's been a silent killer for far too long. i've had one republican that i've talked to and not one democrat that has been affected. being a silent killer, it's never talked about.

we'll take care of it and keep it in the family because it's too damaging. guess what, their dying left and right. >> jon: that's joe mansion of west virginia. again, h.r. mcmaster about to meet with reporters in the white house briefing room. john roberts is also there at the white house. we'll be talking to him momentarily, but again, the allegation is that the president revealed sensitive information to the russians, the russian foreign minister in the russian ambassador during that controversial oval office meeting last week. there's been a lot of pushback on this from the white house and from the national security advisor himself, but it is clearly of an issue that they will need to put him out there again to address the press. we will pause for one moment to let our fox stations join us as

we await this briefing from the security advisor, who says that this incident involving the president where he supposedly leaked sensitive information to the russians, he said it did not happen. this is coverage of the news conference by the security advisor, general mcmaster. i'm jon scott of new york. this first broke in "the washington post" late yesterday evening. the allegation is that the president, president trump, revealed highly classified information to the russian foreign minister and ambassador to the united states during that controversial visit they made in the oval office last week. the intelligence supposedly revealed was not generated by the united states intelligence agencies. it came from some identified --

unidentified friendly country. it involved isis and the plot to bomb aircraft using laptop computers. here now and sean spicer. >> prior to his arrival, as i promised, general mcmaster will give an update on the president's trip that starts this friday. i know there are additional questions, so without further ado, general mcmaster. >> general mcmaster: good morning everybody. last week, we discussed the president's upcoming trip. i promise i come back and go over the schedule for more detail. i'm happy to do that today. sean tells me there's another topic you might want to talk about as well, so i'm happy to answer any questions about that after we go through the schedule here. first of all, secretary tillerson will accompany the president for most of the trip, breaking off just before the g7 meeting. as you know, the trip will begin in saudi arabia, is a historic trip. after an arrival ceremony, the

present will have coffee with the king, attend a royal banquet and hold bilateral meetings with the king, the crown prince, and the deputy crown prince. he will also participate in a signing ceremony of several agreements that will further solidify u.s. saudi security and cooperation. that evening, the president and the first lady will join members of the saudi royal family for an official dinner. the next day, the present will hold bilateral meetings with cooperation council leaders as well as meetings with all the state leaders. in the afternoon, he will meet and have lunch with leaders of more than 50 muslim countries where he will deliver an inspiring, yet direct speech on the need to confront ideology and his hopes for a peaceful vision for islam to dominate across the world. the speech is intended to unite

the broader muslim world against common enemies of all civilizations. he wants to demonstrate america's commitment to our muslim partners. he will then participate in the inauguration of a new leader to promote moderation. by establishing this, our muslim friends, including saudi arabia are taking a firm stand against extremism and those who use a perverted interpretation of religion to advance their criminal and political agendas. the president also looks forward to participating and a twitter form with young people will be able to live tweet his remarks to people all around the world. the president will then continue on to jerusalem where he will meet with the president and lay a wreath. he will then deliver remarks at the israeli museum.

later that day, later that night, the president and the first lady will join the leaders for a private dinner. the following morning, the present will made president abbas and facilitate an agreement that ends the conflict. he will urge palestinian leaders to take effects that will help lead the piece. he will visit the church of the holy sepulcher and say a prayer at the western wall. in rome the next day, the president will have an audience with the pope at the vatican. he looks forward to celebrating and discussing a range of issues and mutual concerns, some of which i summarize last time.

before leaving the vatican, the president will meet. later that afternoon, the presently with the king and prime minister of belgium and the heads of state and government of the host country to the nato alliance. he will also meet the president before departing rome for brussels. the next morning, the president will travel to the e.u. headquarters to be with the president of the european union and the european council. he will then hold a working lunch with the newly elected president of france whom he will meet in person for the first time. that afternoon, the president will deliver remarks at the unveiling of nato's memorial to a shared struggle in front of a piece of the berlin wall and a segment of the world trade center.

he will reaffirm america's commitment to the alliance and repeat his insistence for the good of the alliance, all members must share responsibility and shared burde burden. joined by secretary mattis, he will participate in the nato leaders meeting and dinner before traveling to sicily for the g7. from the summit, he will meet bilaterally with leaders. in the form of meetings, he will press america's economic agenda and call for greater security cooperation. on the first night of the summit, he will also attend a concert performed by the skeletal philharmonic orchestra followed by a leaders dinner hosted by the president of italy. before departing italy for home, the present will speak to american and allied servicemen and women and their families. he will thank them for their sacrifices they all make to keep us safe. and also recount the highlights and accomplishments of the trip. i'll ask sean to call on any of

you have questions. >> reporter: you came out and stated that "the washington post" story came out was false. do you stick by that assertion? do you think every element of that story is false? this before i stand by my statement i made yesterday. what i'm saying is really the premise of the article is false. the president had a conversation i was an appropriate, or resulted in any kind of lapsed nationals purity, that did not happen. the real issue is our national security has been put at risk by those of violating confidentiality and those releasing information to the press that could be used connecting with other information available to make

american citizens and others more vulnerable. >> reporter: was classified information leaked? >> reporter: premise are not yahoo will join the president -- >> general mcmaster: no is really leaders will join president trump to the western wall. he's going to the western wall in connection with the theme to connect with three of the world's greatest religions and to advance, to pay homage to these sites he's visiting, but to also highlight the theme that we all have to be united against the enemies of all civilized people and that we have to be joined together with an agenda of tolerance and moderation. >> reporter: i want to try to dig into some details on the reporting of the president's conversation. i you denying that information

was revealed? >> general mcmaster: what we don't do is discuss what is and what isn't classified. what i will tell you is in the context of that discussion, what the president discussed with the foreign minister was totally appropriate to the conversation and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leaders with whom he's engaged. >> reporter: what about a -- >> general mcmaster: i won't confirm that sort of information that could jeopardize our security. >> reporter: you have these types of intelligence sharing relationships? >> general mcmaster: that conversation was appropriate to the conversation and i think it was a wholly appropriate what the expectations are. report might have you reached out to parties who may have contributed to this?

>> general mcmaster: i have not and i'm not sure what conversations have been held. >> reporter: if there was nothing the president shared, why is the counterterrorism advisor contacting the cia? >> general mcmaster: i would say -- i have not talked to mr. bossert about that, about why he reached out. >> reporter: you would understand why they would reach out. >> general mcmaster: i was in the room. the deputy advisor was in the room and none of us felt that that conversation was inappropriate. >> reporter: one was the decision made to share that information with the russians? was there a process or some

formal process? >> general mcmaster: as you know, the president can share whatever information he thinks is necessary to advance the security of the american people. that's what he did. as to your question on how that information ventured previously, i'm not sure about that. did he make the decision? report michael when did he make the decision? >> general mcmaster: is worth recapping one thing here. the president was meeting with the foreign minister about the terrorist threat. he also raised some difficult issues about what we expected in different behavior from russia and key areas like ukraine and syria. then the president was emphasizing -- we have some common interests here. after work together in some critical areas. we have cooperation with -- this

was the context of the conversation and which it was wholly appropriate to share with the threat was as a basis for common action and coordination. >> reporter: in the moment, what about the context? >> reporter: i want to follow up about the western wall being part of the trip. >> general mcmaster: comes on like a policy decision. the president's intention, i did answer the question in terms of what his attention is. the president's intention is to visit these religious sites to highlight the need for unity among the three of the world's great religions. and unity and embracing an agenda of tolerance.

>> reporter: did the president reveal -- this pin is that the president renamed dominic revealed the name of a city and that undermined an ally. >> general mcmaster: all of you are very familiar with the threat from isis. you are all familiar with the territory. if you say, from where you think a threat might come from territory that isis controls, you would be able to name a few cities. it had to do with operations that were already ongoing and it had been for months. >> reporter: was this information that was shared also the same content that was shared with our