for more on all of this we turn to gerard ryle, the director of the i.c.i.j. and, shruti shah.'s vice president of transparency international- u.s.a., a watchdog group that seeks to expose corruption globally. so gerard ryle, tell us, explain to us what these folks are doing in these dealings, and what is illegal about it? >> well, a lot of what happens in the offshore world is actually legal but where you have secretary resee which is exkly what the offshore world abides, then you have the potential for wrongdoing. and certainly in the documents that we have seen, there was wrongdoing. i mean it's almost ridiculous to think that mossack fonseca, this company, didn't actually know who the clients were. some of these clients appear on lists or they are drug dealers or mafia bosses. >> so when they say it was not our intent to fa till tait-- facilitate anything illegal. >> i think it is the whole system. they are claiming their clients were actually the banks and the account ansi firms that were actually going to them for the end client. it's almost unbelievable to think that the

host: at the table now, gerard ryle, who is director of the international consortium of investigative journalism. thank you for joining us this morning. guest: pleasure to be here. host: to talk about the so-called panama papers, which has exploded into the news the last week or so. before we get started, explain what your organization does, who may set up, how is it funded? u? guest: we are based in washington, d.c., and what we do is find stories and that parlay them to try to get collaborations with major media around the world. we have been working out for 17 years. i have been there for five years. we are funded mostly out of europe by nonprofit foundations and individuals. host: having your organization get a hold of these panama papers? guest: we got them from the server journalists in germany. we have been working with them in previous investigations. once they got a hold of the materials, they came to us to build the international collaboration. host: to we know who leaked to the information and why they did it? guest: it was a totally an ominous source -- totally anonymous s

gerard ryle is the director of the international consortium of investigative journalists. his group led the investigation. welcome to the program. the panama papers -- something that is a historical disclosure of mass fraud? scandal? what is it? what can you call it? gerard: it is 40 years of records of a firm in panama called mossack fonseca, and it is pretty much every detail of their clients. all of their e-mail addresses, all of the bank accounts they were holding for clients for up to 40 years, right up to december 2015. fernando: and who is in the database that you have? gerard: it ranges from everything from prime ministers, to presidents, to kings, to drug dealers, to mafia bosses. and not just talking about just the italian mafia, you've got the japanese mafia, the american mafia, people who have served jail time. fernando: and what were these people trying to achieve through this law firm in panama? gerard: what this firm sells is secrecy and what they were doing is they were going to this firm to get offshore accounts set up in various tax havens around the worl

we talked to its director gerard ryle and started by asking what, exactly, are the "panama papers"?r. ryle: what they are, basically, is a day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of the offshore world. i mean, we're looking at everyone from prime ministers, kings, emirs, presidents around the world, but also drugs dealers, people that have been convicted for various crimes, including pedophilia. so, what they are, are basically people who use offshore accounts for secrecy. sharyl: what is the benefit to them of, as you say, using offshore accounts? mr. ryle: well there are many benefits. it could be, for instance, tax evasion or it could be to hide their wealth. but often it's actually sometimes it's also to commit a crime. sharyl: but the offshore accounts in and of themselves aren't necessarily illegal. mr. ryle: well, it's a very shadowy world, the offshore world. it's, if you go offshore, it's perfectly legal to do what you're doing, assuming you've told authorities. but where you have secrecy, you also have the potential for wrongdoing. what we're seeing here is both secrecy and actua

host: coming up at 9:00 here in washington and gerard ryle will join us next. it is the director of international consortium of investigative journalism. we will talk about these panama papers, what they are, how they became relieves, and efforts to stop these tax havens like those in panama. we will be back with more of your calls. >> the book tells both the story of the fact that the manuscript this national treasure is not what we thought while also chronologically thinking about what was medicine in countering at the time? keeping those two narratives straight was quite tricky for a while. >> tonight on q&a, boston college lost the professor mary discusses her book, which takes a critical look at the notes james madison wrote during and after the constitutional convention of 1787. >> medicine to the notes on sheets of paper and he folded them in half. he writes on the front, across the middle and on the backside. all of point, he sewed these little pieces of paper together into a manuscript. things we wonderful noticed is the last quarter of the manuscript,

i've guest is the director of that organization, gerard ryle, "washington journal," lies as they would lose and policy issues that impact you. coming up monday morning the alive from the centers for disease control georgia, as the organization marks its 70th anniversary. we will speak experts. we will discuss respiratory and vaccine preventable threats and the u.s. and how the anti-vaccination movement has played into the reemergence of threats like measles. and we will talk about prevention and control of infectious diseases, like a bola and their efforts to learn more about the genetic makeup of the bacteria and viruses. and the director for the national center for injury, prevention, and control on the new recommendations for doctors regarding opioid prescriptions. and the center to prevent injury and violence on and off the field. be sure to watch "washington journal," live at 7 a.m. eastern. join the discussion. >> the army chief of staff says that the u.s. is at a "high military risk," due to low troop readiness levels and emerging threats. he made the statement while testifying