and looks to be about half a yard short. dan: carson palmer had the awareness of aning that a hook slide wouldn't get anywhere near the marker to move the sticks. this is just giving it up. that is a good spot on the ball. greg: those of you expecting to see 60 minutes, you are watching the nfl on cbs. greg gumbel. we are tied up at 24-24. 60 minutes will be seen immediately following the game. eddie royal is deep for the broncos. greg: royal with running room. eddie royal to midfield with a blocker in front of him and there he goes. eddie royal with the touchdown.

no flags. 85 yards. dan: well, we saw that explosiveness from eddie royal four years ago when he came into the league as a rookie from virginia tech. this is just a case of missed tackles and then eddie royal's ability. lechler makes a vain attempt at the very end. and you know, you can make a case saying did he outkick his coverage? you can't dumb down a punter. he punted that a long way, but it was high. that is just some missed tackles. it is good. eddie royal, 85 yards. with 5 f.m. 53 to play denver

grabs a 34-21 lead. there is a saying that time is a great storyteller. well, then here's to the next chapter. so stand with me brothers, and raise 'em high. because as great as this is! there's even more ahead of us! and the only question is... are you ready? [ cheers and applause ] ♪

♪ come along, come along ♪ baby, baby, come along ♪ baby, baby, come along with me ♪ [ air horn blows ] ♪ i love you and i need you ♪ just to hug and squeeze you ♪ baby, why can't you see? [ female announcer ] the newest member of the prius family has the space of a small suv. and the fuel efficiency of a prius. the all-new prius v from toyota. more prius. more possibilities. ♪ baby, come along with me greg: coming this december, a

game of honor will take you behind the scenes of army-navy football. we are aware that there were words said in the excitement following that denver touchdown and our audio picked it up. for that we apologize. dan: has this place quieted down after that. greg: eric decker returned a punt 90 yards against oakland in the opener this season. dan: eddie royal who has had a quiet season has gotten it going today. greg: denver down 24-14. they scored 17 straight points. this will bounce into the end zone and be covered there for the touchback.

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greg: 5:53 remain to be played here in the fourth quarter. the focus now shifts to the denver defense going up against carson palmer who has thrown three touchdown passes and two interceptions. dan: heyward-bey is on the sideline. greg: carson palmer with lots of time. now running out of time and goes down inside the 10-yard line. elvis dumervil. his first sack of the season. dan: boy, that has been a long time coming. dumervil gets a great jump on the ball. look at the spin move to the inside. he gets picked up and blocked but carson nowhere to go with the football. he is not go to get away from that pass rush. greg: dumervil missed the entire season last year. dan: after leading the nfl in sacks back in 2009.

greg: we get a time-out on the field as denver uses its first here in the second half. while we have a moment, tonight on cbs begins with 60 minutes and a powerful story about corruption on capitol hill. and a look at the life of our own andy rooney. followed by amazing race and c.s.i., miami. tonight, only cbs. i think more than anything else, we did not know what to expect from the game but on the surface it is an old rivalry and that can account for a lot of things. dan: but lately it has been dominated by the raiders. with everything at stake for hue jackson's ball club today, a chance to really assert themselves, especially if san diego follows kansas city and loses today. greg: second and 19.

palmer has his man out to the 35-yard line. denarius moore and a first down. dan: carson palmer, this is his first start with the raiders, but he has to be so excited about the talent of this young receiving corps. even though the ball was behind moore, he was able to settle down and go out and get it. greg: he called them a bunch of hungry young guys. this one is underthrown. ian dre goodman had his hands all over moore. the crowd is letting the officiating crew hear about it. greg: that stops the clock with 4:52 to play. at the line without a huddle are the raiders. greg: second and 10.

palmer gets his man, denarius moore. fifth round draft pick out of tennessee. you were wondering how he slid all the way to fifth. dan: you can't watch him play or look at his skill set or the way he produces and performs and works. you are going how did he slide all the way down to the fifth round. i will tell you something about carson palmer right now, he has his juices flowing. it has been a long time since carson has been out here in the heat of battle. greg: heyward-bey on to the field. palmer, incomplete. dan: he was trying to get it to houshmandzadeh, who couldn't get through coverage. greg: that is where t.j. houshmandzadeh is strong, his slot play. dan: see, how does that not

bring a flag? i mean he just shoved houshmandzadeh way down the field. greg: setting up a screen and that bounces off of a helmet, incomplete. dan: and von miller, again, tremendous move to come right up the gut, right at carson palmer. again, he just uses that swim move and ends up getting low on palmer. you know you have to stay above the waist on a quarterback. but this is palmer giving up a lot of ground. greg: third and 10. pass incomplete. awful lot of broncos coming up

on that snap. dan: dennis allen, the defensive coordinator got very aggressive. looking at a fourth down situation that you have the full 10 yards trying to cover. they don't have any choice but to punt. greg: quan cosby is deep. this is the third straight punt this quarter by the oakland raiders. this one they will let bounce. it will take a sideways bounce out of bounds. this has been pretty good. there is more to come next there is more to come next week.

greg: now tim tebow is in a situation, can he run out the clock. can he put together some first downs and move the sticks? each team is down to two time-outs. denver has rushed for 226 yards today. willis mcgahee. no. tebow keeps it. look at tebow down to midfield and slides down. dan: staying inbounds. he wanted to stay inbounds and keep the clock running. i will tell you what, they ran that play in the first half and it completely surprised the raiders and they did it again in the second half. great job by tim tebow all the way into the line before he pulls the ball back out. just take a look at how long he rides it in there. you can see that wimbley who has the containment to that side gets sucked to the side.

career-high 119 rushing for tebow. up the middle is mcgahee. inside the 35 and another first down. dan: and the raiders are just being pummeled by the denver running game, and i mean pummeled. look at the size of the hole. that is the exact same play that they ran before, only that time he gave the ball to mcgahee. talk about finishing a run, whoa! greg: slow getting off the turf . dan: remember, he got hurt in pregame warm-ups two weeks ago, he hurt his neck and wasn't able to play. and that certainly did not help the cause. greg: meanwhile willis mcgahee, 136 yards rushing, 118 in the second half as you look at the numbers on tim tebow and what

he accomplished with his legs today. dan: you know you are running the football when you have a pair of guys over 100 yards. there is a lot of freedom in calling plays when your offensive line is getting it done the way that the broncos are. greg: spending a lot of time in the huddle. 10 seconds now on the clock. mcgahee tries to turn the corner and he is caught from behind by tommy kelly. let's check the flag. it is a defensive penalty against the raiders. dan: it has to be because they let the play go. >> off sides, lined up in the neutral zone at the snap.

first down. dan: if there is anything on the offense they would have stopped the play. greg: do you think hue jackson would be justified walking into the meeting tomorrow and throwing penalty flags all over the place? dan: he would be very justified, that is number 14. greg: again, that is a presnap penalty that is to thally needless. especially a guy like tommy kelly. greg: now the broncos are well within matt prater's field goal range. mcgahee. just inside the 25. we will come up on two minutes to play. and john fox saying let's not scrum now when victory is within reach. dan: right. you don't want a penalty stopping the clock. greg: that would be completely out of character for this game. two minutes to play here in oakland. oakland. 31-24.

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californiaing up next here 60 minutes, expect on the west coast. second and 2. dan: denver scored 26 points here in the second half. greg: each team with two time-outs remaining. mcgahee to the 15, 10, 5, touchdown! dan: unbelievable. what a complete trampling of the raiders run defense. greg: 24 yards on the sprint to the end zone. and willis mcgahee with 163 yards and two touchdowns today. dan: and the only reason the raiders did not give up more than 300 yards rushing is because mcgahee wasn't even farther from the end zone when he got the ball.

they are at 298. greg: prater for the extra point. it is good. and how about the happenings in the a.f.c. west today, dan. dan: well, i don't know how willis mcgahee's right hand is feeling with a plate and screws in it, but his legs are just fine. not every day you look at a running play in the national football league where a guy runs into the end zone and he is not even close to be touched. the only time he was touched is after he was five yards into the end zone. if that was flag football, that would have been a touchdown because no raider was that close. greg: how is this for a turnaround, dan. in the opening weekend loss to the raiders, willis mcgahee carried four times for three

yards. dan: a little different, then. there is the west. kansas city was 4-3 going into today. they lost to take them to 4-4. oakland is losing. san diego is still in the game with green bay, but they are trailing. and denver will go to 3-5 and if by chance san diego loses, denver is right back in it, only a game behind everybody. now the san diego-green bay game is still alive. there is only a seven-point difference in that game in a wild shootout. greg: oakland raiders, dan, are looking stunned. in this game they give up nearly 300. greg: they have been spanked on the ground.

this is jacoby ford, two yards deep into the end zone. oh, he is hit hard and brought down at the 17-yard line. once again to new york and james brown and boomer. james: new england offensive magic down the stretch. rob gronkowski putting the patriots up. 1:30 left. giants have the ball with two time-outs left. james: now down to 1:12 left in regulation. greg: we are down to 1:46 in regulation here. the oakland raiders are down by two touchdowns. palmer is down at the 7 courtesy of von miller. we have a penalty marker down. dan: penalty marker is downfield. not near line of scrimmage.

>> holding, defense, number 29. five-yard penalty, automatic first down. dan: you know the interesting thing about denver running for all of these yards, you know you would think the oakland raider defense is crowding line of scrimmage because they don't fear tim tebow's downfield passing. you would think it would be especially hard to run against the defensive front. it has been exactly the opposite. greg: palmer to the sideline. diving catch but does not count. i remember asking hue jackson when we talked to him yesterday if he would prefer not to let tim tebow beat you with his arm or feet. he said i would prefer to not let tim tebow beat us.

dan: i like hue jackson. i don't know him. just met him for the first time. interesting to talk to. i can see why the players like him and i can see why al davis gave him the job. greg: a man who recruited carson palmer when carson was a junior in high school. palmer throwing over the middle to the 45 to louis murphy. clock continues to move. 1:0 to play. there is tim tebow. now we get a penalty flag. >> delay of game, number 18, throwing the ball. the down will count, it will be first down, five-yard penalty. first and 10, oakland. dan: murphy tries to be a little fancy spinning the ball. ended up going about eight yards down the field. greg: might be getting to the

point where -- palmer up the seam. nice catch made by denarius moore. that is to the 40-yard line of the broncos. dan: carson takes a big hit. >> personal, roughing the passer, number 58. defense. blow to the head and leading with the crown of the helmet. 15-yard penalty and automatic first down. greg: that is the rookie, von miller. he has been close a couple of times today. dan: that will get him a fedex envelope from the national football league. he got a good three steps at carson palmer after palmer threw that football. that was an easy call for them to make. greg: so the raiders now to the 25 of the denver broncos with 1:12 on the clock. still, each team with two

time-outs remaining. palmer far side of the field. it is intercepted inside the 10 by champ bailey. dan: bailey could have gotten up and run with the football. i don't know if he knocked the wind out of himself. greg: his second of the day and 50th interception of his great career. dan: look at the awareness, how champ bailey always knows where the football is. he is the one that makes the adjustment on the ball. the raider receiver keeps right on running. jacoby ford just kept on running. it is champ bailey that makes the play on the football. once again carson palmer goes down. greg: that is why the ball came up short. so now tebow and the broncos with a chance to run out the last 64 second on the clock.

dan: out of the spread formation. carson palmer, 19-35 for 332, three touchdowns, three interceptions. and nobody is in a hurry to extend this game. dan: raiders being two touchdowns down are taking the stance of let's get out of there. greg: if you are wondering, tim tebow 10-21 for 124 yards. and the play clock will expire. and they will back them up five yards. what is in store for the denver broncos? dan: there is their remaining

schedule. as you can see, a pretty tough trio of games against the chiefs, jets and san diego. greg: that will put the wraps on a very impressive victory here today by the denver broncos. dan: maybe tim tebow mania can settle down for a week. greg: he threw for 124 yards and ran for 117 and the broncos come out on top 38-24. so long from oakland, so long from oakland, california. like so many great pioneers before me, guided only by a dream.

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captioning funded by cbs and ford-- built for the road ahead. >> stahl: jack abramoff is the most notorious and corrupt lobbyist washington has ever seen, buying congressional votes with lavish gifts and large campaign contributions. i'm sick to my stomach. >> right.

evil. yeah. terrible. >> stahl: because it's hurting our country. >> shameful. absolutely. it's the worst thing that could happen. >> stahl: i'm mad at you. >> i was mad at me. >> stahl: i'm not kidding. i'm not kidding. >> i was mad at me. >> stahl: abramoff has become a symbol of how money corrupts washington. and tonight, he opens up his playbook for the first time. >> pelley: why did you come back here? >> to try and let it go, something that haunts me every day. >> pelley: steven cornford was awarded the silver star for valor after fighting in iraq. he is one of the thousands of young americans wounded in body or spirit who are being invited back to the war zone for a new kind of therapy. >> my wife brought up a good point when i told her i wanted to do it. she said, "what if it makes it worse? what if it brings it all back?" >> safer: it's a sad day for us here at "60 minutes."

our friend and colleague andy rooney died friday night. he was 92. >> why does every piece of clothing have a different size scale? why is it... >> safer: there have been many commentators on television over its long history, but none have been so long-serving, so grumpy, and-- dare we say-- more beloved than mr. rooney. tonight, for the last time, we give him the last word. >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm morley safer. >> i'm bob simon. >> i'm lara logan. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories tonight on "60 minutes." i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone --

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>> stahl: jack abramoff may be the most notorious and crooked lobbyist of our time. he was at the center of a massive scandal of brazen corruption and influence peddling. as a republican lobbyist, starting in the mid-1990s, he became a master at showering gifts on lawmakers in return for their votes on legislation and tax breaks favorable to his clients. he was so good at it, he took home $20 million a year. it all came crashing down five years ago, when jack abramoff pled guilty to corrupting public

officials, tax evasion, and fraud, and served three and a half years in prison. today, he's a symbol of how money corrupts washington. in our interview tonight, he opens up his playbook for the first time, and explains exactly how he used his clients' money to buy powerful friends and influence legislation. >> jack abramoff: i was so far into it that i couldn't figure out where right and wrong was. i believed that i was among the top moral people in the business. i was totally blinded by what was going on. >> stahl: jack abramoff was a whiz at influencing legislation, and one way he did that was to get his clients, like some indian tribes, to make substantial campaign contributions to select members of congress. >> abramoff: as i look back, it was effective. it certainly helped the people i was trying to help, both the clients and the republicans, at that time. >> stahl: but even that, you're now saying, was corrupt? >> abramoff: yes. >> stahl: can you quantify how

much it costs to corrupt a congressman? >> abramoff: ( laughs ) i was actually thinking of writing a book, "the idiot's guide to buying a congressman," as a way to put this all down. but first, i think most congressmen don't feel they're being bought. most congressmen, i think, can, in their own mind, justify the system. >> stahl: rationalize. >> abramoff: rationalize it. and, by the way, we wanted, as lobbyists, for them to feel that way. >> stahl: abramoff would provide freebies and gifts, looking for favors for his clients in return. he'd lavish certain congressmen and senators with access to private jets, and junkets to the world's great golf destinations, like st. andrew's in scotland; free meals at his own upscale washington restaurant, and access to the best tickets to all the area's sporting events, including two sky boxes at washington redskins games. >> abramoff: i spent over a million dollars a year on tickets to sporting events and

concerts and what not at all the venues. >> stahl: a million dollars? >> abramoff: yeah. yeah. >> stahl: for the best seats? >> abramoff: the best seats. i had two people on my staff whose virtual full-time job was booking tickets. we were ticketmaster for these guys. >> stahl: and the congressman or senator could take his favorite people from his district to the game. >> abramoff: the congressman or senator could take two dozen of his favorite people from their district. >> stahl: was all that legal? >> abramoff: we would certainly try to make the activity legal, if we could. at times, we didn't care. >> stahl: but the "best way" to get a congressional office to do his bidding, he says, was to offer a staffer a job that could triple his salary. >> abramoff: when we would become friendly with an office and they were important to us, and the chief of staff was a competent person, i would say or my staff would say to him or her at some point, "you know, when you're done working on the hill, we'd very much like you to consider coming to work for us." now, the moment i said that to them, or any of our staff said that to them, that was it, we

owned them. and what does that mean? every request from our office, every request of our clients, everything that we want, they're going to do. and not only that, they're going to think of things we can't think of to do. >> neil volz: jack abramoff could sweet-talk a dog off a meat truck, that's how persuasive he was. >> stahl: neil volz was one of the staffers abramoff was talking about. he was chief of staff to congressman bob ney, who, as chairman of the house administration committee, had considerable power to dispense favors. abramoff targeted volz and offered him a job. you're the chief-of-staff of a powerful congressman, and jack owns you and you haven't even left working for the congressman. >> volz: i have the distinct memory of, you know, negotiating with jack at a hockey game. so we're, you know, just a few rows back, the crowd's going crazy. and jack and i are having a business conversation. and, you know, i'm... i'm wrestling with how much i think

i should get paid. and then, five minutes later, we're... he's asking me questions about some clients of his. >> stahl: when you look back, was that the corrupting moment? >> volz: i think we were guilty of engaging in a corrupt relationship. so there were several corrupting moments. there isn't just one moment, there were many. >> abramoff: at the end of the day, most of the people that i encountered who worked on capitol hill wanted to come work on "k" street, wanted to be lobbyists. >> stahl: you're telling me this, the genius of figuring out you could own the office by offering a job to the chief of staff, say. i'm having two reactions-- one is "brilliant," and the other is i'm sick to my stomach. >> abramoff: right. evil, yeah. terrible. >> stahl: because it's hurting our country. >> abramoff: shameful. absolutely. it's the worst thing that could happen. all parts of the system. >> stahl: i'm mad at you. >> abramoff: i was mad at me. >> stahl: i'm not kidding. i'm not kidding. >> abramoff: look, i did things and i was involved in the system i should not have been in. i'm ashamed of the fact i was there.

the very reason why now i'm speaking about it, and now, i'm trying to do something, in recompense, is the fact that i thought it was... it was wrong of me to do it. >> stahl: one of the offices he keyed on was that of his good friend, the majority leader, tom delay, eventually hiring his deputy chief-of-staff and his press secretary, and going into business with delay's chief-of- staff. did you own his staff? >> abramoff: i was... i was as close to his staff as to any staff. i had a very strong personal relationship with a lot of his staff. >> stahl: how many congressional offices did you actually own? >> abramoff: we probably had very strong influence in 100 offices at the time. >> stahl: ( gasps ) come on. >> abramoff: no. >> stahl: a hundred offices? >> abramoff: in those days, i would view that as a failure, because that leaves 335 offices

that we didn't have strong influence in. >> stahl: did he own you? >> bob ney: oh, i don't believe jack abramoff owned me. but were we involved in the culture of corruption together? absolutely. >> stahl: former republican congressman bob ney was ambitious, and looked at abramoff as a way to build alliances with the white house and the majority leader. >> ney: i wanted to be speaker of the house, and jack abramoff was the beautiful light of day for me to get to the person who i had had some conflicts with, tom delay. >> stahl: abramoff began inviting ney on golf trips, including one to scotland, and to his restaurant, signatures, where ney was given food and drinks on the house, a violation of the congressional gift-limit laws. ney says he was hardly the only one crossing the line. >> ney: but i will still tell you, at that point in time, in order to get a drink at signatures, you had to shove white house staffers of george bush the heck away from the bar. and it was packed with people. and there were members. now, that doesn't mean everybody did everything for jack. but if you want to talk about

strict interpretation of violation of the... of the laws of drink and food-- katie, bar the door. she was wide open, two shotguns blaring. >> stahl: after months of taking handouts, ney was approached by neil volz, his former chief-of- staff-- by then, a lobbyist for abramoff. >> volz: i let you down, man, and i'm sorry. >> stahl: volz asked ney to insert some language into a reform bill that would give a backdoor license to an indian casino owned by one of abramoff's clients. you often hear about lobbyists getting special secret deals for their clients like this. it's an insidious technique that abramoff perfected. >> abramoff: so what we did was we crafted language that was so obscure, so confusing, so uninformative, but so precise to change the u.s. code. >> stahl: here's what you tried to get tacked onto this reform bill. >> abramoff: yeah. >> stahl: "public law 100-89 is amended by striking section 207

(101 stat. 6668-672)." >> abramoff: right. now, isn't that obvious what that means? ( laughs ) it was perfect. it was perfect. >> stahl: so that's what you tried to get inserted? >> abramoff: yes. >> stahl: and that was going to provide for a casino? >> abramoff: yes. >> stahl: and who on earth is going to know that? >> abramoff: no one except the chairmen of the committees. >> stahl: who stuck it in there? >> abramoff: yes. >> stahl: and that's one of the things you used to do? >> abramoff: yes. >> stahl: and it was deliberately written like that? >> abramoff: precisely. yes. >> stahl: and that's done a lot? >> abramoff: members don't read the bills. >> stahl: you didn't even know what it was for? >> ney: had no idea. and then, when we got the written language... >> stahl: well, why didn't you know what it was for? >> ney: i didn't... i didn't care. >> stahl: oh! >> ney: it was a great big shell game, and i was in the middle of it, whether, you know, knowing or not. i... i was dumb enough to not say, "what's this thing do?" >> stahl: ney would eventually serve 17 months in federal prison, the only congressman who was ever charged in the scandal.

but abramoff says there were many other members that did his bidding that could have been charged. was buying favors from lawmakers easy? >> abramoff: i think people are under the impression that the corruption only involves somebody handing over a check and getting a favor. and that's not the case. the corruption-- the bribery, call it, because ultimately that's what it is-- that's what the whole system is. >> stahl: the whole system's bribery? >> abramoff: in my view. i'm talking about giving a gift to somebody who makes a decision on behalf of the public. at the end of the day, that's really what bribery is, but it is done every day and it is still being done. the truth is, there were very few members who i could even name or could think of who didn't, at some level, participate in that. >> stahl: abramoff prided himself on being a man who did good. he was devoutly religious and exorbitantly charitable, and he

says he gave away 80% of his earnings. when he fell from grace, his reputation was in tatters, because it was not just that he had corrupted congress; it was found he had cheated his clients, like the indian tribes. >> abramoff: most of the money i made, i gave away to either communal or charitable causes. so i thought, frankly, i was one of the most moral lobbyists out there. >> stahl: things began to unravel for abramoff when the "washington post" published a largely unflattering portrait of him in 2004, reporting that he charged his clients ten times more than any other lobbyist in town. >> abramoff: my first response was, "what's the big deal? i don't understand what this is about. this is what lobbyists do." >> stahl: what he didn't understand was the part that said he and a former aide to tom delay had over-billed four of his indian casino clients by $45 million. in the end, he was brought up on

federal charges of tax evasion and ripping off indian tribes. on the day he went to court and pled guilty, abramoff looked grim. the judge sentenced him to four years. i really think what you were doing was... was subverting the essence of our system. >> abramoff: yes, absolutely right. but our system is flawed and has to be fixed. human beings populate our system; human beings are weak. >> stahl: you preyed on that? >> abramoff: i did. i was one of many who did. i did and i'm ashamed of that fact. >> stahl: he was sent to a medium security facility in cumberland, maryland. when he was released last june, he began working as an accountant at a kosher pizza parlor. turns out jack abramoff was broke, partly because he is paying off nearly $24 million in restitution to the indian tribes. today, he lives in his old house in maryland with his wife, five children, and the two doberman pinschers mrs. abramoff bought

to protect the family while he was away. after the scandal, congress instituted a package of reforms making what abramoff did, like plying members of congress with free expensive meals, illegal. but he doesn't see the new reforms as being very effective. >> abramoff: the reform efforts continually are these faux reform efforts where they'll change... they'll tweak the system. they'll say, "you can have a meal with a congressman if they're standing up, not sitting down." >> stahl: is that serious, or are you joking? >> abramoff: oh, no, i'm not joking at all. >> stahl: so, it's okay if you pay for lunch, as long as you stand up? >> abramoff: well, it's actually worse than that. you can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a hamburger or a steak of something like that. but you can take him to a fundraising lunch, and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra and call it a fundraiser. and have all the same access and all the same interaction with that congressman.

so the people who make the reforms are the people in the system. >> stahl: could you do the same thing today? i'm asking you whether you think the system's been cleaned up? >> abramoff: could do the same thing that i...? yeah. no, the system hasn't been cleaned up at all. >> stahl: at all. >> abramoff: there's an arrogance on the part of lobbyists, and certainly there was on the part of me and my team, that no matter what they come up with, we're smarter than they are and we'll overcome it. we'll just find another way through, that's all. >> stahl: he says the most important thing that needs to be done is to prohibit members of congress and their staff from ever becoming lobbyists in washington. >> abramoff: if you make the choice to serve the public, public service, then serve the public, not yourself. when you're done, go home. washington's a dangerous place. don't hang around. >> stahl: former congressman bob ney now works part-time as a radio host. his former chief of staff neil volz is currently working as a night janitor at a florida restaurant. and jack abramoff has written a memoir called "capitol punishment."

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>> pelley: the war in iraq is nearly over for america, but not for the americans who fought there. the legacy of wounded warriors will be with us for a generation. recently, we heard about a therapy program that takes troops who have recovered from their physical wounds and brings them back to iraq-- back to confront the memories, back to work through the feelings of anguish many soldiers have when they head home, leaving their buddies to fight on without them. a total of 68 soldiers and marines have been on this remarkable journey. we went along with the latest group of eight as they returned to the battlefield for what they call "operation: proper exit." for most of them, it had been a long time since they'd flown on a military transport or worn the uniform. they'd been wounded years ago and several were civilians now. but for one week, in operation: proper exit, they were proper soldiers and marines again.

as the c-130 lumbered over the desert, they crowded the windows to look across the battlefields and the memories of the war that had changed their lives. ♪ ♪ an honor guard awaited them in baghdad, and so did uncertainty. they didn't know how, or whether, this program would help them. first off the plane was marine corporal matt bradford, returning to the place that has haunted him the last four years. >> matt bradford: i wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep, because i keep thinking about, you know, getting blown up, laying there on the ground. >> pelley: bradford was blown up in 2007. he was 20 then, inspired to join the corps by 9/11. the last thing he saw in iraq-- the last thing he ever saw-- was the wire that turned out to be a roadside bomb. he was blinded and lost both legs. bradford came back to re-imagine that final vision of iraq.

>> bradford: still, i'll always have that picture in the back of my head, you know, of, you know, looking down and seeing, you know, the wires going into the pipe, that, you know... shrapnel going straight in my eyeballs. >> pelley: some folks would think that, after what happened to you, you'd never want to get anywhere close to this place again. >> bradford: you know, ever since i've been hurt and stuff, i've had a lot of people tell me i couldn't do something. so i told them i would return back to iraq, you know, someday. i don't let people get me down on anything. if they tell me i can't do something, i want to go find a way to do it. >> pelley: "no" means "go". >> bradford: "can't" is not in my vocabulary. >> ed salau: he trusts only a handful of people with the job of being his eyes. >> pelley: ed salau came to be matt bradford's guide. but he also served in iraq and paid for it. in 2004, then army lieutenant salau was leading a patrol of armored vehicles, and on the way back to the base, they were hit. he and his gunner each had a leg blown off.

>> salau: we won that fight; we lost a couple of legs. life's different. i jokingly say, "i had ten really good months and one really bad day." >> pelley: salau blames himself for leading his patrol into an ambush and, like a lot of soldiers and marines we've talked to, he feels guilty about leaving his men when he was medevaced out of iraq. you felt like you let them down... >> salau: absolutely. >> pelley: ...by leaving. >> salau: absolutely >> pelley: when you first heard about operation: proper exit, what did you think? >> salau: i had to come back. you know what? this... this place doesn't take from you what you don't give it. >> steven cornford: coming back here means a lot to me. >> pelley: of the eight, returning may have been toughest for steven cornford. to look at him, you don't see scarring. there are no amputations. he left iraq and was awarded the silver star for valor. but they don't give away silver stars for nothing, and when we sat down with cornford, we learned what post-traumatic