i'm not sure that wikileaks ought to be the arbiter of that. i think that based on what they did this time, the material was handled well by the guardian and well by "the new york times" and i assume by derr spiegel as well. but wikileaks, to put raw information out without any kind of effort to protect sources or to guard legitimate secrets that's dangerous. >> david leigh, what about that? how much of a conflict do you see there is between your mission at the news organization, obviously, operating under different rules in great britain and those of an organization like wikileaks, which as alex jones said is to get everything out there? >> well, it's nice to hear that people recognize that the guardian and "the new york times" and derr spiegel went to a lot of efforts to make sure there were no legitimate secrets, we took out anything that might contain informants, and much of the rest of the stuff lost its tactical secrecy because it's several months ago. wikileaks were persuaded that the right thing for them to do, despite their purest ideo

military history. 92,000 classified documents published on the website wikileaks. it paints a picture of a war gone wrong in afghanistan. details corruption in the afghan government and pakistani support for the enemy. most alarmingly, they contend what critics claim is evidence of possible war crimes by u.s. soldiers. well, we sat down with the man behind the leak, julian sanoge is his name. to try to find out why he did it. jim sciutto has the story. >> reporter: its mission is taking on the powerful and seemingly untouchable and exposing their biggest secrets. so when we sat down in london today with wikileaks founder and asked him what drives him, his answer was, well, direct. >> i'm a combative person. it's how i like crushing the bastards. >> reporter: but is crushing bastards in its own right a just cause? >> depends on the bastard. real bastards are people who have power and abuse their power to afflict people who are weaker than they are. >> reporter: today, the quote bastards are the architects of the war in afghanistan. wikileaks released 92,000 classifi

paul shenon, good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: so what is wikileaks. >> wikileaks is largely the big project of one julian asage a former computer hacker from australia who decided that he wanted to do his best to make all secrets public. four years ago he set up his web site that was designed to do just that and over these four years it has produced a remarkable number of what you and i will call scoops. >> woodruff: all secret is so he's interested in everything or a few things? >> anything and everything. i mean it had everything from sarah palin's hacked e-mails, to the e-mails among global climate scientists that were described as climategate to the video we know about from april that showed this american air strike in baghdad back in 2007. >> woodruff: so what do they say is their mission, their purpose? >> well, asage who really is at the heart of everything at wikileaks describes this grand conspiracy between governments and other powerful institutions to hide the truth from the public. and he is going to do his best to make all of that material just as pub

but then wikileaks is completely unlike traditional media.nstance, newspapers often consult governments before publishing potentially damaging secrets. >> i think it requires a lot of judgment on the part of people who are gatekeepers. >> reporter: wikileaks released its afghan war diary with no consultations. and there's another key distinction. back in 1971 when the nixon administration tried to stop the "new york times" from publishing the pentagon papers, classified history of vietnam, the public had the paper's history and reputation as a measuring bar. wikileaks is anonymous. >> we're moving towards a society in which no secrets are safe. even though there is a need for some secrets. and to some extent, we're just going to have to get used to that. >> reporter: the press used to describe itself as a gatekeeper deciding what information is solid enough, reliable enough to make public. now there are no gates. jeff greenfield, cbs news, new york. >>> on a lighter note, what's up, doc? how about a birthday. bugs bunny, the wise-cracking car

. >> in the first afghan government reaction to the wikileaks investigation, he said at the week's show the enemy is and pakistan. in one of his strongest evidence against pakistan, he has appealed for action against those training terrorists and its borders. he says leak that afghan informants in danger. >> u.s. forces depend daily on information from afghan civilians as they try to defeat the taliban in afghanistan. some might give information openly. some more secretly espy's. but none expected their names to be published on the internet where the dossier expose this week includes names, addresses, and fathers names, in direct contradiction to claims by wikileaks publishers saying they withheld documents that might risk lives. the afghan government hadn't caught -- had been cautious until now about commenting on the avalanche of material. the president was shocked by the way names of informants had been left in. >> i wonder if you think it was irresponsible that afghan names of apparent -- of a parent informants against their fellow countrymen were put into the document without being

in a nutshell, what is wikileaks? >> wikileaks is an international public service that helps whistleblowers and journalist get press material out to the public. over the past 4 1/2 year, we've published an enormous range of sensitive documents from different countries around the world, which have gone on to have significant political effects. . >> larry: do you just get it and put it out or authenticate it? >> we authenticate it. we' never been wrong. and there's no allegation by the rest of the press we've been wrong. we've never lost a source through the process that we go through. we go through a high min mization process to try to notify affected parties or slightly redact. >> larry: what's the goal? what do you hope to accomplish? >> in general, we have seen from the human rights community and from the best journalism that lasting reforms that tend to push human rights come about as a result of finding material that is being kept secret by organizations, because they fear exposure. so by selectively looking for m

wikileaks is anonymous. which gives pause even to a lifelong defender of first amendment rights. >> it's not as if i have any information to suggest that they're highly trained in national security matters. >> reporter: but does that matter anymore? one person with a laptop can reach as far as the biggest newspaper or tv network. if that person wants to publish, it's published. >> we're moving towards a society in which no secrets are safe. even though there is a need for some secrets. to some extent we're just going to have to get used to that. >> reporter: the press used to see itself as a gate keeper deciding what information was reliable enough to make public. now there are no gates, katie. >> couric: jeff, thanks very much. as we mentioned, the lead documents include numerous reports of civilian casualties in afghanistan. coalition commanders say they take great pains to avoid them. today afghan officials claim 52 civilians were killed last friday by a nato rocket in helmand province in the south. nato

in of the fbi meant that america would be looking at wikileaks e- mails and phone records. the defense secretary did not deny that. he simply said the investigation would go wherever it needed to go. in terms of the internal sense of what happens from here he talked about how they would be looking again at the amount of classified information that was available in particular to troops on the front line. in the years since 9/11 there has been a push in america to the making available of more documents so that dots can be joined on intelligence-related cases. we got the impression the defense secretary believes the limit has been reached and too much information is being made available to too many people. he is talking about what people on the front line in future will be able to see. >> in other news, the mexican government says it has killed a top member of the powerful sinaloa drug cartel. he was believed to be the right hand man of the most-wanted drug lord. this debt is seen as a major success for president calderon. more than 130 people are believed to have been killed

what is the fallout from the wikileaks? caller: the fallout from this is great because people need to know what is going on. the main street media have fallen on their face because they are corporate-control. we do not get the right information. some of us have known from the beginning what is going on there. just look at the post-traumatic stress syndrome of those coming back, especially in iraq. we're killing a lot of civilians there. guess what? we're not the good guys of the there. i respect the military, and love our troops, but let's give them home. this is just crazy. there is no way that iraq was never a threat to was. we need to go back and investigate 9/11 because of those buildings were demolished before our eyes, and then they said airplanes did it with gas? host: we're talking about the release of these documents and the fallout from them. we will continue that conversation for the next 20 minutes. after that, we will have jane perlez from "the new york times" join us. she will talk about -- i'm sorry, and abou

caller: i just wanted to comment on the wikileaks. i think it is a good thing he is doing that because everybody should know what is going on in the war and what is going on with everybody around the world so everybody gets in tune and it's pretty much a feel of what is going on. ithaca, newgo to york, where you have jamie. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think the bigger thing this shows with the classified documents is there too many things that are made classified. how does a report of an incident in 2004 honestly going to endanger our soldiers in 2010? there are too many things that are being made classified, and then complaints by the administration when these things are released. they should have released them themselves, all of this information should of been made public to the american people it long ago. host: more examples from the war logs. one, a helicopter crash that killed five soldiers. third, special forces unit is outnumbered and far from help. there is the exchange that "the new york times" detailed. gerry, o

wikileaks' mission publishing secrets. from sarah palin's personal e-mails to a church of scientology manual, to an apache gun camera video from iraq, showing the death of a dozen civilians, including two reuters journalists. assange who once said, i enjoy crushing bastards, is a 39-year-old australian who studied physics, made a name for himself as a hacker, and was arrested for computer crimes before starting his whistle-blower website. this week he released 91,000 raw military documents online, but this time also to three traditional news organizations, including "the new york times" which vetted the material, eliminating information that could put lives at risk. >> i think wikileaks' role in this was the role of a source. you don't get to chose your sources, and sources often come with their own agendas, their own ideology, their own motivation. the question is, how do you handle the material once you've got it? >> reporter: it's a brave new world when journalists use sources like wikileaks. >> it really challenges the

today, pentagon officials in effect accused wikileaks and its source within the u.s. military of murder. >> the truth is, they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an afghan family. >> reporter: in what appears to be an attempt to build a criminal case against julian assange, the head of wikileaks, defense secretary gates asked the director of the f.b.i. to join the investigation. >> the battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies, and afghan partners. >> reporter: the documents reveal the names of afghans who provided intelligence to the u.s.; their lives are now in danger. and their exposure will send a chill through anyone else thinking of helping >> will people whose lives are on the line trust us to keep their identity secret? >> reporter: the documents also provide a road map to the american military's tactics. this, for instance, is a moment- by-moment log of what u.s. troops did after specialist bowe bergdahl was captured by the taliban. and t

cataloged on the wikileaks website. among the allegations that elements of pakistan's intelligence services supposed allies of the u.s. have met with taliban leaders to plot strategy for the insurgency. that death squads have been operating to try to kill taliban leaders. that the taliban have been using surface to air missiles to target u.s. and allied aircraft. that civilian casualties have been even higher than admitted. in a statement, president obama's national security adviser general james jones called the threat a leak to national security, which could put the lives of americans and our partners at risk. wikileaks' founder told the guardian newspaper there's no such thing as a fact that shouldn't be public. >> we'll show you the true nature of this war and then the public from afghanistan and other nations can see what's really going on and take steps to address the problems. >> reporter: wikileaks released them to "the new york times," the guardian here in britain, and to "the weekly" and shares maximum public

the site wikileak has revealed documents most from the bush administration era. documents claiming pakistani administration agents are helping the taliban are significant. also higher than reported civilian deaths. >>> the leak of documents p puts more pressure on the obama administration. political editor randy shandobil reports. >> reporter: congress is set to vote on a new war funding bill this week. anti war democrats already troubled by slow progress in afghanistan now have to consider this. according to documents released on wikileaks, some of the money already spent aid to america's ally pakistan may have been used by agents there to help america's enemy. the taliban. >> our ally the one that we give billions of dollars to is in turn assisting our apparent enemy in afghanistan. and we're paying for it. now that's a difficult situation for any administration to deal with. >> reporter: wikileak is a website dedicated to exposing government secrets first made news early this year when they released the áf this video of americans in search for insurgents. the

the site wikileak has revealed documents most from the bush administration era.documents claiming pakistani administration agents are helping the taliban are significant. also higher than reported civilian deaths. >>> the leak of documents p puts more pressure on the obama administration. political editor randy shandobil reports. >> reporter: congress is set to vote on a new war funding bill this week. anti war democrats already troubled by slow progress in afghanistan now have to consider this. according to documents released on wikileaks, some of the money already spent aid to america's ally pakistan may have been used by agents there to help america's enemy. the taliban. >> our ally the one that we give billions of dollars to is in turn assisting our apparent enemy in afghanistan. and we're paying for it. now that's a difficult situation for any administration to deal with. >> reporter: wikileak is a website dedicated to exposing government secrets first made news early this year when they released the áf this video of americans in search for insurgents. the w

the founder of wikileaks also says there's evidence of cover ups where civilians were killed. much of what is in that report is not new arguing the president is already well aware of problems of civilian casualties. >> the president does not need to read a leaked document on the internet today to be shocked and horrified by unnecessary in every civilian casualties unnecessary. casualty of innocent life. >> it does appear to be evidence of war crimes in this material. >> the house is taking up a $60 billion war financing bill this week and revelations in the reports are not expected to threaten its passage. >>> a northern california computer hacker is blowing whistle on whistle blower. he says he turned in the army intelligence analyst who leaked the documents, an degree an lamo tells robert lyles why he did it. >> i have been told more times than i could keep track of that blood is on my hands. >> reporter: adrian lamb a was at the center of a scandal in the war on terror, a scandal the white house is now calling alarming, alarming to l.a. mo as well. >> i have received threat

we don't have an integrated approach. >> woodruff: do you think the wikileaked documents in the last few days, what's they're bearing on that? >> i think they're irrelevant but they'll drive policymakers to stop putting things on paper and harder to establish a record of wt was done. anytime the government has the leaks it closes and there will be more verbal communication rather than writte written communication. >> woodruff: how do you see the leaks? >> i think they add noise and confusion to the dialog and despite the best efforts of policymakers in the u.s. and pakistan to stay committed to the current parts which is that of collaboration and cooperation, there will be a lot of internal second-guessing. there will be a lot of soul searchg and seeing whether they've in fact connected all the dots and is one side being duplicitous or the other being duplicitous. >> woodruff: is there anything the united states can do to counter what you've just described? >> i think the u.s. needs to stay the course. the fact that it is now providing long-term assistance to pakistan, once it starts

policy remains firm, despite the wikileaks furor. >> there is nothing in these documents most of which date way back into the previous administration that change-- that should change anyone's judgment about the situation in afghanistan and pakistan. >> reporter: and in afghanistan today a nato spokesman echoed that sentiment. >> let me assure you this unfortunate event will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnership with afghanistan and pakistan. >> reporter: as for the source >> lehrer: judy woodruff takes the pakistan story from there. >> woodruff: i talked with the pakistani ambassador to the united states, hasain haqqani, a short while ago. >> woodruff: mr. ambassador thank you for talking with us. >> pleasure to be with you. >> woodruff: first the plane crash in pakistan. our condolences to everyone involved. >> there are assumptions they're going to investigate the tragic incident, 154 lives lost. the nation is in mourning. >> woodruff: is there any evidence at all that there was sabotage or te terrorism involved. >> so far nothing indicated. >> woodruff: the wik

they are also trying to discredit the founder of wikileaks. in the interview, the founder said that this compares to the release of the starshe arives in sterma. robert gibbs says that we completely disagree with that, comparing u.s. soldiers with east german secret police. >> will be any consequences for u.s. military strategy in afghanistan? >> the national security adviser says that nothing will change. the white house also pointed out that these documents that were revealed are from a time span from 2004 to 2009. presidt obama, ter th, d change the strategy in afghanistan therefore, this is irrelevant, the lead from wikileaks. >> thank you very much for that update from washington. >> the eu foreign ministers have approved a tough package of sanctions aimed at convincing iran to stop developing its nuclear program. the sanctions target iran's oil and gas industries, which are key elements of the country's economy. it includes a ban on eu companies selling energy roduction equipment to iran. >> finding consensus is not always easy for eu fo

first of all, who leaked this info from the government to wikileaks, and also what impact it could have on the war effort. in terms of the government investigation into who leaked this information, it is bradley manning. they had already been looking at this army intelligence official, he's an analyst, for a different leak and now they are searching his computers for information about this one. apparently he was in iraq and they want to know if he had access to these thousands of documents that were leaked. also, what affect is this having on the war. the white house, as you said, doing damage control at this appoint. they have a crisis of confidence. u.s. allies wondering if the united states can keep secrets in the middle of the war. here is what the white house spokesman had to say about that. >> besides being against the law, it has the potential to be very harmful to those that are in our military, those that are cooperating with our military, and those that are working to keep us safe. >> now, the white house had accused wikileaks of being against the war effort. the u.s. policy i

wikileaks has another 15,000 documents waiting to be released. gates said the pentagon is working right now on tightening rules on classified information that comes out of war zones as a result of this leak. betty? >> terrell brown in washington. thank you for that report. >>> it appears new york democrat charles rangel, once one of the most powerful men in congress, could be facing a ethics trial. he reportedly had a plea deal with lawyers for the house ethics committee but members of the committee has not agreed to the settlement. rangel is facing 13 charges of ethics violations, including claims that he improperly used his office to solicit contributions for a school to be named in his honor. >>> shirley sherrod, former agriculture employee forced to resign after a blogger posted an edited video clip that made her sound racist, says she is going to sue the blogger. andrew breitbart posted the clip a sherrod says he hasn't apologized. >> he -- andrew breitbart, and don has been trying to help me say his name each time because ee keep forgetting

wikileaks release of secret war documents gave us 92,000 reasons to end the wars. pick one. >> we should use this money to bring them home. >> reporter: the president found himself in the unusual position of relying on republicans to pass his bill. >> cutting off their funding in the middle of that fight is tantamount to abandonment. >> reporter: today press secretary robert gibbs said it's hard to wage war without the support of the american people. >> i think obviously public opinion matters quite a bit when you have your forces in harm's way. >> reporter: if fact only in the early years did americans believe the war in afghanistan was going well. between 2003 and 2008 when the focus was on iraq support plummeted. after some minor ups and downs today stands at a mere 31%. even if the president's right, that there isn't much new in the leaked documents, they still threaten to turn public opinion against the war even more, by focusing a spotlight on all that's gone wrong. mounting u.s. casualties, civilian casualties, afghan government corruption and claims that pa

the head of wikileaks, 39-year-old australian julian assange, who has been outspoken against the war, told "the today show" he blamed the military. >> every week, another 100 or so people are killed in afghanistan and that number is increasing. so, we shouldn't let these rumors about whether there are additional names in there or not, which may be serious or may not be, eclipse the bigger problem. >> amateurs like wikileaks either don't care or don't know how to protect sources and how to protect lives. >> reporter: the pentagon is going through all of the documents, as well, and local commanders will certainly try to do what they can to help those afghans who are at risk. but diane, because of the massive amount of reports, there's no guarantee they can get to the people in time. >> get to them and to their families to get them to safety. thank you, martha. >>> and now, a milestone in the oil spill in the gulf. it is now 100 days. 100 days filled with images we'll never forget. the loss of life on the burning rig. those first pictures of helpless birds. the dead turtles in the sand.

. >>> the taliban is now threatening to kill people listed on the wikileaks website. we will have the harsh reaction to this from the u.s. military. >>> and san jose state may be opening its doors to more students. we'll bring you all the details on that. reviving the economy means reinventing the way we do business. here's to the owners showing us the way. [trumpet playing "reveille" fades to silence and the cast has been gathered. when the curtain rises. and the spotlight is yours. having a strong signal at your back is like having invisible power everywhere. because in that moment, you're not there to take up space. you're there to fill the room. rule the air. verizon. right now, buy a blackberry and get one free. like the bold, or the curve. only at verizon. >>> overnight news, three u.s. troops died in explosions in afghanistan. this made it the deadliest month for american forces in the nine year war. at least 63 american servicemen during july. alternate is saying the latest casualties died in two separate blasts in southern afghanistan. the commanders had warn

now, the revelations were first posted on wikileaks, a whistle blower website.nning, now behind bars in kuwait accused of document theft. disillusioned about the war, manning struck up an online friendship with a sacramento, california, computer hacker. he told the hacker he discovered incredible, awful things that belonged in the public domain and not on some server stored in a dark room in washington, d.c. realizing the magnitude of the situation, the hacker then decided to turn manning in to authorities. >> had i not acted i would have wondered for the rest of my life, did i get somebody killed? >> reporter: manning told the hacker he downloaded the classified information onto cds which previously had music by artists such as lady gaga burned onto them. rob and vinita? >> thanks, t.j. and our coverage of the leaked war documents will continue later this morning. we'll take you live to washington on "america this morning." we'll look at the backlash on "good morning america" and get insight on the website that posted the secrets later during this half hour. >>

wikileaks itself might be targeted as well as the source of the leaks. battlefield consequences could be severe for u.s. troops, allies, or that the afghan partners. similar words of condemnation from a german general as the assistance of force in afghanistan. he spoke to the general by videoconference. >> it was an opportunity for them to answer questions from the press. it is something of an offensive after the leaking of sensitive documents onto the internet. publishing the information was irresponsible. >> a great deal of afghans who have worked as translators or in other positions have been identified by name. this really is sethi which has to be forcefully condemned. analysts say it puts pressure on pakistan's army chief. the media is trying to shift the focus away from the scandal to the gains being made under david petraeus and his strategies. >> you can eliminate fighters from the fight by offering them a more promising alternative. you can prevent potential insurgents from ossi ove to the other side by improving conditions or their perspective

wikileaks still has another 15,000 documents waiting to be released. in washington, i'm terrell brown, cbs 5. >>> veteran new york congressman charles rangel is expecting a september trial now to face allegations of ethics violations. the house ethics committee accusing him of 13 violations including failure to report rental income from vacation properties. if the house panel finds rangel guilty, he faces punishment ranging from a report criticizing his conduct to a vote to expel him from congress. rangel is one of the longest- serving members of congress. >>> 5:38. >>> the bay area county that's seeing a rise in whooping cough. >> also ahead, a link between calcium supplements and a heart attack. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, including one in the hills of los angeles county. amy murphy joins us now from rancho vista... not far from "crown fire" has >>> several wildfires are burning in california including one in the hills of los angeles county. amy murphy joins us now from rancho vista, not far from where the crown fire has forced evacuations. >> reporter: last nigh

military documents being leaked this week by the web site wikileaks.he group says it's reviewing 15,000 more records. yesterday, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff bluntly assessed the harm he thinks wikileaks and its founder julian assange have caused. >> mr. assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an afghan family. >> reporter: pentagon leaders have ordered new security measures to safeguard information. as for safeguarding the troops, a u.s. military task force has so far spent billions of dollars to counter the continuing threat of roadside bombs. >> suarez: for more on the i.e.d. challenges facing american troops in afghanistan, we get the views of two veterans who have extensive experience dealing with them. todd bowers is a staff sergeant in the marine corps reserves. he served two tours in iraq and one in afghanistan last year. he's the deputy executive director of iraq and afghanistan

the video which ended up on wikileaks. the documents cover the years 2004 to 2009 and describe in detail why the u.s. is in so much trouble in afghanistan. the u.s. has been fighting with two few troops and causing too many civilian casualties. the afghan government is corrupt and inefficient. pakistan is an uncertain ally which at times supported the same taliban that's killing american soldiers in afghanistan. the head of wikileaks calls it one dam thing after another. >> this is the story of the war since 2004. most of the deaths in this war are as a result of every day squalor of war. >> the white house is trying to downplay the substance of the documents as old news. but congress will have a say on that when a spending bill on the afghan war comes up for a vote before the august recess. erica, in another war development, one of the two missing sailors has now been identified. he's 30-year-old justin mcneely whose body was recovered sunday. the ol' sailor remains missing and unidentified. >> david, thanks. cbs' david m