The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight: The news of this Tuesday; then the latest on the search for the trapped miners in West Virginia, with a reporter on the scene and a mine safety expert; the guilty plea by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with two reporters who were in the courtroom today; and a two-part look at the Asian earthquake three months later, a tape report on relief efforts in Pakistan and a conversation with two officials from Refugees International.

NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: Rescue teams in West Virginia continued their efforts today to reach 13 trapped miners. An explosion early Monday left the men cut off deep underground about 100 miles northeast of Charleston. As the hours passed today, the prospects for rescue grew dimmer. NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels narrates our report.

SPENCER MICHELS: Hopes of finding the trapped coal miners alive sank this morning after news the air in the Sago mine shaft had turned deadly.

Early today, rescuers drilled a 260-foot hole into the two-mile-long mine shaft. They inserted a camera to search for signs of life and a sensor to test carbon monoxide levels. Ben Hatfield is the president of International Coal Group, which owns the mine.

BEN HATFIELD: This carbon monoxide level far exceeds regulatory limits for respirable air of 400 parts per 15 minutes exposure. Therefore, we are very discouraged by the results of this test. While the drill steel remained in the hole, the drill crew pounded on the steel and then listened for a response. They repeated this process several times over a ten-minute period, but the drill crew heard no response.

SPENCER MICHELS: Nothing has been heard from the trapped miners since the explosion sealed them behind a wall of rock and debris. They are believed to be about 12,000 feet into the mine. The miners carry individual air purifying systems, but no oxygen tanks.

At a late morning news conference, Hatfield reported two more holes were being drilled into the mine and that a team of rescuers was moving more quickly and deeper into the mine shaft after a robot had malfunctioned.

BEN HATFIELD: We didn't see major combustion damage. We didn't see the equipment turned upside down; we didn't see cables burned. There was no indication of a massive disruptive explosion. That's probably the brightest spot that we've encountered in the last few hours.

SPENCER MICHELS: Fearful family members were keeping vigil at a church near the mine.

SPOKESMAN: Everybody's just doing their best and saying their prayers.

SPENCER MICHELS: After visiting with some of them, West Virginia Gov, Joe Manchin said he's holding out for a miracle.

GOV. JOE MANCHIN: We are very hopeful that we're going to have a very happy conclusion to this rescue. We have families that know the inherit risk of mining. They're up there and they are hunkered down; they're pulling together as families do in West Virginia. We're doing everything humanly possible with the best that we have, and that is the best that is available in the country.

SPENCER MICHELS: Officials said they still don't know what caused Monday's early morning explosion. The Sago Mine had been cited for numerous safety violations last year.

JIM LEHRER: And later in the day the head of the mining company said crews were still working their way down the shaft, but he said the more time passes, the more chances of a successful outcome are diminished. We'll have more on this story right after the News Summary.

Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty today in a major investigation of influence peddling. He appeared in federal court on charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud. Under a plea deal, he acknowledged he conspired to corrupt public officials. Abramoff told the judge: "Words will not ever be able to express my sorrow and my profound regret for all my actions and mistakes."

Later, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said the case shows government officials will not be for sale.

ALICE FISHER: His activities went far beyond lawful lobbying to the illegal practice of paying for official acts. Lawful lobbying does not include paying a public official a personal benefit with the understanding, explicit or implicit, that a certain official act will occur. That's not lobbying. That's a crime.

JIM LEHRER: Abramoff agreed to cooperate in the probe that may implicate members of Congress. He faces up to 11 years in prison, and he's agreed to pay $25 million to Indian tribes he defrauded. Tomorrow, he's due to plead guilty in a separate federal fraud case in Miami. We'll have more on this story later in the program.

Firefighters in Texas and Oklahoma reported today a number of major grass fires were contained, but a forecast for higher winds raised new fears. In Texas, two large fires continued burning near San Angelo. They had already covered 90,000 acres.

In Oklahoma, officials reported containment lines around all major fires, but the governor warned the state was not out of danger yet. Rivers and streams across northern California fell below flood stage today. As the water moved out, the people moved in to clean up. Some of the worst flooding was across the Napa region, but wine growers reported little damage to grape vines. The weekend storms and floods were blamed for at least three deaths.

Federal homeland security grants will now focus on natural disasters and public health crises as well as terror. The announcement today signaled a shift in how the Department of Homeland Security distributes funds and who gets them. Secretary Michael Chertoff explained the reasoning in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF: For example, where you have critical infrastructure that's at risk to terror, it may also be at risk to natural disasters. And to pick the obvious example, when you have a geographical area that's below sea level which has a certain consequence and a certain risk that emerges through a natural disaster, that may also apply to a terrorism-disaster so that would be part of the formula.

JIM LEHRER: Chertoff said the threat of a bird flu pandemic was also a consideration. He announced 35 major metropolitan areas considered to face the gravest overall risk will be eligible for grants totaling $765 million. In the past, those funds have generally gone to the 50 largest cities.

A winter storm cleared today in Pakistani Kashmir, and aid flights to earthquake victims resumed. Two helicopters delivered winterized tents and supplies for the first time in two days. The break in the weather also allowed scores of people to leave their mountain villages and seek medical care. Many needed treatment for respiratory infections. We'll have more on the quake victims later in the program tonight.

In Iraq today, residents in Beiji dug through rubble after a U.S. air strike overnight. Police said planes bombed a house, killing seven people. The U.S. military said the strike targeted three men planting a roadside bomb. Also today, ten Iraqis died in insurgent attacks in Baghdad, and officials announced final results of last month's elections could be delayed two more weeks. An international team is still looking into complaints of fraud.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to return to bargaining today in a natural gas dispute. Russia's state-owned gas monopoly cut off supplies to Ukraine on Sunday. In turn, the volume of gas flowing through Ukraine to the rest of Europe dropped sharply.

Supplies were back to normal today, but the European Union's energy commissioner said member states will meet tomorrow.

ANDRIS PIEBALGS, Energy Commissioner, European Union: The security of supply of gas is extremely important for European Union and the consequences show how vulnerable the union is towards shortage of gas supply.

So in doing this, first of all we should discuss the current situation because as long as the dispute between Ukraine and Russia is going on, we are concerned. We are very concerned.

JIM LEHRER: In Washington, a State Department spokesman criticized Russian actions. He said they raised questions about using energy as a political weapon. The gas dispute also roiled energy markets. In New York trading, oil prices surged more than $2 to close above $63 a barrel. It was the largest increase since September. On Wall Street today, stocks rallied on new indications the Federal Reserve might stop raising interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained nearly 130 points to close at 10,847. The NASDAQ rose 38 points to close above 2,243.

And that's it for the News Summary tonight. Now it's on to: The West Virginia coal mine explosion; the Abramoff case; and the ongoing earthquake tragedies in Pakistan.

FOCUS - TRAPPED

JIM LEHRER: The latest on the search for the trapped miners in West Virginia. Jeffrey Brown spoke by phone a short time ago with Ann Scott Tyson. She's covering the story for the Washington Post.

JEFFREY BROWN: Ann, what kind of progress have rescuers been able to make today?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: There was discouraging news from the very start because of the high carbon monoxide levels that they discovered. A robot that they had hoped could move ahead more quickly of the rescue teams also became bogged down in mud.

And so far, the rescue teams themselves that are moving primarily on foot at a very slow and methodical pace have been the best way to try to reach these miners. And they have made steady progress but it has been slow.

JEFFREY BROWN: Do you know yet how far they've been able to get into the tunnel?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: As of earlier today when we had our last update, they were more than 10,000 feet in. By now, they could have made quite a bit further headway, depending on how much repairs of the ventilation system they had to make while they were moving ahead.

JEFFREY BROWN: Give us a sense of the scope of the rescue effort, if you would. How many teams are there? Where are they coming from? How much activity is there around you?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: There are about 14 teams, about 90 specialized mine rescuers at the latest count. They have brought in some drilling equipment to drill holes again to send sensors down that can measure the air and also cameras down to look around and to try to-- and microphones-- to try to hear any signs of life so it's an extensive effort, but it has not yet involved any huge equipment to drill larger holes because they simply felt they could reach it more quickly by going through the mines because they have not found the debris or massive destruction that might have been caused -- mainly just destruction of the air vents, of the air ventilation system.

JEFFREY BROWN: You mentioned the first hole that had been drilled and then company officials said they were going to drill two more holes. What can you tell us about those?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: Those two are in other areas. One is mainly a hole they have to drill so the rescuers can proceed beyond a certain point. The other was another place where they thought the miners might be located. It would give them a look at another area and another attempt to rescue -- to reach these miners and gauge the quality of the air there.

JEFFREY BROWN: Ann, what is known about the trapped miners? How experienced are they, how familiar with this particular mine?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: They're very experienced. Nine of the thirteen have more than 30 years of experience, definitely not a rookie team in any sense as the mining officials put it.

However, I'm not sure about their familiarity with this mine. This mine, some of the miners I know, have only been working there for one or two years. Nevertheless, extensive mining experience from this group that includes several men in their 40s and 50s.

JEFFREY BROWN: And what can you tell us about their families who are awaiting word? Where are they? Has their mood changed during the day of activities?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: It certainly has. I think that the mood has become much more somber after this morning's learning of the highly toxic levels of carbon monoxide in the area at the head of the mine.

I think people are holding on to hope. They certainly don't want to give up. But they will acknowledge that in the back of their minds they have to brace for the worst.

You know, they said to me, one woman said, you know, it's bad. The feeling is a very sad feeling. Some people, when told about these readings of the air this morning, broke down and cried. One woman at one point had to be taken away in an ambulance. So I think there is a desire to continue hope but I think people deep down are realistic about the sobering possibilities.

JEFFREY BROWN: We've been hearing today about some health and safety violations by this company. What can you tell us about its overall record?

ANN SCOTT TYSON: It has had safety violations. The company officials so far have said those do not rise to the threshold where mining authorities would shut down the mine. It did not rise to the threshold of imminent risk to the lives of miners.

Nevertheless, there have been serious safety issues involving methane levels and perhaps weaknesses of the roof of the mine as recently as the past year and recent months.

Since this company that is currently in charge took over in November, they say that they have made a lot of safety improvements, however.

JEFFREY BROWN: And finally, Ann, tell us what you expect to be happening or seeing over the next few hours there.

ANN SCOTT TYSON: I expect that the mine rescue teams may well reach the end of the mine and determine the fate of the miners. And there will be additional holes drilled. I expect those to be completed and they'll provide further information on what is there.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right. Ann Scott Tyson of the Washington Post, thanks very much.

ANN SCOTT TYSON: My pleasure.

JEFFREY BROWN: And I'm joined now live by an expert who oversaw mine safety in the 1990s for the U.S. Department of Labor during the Clinton Administration. Davitt McAteer is currently vice president for governmental affairs at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Mr. McAteer, welcome to you. Help us understand this rescue operation a bit. What makes it so difficult?

DAVITT McATEER: Well, the problem is that when the rescue teams go in, they must set up fresh air bases that ensure that there aren't more injuries or accidents to the rescuers themselves. And in order to do that, they start with the process by which they don oxygen masks or oxygen systems and try to take that forward until they can determine that the air is fresh and that they are protected.

They go some number of feet, typically 500 feet, and stop and set that new fresh air base up. Then the second team comes in and relieves the first team. And that team then moves forward in the next level. This is done in a very disciplined way in order to again prevent any second occurrence or any further problems from a safety and health standpoint for the rescuers themselves. But it is a very slow and tedious process.

Secondly, if there's any breaks in the ventilation systems in the mine itself, they will stop and fix those so that they have behind them, they bring their fresh air in essence brought along with them. And so they'll take the time to ensure that the ventilation system getting into the mine is repaired and is fixed.

JEFFREY BROWN: And what creates the dangerous gases that are there in the mine shaft?

DAVITT McATEER: The gases that have been most spoken of today are -- is carbon monoxide. That can be created in a couple of ways. One is from the explosion itself or from a fire. And so you have to look at the samples that are taken to see what the levels of carbon monoxide are as well as other samples to see if there are any, quote, fire gases.

Those are gases that are created after the fire -- after a fire occurs. We're not seeing any sign of the fire gases, which suggest that we don't have any active and strong fire. But we do have sufficient carbon monoxide to be of very high levels for three or four times the levels that are acceptable.

What that suggests is that you've gotten a -- an explosion. And that explosion would create a carbon monoxide base. And then the ventilation system being disrupted as we think it is, as the reports have indicated, that system would then circulate this carbon monoxide inside the mine itself. And so we would have to guard against the carbon monoxide being inhaled by the mine rescue teams.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, as we just heard, this was a fairly experienced crew that went in there. What kind of precautions would they have taken? What kind of training would they have had to do in a situation like this?

DAVITT McATEER: Well, the miners experienced in work would know to take certain basic precautions. There is a self-contained self-rescuer, an oxygen-generating breathing device that each miner has or is on the car that they're carrying.

And if they were close enough to get to those devices at the time of the explosion and could survive the explosion, then in fact they would be in a position to try and figure out a way to get to a fresh air base.

If they could learn that there was toxic air, they would try to go to a place that had fresh air in it and use some of the materials that were in the mine itself to barricade themselves into an area to try to hold the fresh air into the area until a rescue occurs.

They would have had to have tremendous amount of luck in all of these levels - first would be to survive the explosion; second, to be able to get to these devices; third, to be able to find the materials to barricade themselves in. And that's why I think that most people are pessimistic about the outcome. But miners have in the past been very resourceful and have done things that have been remarkable so we don't give up hope.

JEFFREY BROWN: We have, of course, just heard about some of the violations that this company has been hit with over the last year. How unusual is that? How good is the oversight of mining companies?

DAVITT McATEER: Well, we've heard that there's been a number of violations both the previous years and in this year, and both at the state level and at the federal levels. Those numbers of citations have increased, in some cases, increased dramatically. In one instance at the federal level they've more than doubled. That is a real problematic sign from a safety standpoint.

And the second factor is that these types -- the types of violations that we're talking about are substantive violations. They are, for example, violations of the roof control. They're violations of the emergency escape ways. They're not only the basic violations but they're substantive violations.

That should have sent a signal to management as well toss to the regulatory agency that you need to have ay vamp of the health and safety system that you've got in place because what it is suggesting to you is that the system that you have in place is not working.

And, unfortunately, the fact that you've had an explosion also suggests that the system that was in place was inadequate. And any time you have an explosion in the mine, it says that it was grossly inadequate.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right. Davitt McAteer, Thank you very much.

JIM LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight, the Abramoff plea and post earthquake Pakistan.

UPDATE - GUILTY PLEA

JIM LEHRER: And Kwame Holman begins our coverage of the Abramoff story.

KWAME HOLMAN: Former super lobbyist Jack Abramoff's fall from grace was fully realized today. Shortly after noon he left federal court in Washington wearing a black hat, having pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion.

In return for his guilty plea, Abramoff agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation of possible corruption by members of Congress and their aides. Abramoff admitted he provided numerous gifts to a congressman identified in press accounts as Ohio Republican Bob Ney, including campaign contributions, free meals at Abramoff's downtown restaurant, tickets to sporting events and a golfing trip to Scotland.

In return, the indictment alleges that congressman performed official acts benefiting Abramoff and his clients. Explaining today's plea agreement, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher gave some examples of those acts.

ALICE FISHER: Abramoff had a congressman insert statements in the Congressional Record, had a congressman endorse a wireless telephone contract for the House of Representatives, had a congressman agree to seek passage of legislation to help Abramoff's clients. Government officials and government action are not for sale.

KWAME HOLMAN: Rep. Ney maintained his innocence in a statement released today, saying: "I obviously did not know and had no way of knowing the self-serving and fraudulent nature of Abramoff's activities."

It's reported that the activities of multiple members of Congress and their aides may be part of the 18-month-long investigation. One is former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who also took an Abramoff-funded golfing trip to Scotland in 2000. DeLay is one of more than 200 members of Congress to receive political contributions from Abramoff, his lobbying associates or his clients between 2001 and 2004.

According to today's agreement, Abramoff also admitted to conspiring with his colleague, Michael Scanlon, a former aide to Tom DeLay, to defraud their clients, several American Indian tribes, of millions of dollars. Scanlon is one of three Abramoff associates also to have been indicted. He pleaded guilty in November.

Abramoff himself also has been charged with wire fraud in a separate case involving a fleet of floating casinos in Florida.

JIM LEHRER: Margaret Warner takes the story from there.

MARGARET WARNER: And joining us for more on today's plea agreement, what's behind it, and where it may lead, are two reporters who have been covering the mushrooming Abramoff scandal: James Grimaldi of the Washington Post and Eamon Javers of Business Week.

Welcome to you both.

Eamon, you were in the courtroom today when Abramoff pled guilty. Give us a flavor of it.

EAMON JAVERS: Well, these things, Margaret, are kind of scripted affairs. I mean, everybody sort of knew what they were there to do today and they did the job. Many of them were actually reading off sheets of paper including the judge, Abramoff's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, and representatives of the government.

So everybody knew what was going to happen but the whole thing took about 35 minutes. Jack Abramoff walked in and seemed pretty soft spoken, I mean, given the allegations that we've heard and some of the mockery that's already come out today of the outfit that he wore to the courtroom today.

MARGARET WARNER: The black hat, the black trench coat.

EAMON JAVERS: Some people saying he looked like a Mafiosi, you know, his favorite movie is "The Godfather."

But that wasn't the character that was on display tonight. This was a guy who was very soft spoken, made a fairly lengthy apology at the end of the proceedings and really kept his remarks to sort of, yes, Your Honor, no, Your Honor, and only deviated from that script one or two times.

MARGARET WARNER: And there were lots of reporters waiting outside the courtroom for what is usually the inevitable press conference by the lawyer. Nothing happened.

EAMON JAVERS: We didn't get it. A lot of the speculation of what's going on today, I mean this is a pretty lengthy document, this criminal information that they put out today, but there's not a lot here in terms of the government tipping its hand on what else it might have other than some of the stuff we already knew, as you said in the setup piece about Congressman Bob Ney, et cetera.

So it just alludes tantalizingly here for those of us who cover this to other public officials and their families. That's public officials, plural, but we don't know how many; we don't know who and we don't know what's coming next.

MARGARET WARNER: So, James Grimaldi, let's go to the most explosive charge, which is of course that Abramoff admits that he corrupted public officials.

And as Kwame's piece said and Eamon just mentioned, the only one really mentioned by reference is Congressman Bob Ney. Bob Ney's denied he did anything wrong.

How hard is the evidence that the government has in terms of that there really was a quid for the quo or a quo for the quid?

JAMES GRIMALDI: Well, you have got a third person actually with Jack Abramoff who has agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors in the case against Representative One who we know to be Bob Ney.

There were already two other plea agreements with two other business partners of Abramoff. And both of those gentlemen have said that they would testify against Congressman Ney if there was a trial.

We know that there were three separate occasions in which Congressman Ney allegedly performed particular activities for Jack Abramoff and his clients.

But, Margaret, I should point out the charging documents today also talk about two congressional aides who we have written about but have not been widely written about who are named as Staffer A and Staffer B. And there are pending allegations now, according to these documents, against these staffers.

One of those staffers was a deputy to Congressman Tom DeLay. And you should expect that there should be some movement there. The question would be: Are the prosecutors building a step stone -- stepladder case that would go from Jack Abramoff to this staffer and then on to perhaps Congressman DeLay or some other congressman in an ongoing and, as they said, rapidly moving corruption investigation?

MARGARET WARNER: In fact, Eamon, congressional aides are mentioned. This is one new thing -

EAMON JAVERS: Right.

MARGARET WARNER: -- from the Scanlon criminal information. They seem to have been an integral part, an integral cog of the scheme that Abramoff is now confessing to.

EAMON JAVERS: Well, this is sort of all part of the culture of day-to-day lobbying in Washington. These guys are people who are young staffers frequently when they first come to Capitol Hill. They all hang out -- in the case of the Republicans -- they all hang together at the Capital Grill on Pennsylvania Avenue drinking beer, lobbyists pick up the tab.

You get to be friends with some of these lobbyists if you're a Hill staffer. And, lo and behold over time they start asking for favors. In the case of Staffer A and Staffer B, who are listed in this document today, I've talked to a number of former Abramoff associates today who say that's probably Tony Rudy who was the deputy chief of staff to Tom DeLay and also Neal Vols who worked for Mr. Ney. These guys are going to face a possible situation themselves in terms of government action because they were in this culture where Jack and other lobbyists would ask for favors.

MARGARET WARNER: But is it fair to say, James, that in -- the bribery is hard to prove. And that there have to be enough witnesses either to the bribery or some kind of paper trail that really establishes -- because these members say, of course, I took a -- I went to the basketball game. That doesn't mean that that's why I voted this way on that bill.

JAMES GRIMALDI: Well I think you're going to see a pretty extensive paper trail. We know that there are thousands of emails and Jack Abramoff was a voracious writer of emails. And we know that now we're going to have his testimony to explain what the emails mean as well as two other witnesses who have agreed to cooperate.

I think I would differ a little bit with Eamon in the fact that this is maybe a part of a culture but in the case of Staffer A, who we have written about and we believe to be Tony Rudy --

MARGARET WARNER: That's the Tom DeLay staffer.

JAMES GRIMALDI: The Tom DeLay staffer. His wife was hired and paid $50,000 through a nonprofit all as part of a story that we wrote last fall describing a vote that Tom DeLay cast and a bill that Jack Abramoff wanted to kill on behalf of his gambling company clients. What you saw there, I think the allegation will be, that was a form of a conspiracy to bribe an official.

Now, I will point out that that particular person, Tony Rudy and Lisa Rudy, say that services were performed to that nonprofit that received the money from the Abramoff client and that it was in preparation and planning for a seminar that was put on in Washington.

So you're right that you've got to prove and have some witness testimony like a Jack Abramoff and others in order to bolster any email or any payments that might come up, any check receipts, because there will be a defense for the people going forward.

But, as you saw in this case, well, one of the amazing things we learned today was that Jack Abramoff has been cooperating for 18 months, which is just a few months after the first story about his lobbying operation appeared in the Washington Post, back in 2004.

MARGARET WARNER: So Eamon, that raises the question: Why though this criminal information refers to public officials in the plural, why there is no other lawmaker mentioned by inference, not Tom DeLay, not anyone else.

EAMON JAVERS: Right.

MARGARET WARNER: What does that tell you about the prosecution's strategy here?

EAMON JAVERS: Well, I've talked with some people today who are familiar with how these things are put together. And I'm told that in a case like this the government doesn't really have to show all of its cards and in fact might not want to simply because they haven't issue target letters, the official notification that you're under the scrutiny of the FBI, to members of Congress who might also be involved, other staffers.

And they don't want to tip off those members that they're looking at their activities over the past who knows how many years, so part of this might be that they're just keeping their cards close to their vest here and they don't wantto alert anybody that they're under the microscope.

MARGARET WARNER: Do you agree with that, James?

JAMES GRIMALDI: Well, I think that's right. You need to also gain cooperation from some of these other staffers and some of the other people out there. And it is, as we've been told, an ongoing investigation but we've reported in the past that Mr. DeLay is under investigation for his overseas trips, that John Doolittle, a congressman from California is under investigation, and Sen. Conrad Burns, a senator from Montana, is also under scrutiny by this task force, so I think you're going to see that many of these issues will be resolved probably rapidly in coming months.

But that's correct; you don't want to necessarily tip your hand before you're ready to make your play.

MARGARET WARNER: And so I'll ask both of you. James, quickly, how many lawmakers from the people you're talking to in this investigation really are being looked at seriously? Everyone keeps using this figure 20. Eamon mentioned 60 last time you all had that conversation.

JAMES GRIMALDI: Well, I think it's closer to half a dozen, Margaret, in terms of lawmakers and probably at least another six congressional aides. But don't forget we have the former number 2 official in the Department of Interior who is under scrutiny as well as some agency officials.

MARGARET WARNER: And what would you add to that?

EAMON JAVERS: Well, I would add that we just don't know. I mean, Number 60 I said comes from just one source who is familiar with this. But it is only one source, and you have to take that for what it is. You know, we're hearing numbers like 20 and 12 and things like that. We just don't know. We didn't find out in this document today.

MARGARET WARNER: And do you think there are people also in the executive branch being looked at?

EAMON JAVERS: Oh, well clearly there already have been people in the executive branch being looked at. There are clearly some other people out there who have had Abramoff associations who are working elsewhere in government. But you know, what we don't know is who exactly is being looked at here.

MARGARET WARNER: And, James, just to explain, the executive branch was particularly important because the way Abramoff got all this money to lavishly spend around was by -- the indictment says or the information says -- defrauding all these Indian tribes who were his clients. And they needed licenses from the Interior Department.

JAMES GRIMALDI: That's right. The Interior Department would recognize tribes, and that would allow the tribes to open casinos. That was very important. And there was some lobbying work that was done, but what you're seeing in this indictment is or this plea agreement as well is that Jack Abramoff also had a secret kickback scheme with Michael Scanlon, tax evasion as well. So it is a pretty complicated issue.

Don't forget, the top procurement official at the White House has also been indicted in this case.

MARGARET WARNER: And how good a deal, Eamon, is Abramoff getting in return for promising to cooperate?

EAMON JAVERS: Well, that is what some of the reporters in the room we were talking about on the way out after that -- you know, this is a case where Jack Abramoff hypothetically possibly is facing as much as 30 years in prison, $25 million in restitution of the money involved here. After the thing broke up, people were saying, well, if that's the good deal, what were they threatening him with? I mean that's a lot of years.

Now, clearly the prosecutors have the discretion to ratchet down the time basedon how well they feel he cooperates. So right now, from this day forward, his fate is really in the hands of government prosecutors here who are going to decide how good of a witness was he really, and that's going to be where the final number comes from.

MARGARET WARNER: Because didn't the assistant attorney general, Ms. Fisher, mention something about nine and a half to eleven years? That was the -

EAMON JAVERS: Right. But, again, in talking to people today who are familiar with how these things are done there really is no ultimate guarantee. And the judge in the case was very clear not to put a guarantee on it today.

MARGARET WARNER: So, in other words, James, briefly if you will, the squeeze continues on Abramoff.

JAMES GRIMALDI: That's right. He really does need to cooperate in order to get that deal. He has five children. He's out of money. He needs to have a sentence that would be closer to ten years, which would be a pretty good deal.

Remember, the 30 years is only for the charges leveled against him. He's also going to have to give restitution of $25 million plus another $1.7 million for the taxes that he evaded.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. James Grimaldi, Eamon Javers, thank you so much.

EAMON JAVERS: Thank you.

JAMES GRIMALDI: Thank you.

UPDATE - AFTERSHOCKS

JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight, a two-part update on the Pakistan earthquake. The first comes from NewsHour correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro of Twin Cities Public Television.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Kashmir's vast landscape is textured with the rubble of collapsed buildings, of mountains reshaped by landslides, the fresh graves of 73,000 quake victims and precarious tents for the millions who survived.

This field clinic in the remote village of Katai was set up by a group of Pakistani American doctors. Patients come in by the hundreds. The elderly --

SPOKESMAN: Osteoporosis.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The young, a baby with a massive ear infection.

Two months after the earthquake, patients are now coming in with chronic long untended illnesses, consequences of poverty more than an earthquake.

But there are still many earthquake victims like this Mansur Kiani.

MANSUR KIANI (Translated): A beam fell on my leg. I was trapped in my shop for four days.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: His wound has been slow to heal, and there's little anesthesia. It's a metaphor for the whole region. The waiting area outside is filled with anguished stories.

INTERPRETER: Actually she has lost the little land that she owned because of the landslide. She lost her husband, her son, her daughter-in-law.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: There's been little time to ponder grief here. Survival takes precedence.

In Katai, the doctors' group has dispensed tents and food. There's never enough to go around.

RYAN CROCKER, U.S. Ambassador: It remains an acute crisis, an acute disaster. It's been that since the day of the quake, Oct. 8, and I believe it will continue to be that right through the winter.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker notes this is one of the world's most militarized areas, bitterly fought over and divided between India and Pakistan.

Today Pakistan's military has turned its prowess to relief work, aided by many international teams.

Pakistan may be a poor country but it does have a substantial middle class and a large overseas population, among them, 10,000 doctors who practice in the United States and Canada.

The doctors' group has raised millions in cash, medicines and equipment. Dozens of Pakistani American physicians like this Fareed Sheikh have spent time herebringing much needed medical and language skills.

Cardiologist Abdul Rashid Piracha is president of the Association of Pakistani Physicians in North America.

DR. ABDUL RASHID PIRACHA: The attitude or the passion that our members have shown in this earthquake is just beyond description. We as an organization are hoping that any aid that comes from the U.S.A, that people, experts like ourselves, have some watchful eye on it as to where it is spent and whether it is spent properly or not.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The group wants to be a watchdog not only against corruption but also to make sure aid pledges are collected.

Dr. Saeed Akhtar is a surgeon who moved back to Pakistan after years in Texas.

DR. SAEED AKHTAR: People who have pledged real big bucks to the country in forms of pledges probably will not come through. We need to sort of -- I hope I'm wrong. But, you know, the experience tells that's what it is. Then if you start --

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: That means people pledge but don't actually deliver on it?

DR. SAEED AKHTAR: That is exactly right. Just the examples are in front of us. Tsunami was not too far away. Only one third of the money that has been pledged for the tsunami has been collected so far. It's a year out now.

RYAN CROCKER: We're conscious of the tsunami experience. And we will not only ensure that we do what we said, we're going to do our level best to ensure that others do the same thing.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And come through with their pledges.

RYAN CROCKER: Exactly.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The U.S. has pledged $510 million to the Pakistani relief effort. Ambassador Crocker said it's not only the right humanitarian thing to do but it is also important symbolically.

RYAN CROCKER: Pakistan is the second most populous Muslim country in the world. It's important, I think, as we consider our relations with the Muslim world that we consider how we can make a difference by come to go the aid of Muslims who have suffered.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: American Chinook helicopters have been key to shuttling relief supplies and casualties. Many of them arrive at one of two U.S. military mash units.

This one has become a key medical center for Muzaffrabad, the regional capital. Its hospitals were wiped out in the quake.

For patients, there's a stark reminder that winter is here, also that this is a theater in the war on terror. No one escapes the metal detector. Some 11,000 patients have come through the two mash units. Today many of their ailments reflect the quake's legacy: Orthopedic care, tent fires and accidents from the struggle to survive.

Air Force physician Fareed Sheikh:

MAJ. FAREED SHEIKH: There's a town called Bolicot; further beyond that where they live is a landing zone for the drop-off for the aid. And as the helicopter was landing, it basically -- they have artificial tents that are both built from tin. It came lose, and she was standing and it struck her in her back.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The biggest fear is that a harsh winter could threaten as many lives as the earthquake. Pakistan Army General Farooq Ahmed Khan is still trying to get sturdy shelter for everyone.

GEN. FAROOQ AHMED KHAN: About 500,000 houses were destroyed as per our estimate. As for the World Bank, it was over 400,000. Nevertheless as of today, we have distributed about 675,000 tents but as you would know that most of these tents are ordinary tents.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Not winterized?

GEN. FAROOQ AHMED KHAN: Not winterized, So winterized is about 12 percent, which is a very small number

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He says the army's priority is to build simple one-room shelters for people living at elevations above 5,000 feet. Many of Kashmir's fiercely independent mountain people chose to remain close to what property and livestock they could salvage. Gen. Farooq fears winter may force many to lower elevations.

GEN. FAROOQ AHMED KHAN: My biggest worry would be should the weather turn bad and the population decides to come down so we'll have to have facilities to look after about 200,000 people.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Even now conditions are strained at lower elevations. Many surviving schoolchildren, some 18,000 perished in the quake, have to study outdoors. Winter could bring their education to a close. Their families have tents but little else.

NOOR JEHAN (Translated): There are ten people in this tent. The kids have no shoes, no clothes. It's cold in the tent. We sleep close together under a quilt. We don't have a heater or anything like that. The children are getting sick.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Noor Jehan is the matriarch of this household live together in a joint family, a common tradition here.

Each day Noor Jehan's son, Aurangzeb, and a neighbor trek up to their property, about a mile and a half away on almost vertical terrain.

There on the rubble, her oldest son, Aslam, stays in a tent provided by the government. "We had three buildings here," he says. "They all collapsed."

MOHAMMED ASLAM (Translated): My wife was standing here. She was washing dishes when the building collapsed. She was thrown down the mountainside and she died. My son here, I was able to pull him out.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In all nine members of this extended family died. Their graves are about the only ones intact in the cemetery just across the street.

MOHAMMED ASLAM (Translated): We'd love to bring the whole family back here but the graveyard has been destroyed. That scares us. No one has been by to fix it. The road is gone. It's too dangerous.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Much of the road leading to their home disappeared in the earthquake. It's just one of hundreds of massive rebuilding projects this region will face for years. First, they must survive this winter.

JIM LEHRER: Ray Suarez has Part 2.

RAY SUAREZ: This Pakistan earthquake update comes from two officials of the organization Refugees International. A delegation from that advocacy organization spent five days in Pakistan in mid-December.

To discuss the mission we're joined by Farooq Kathwari, chairman of Refugees International; he's also the president and CEO of Ethan Allen Interiors. He grew up in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan and is now an American citizen; and Kenneth Bacon, president of Refugees International and a former journalist and assistant secretary of defense in the Clinton administration.

Farooq Kathwari, you've just come back from the affected area. Tell us what you've seen.

FAROOQ KATHWARI: The tragedy is just enormous. I would just say that for me it's too - anecdotes were important.

First was when we landed in Muzaffrabad, which is the capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the epicenter for the earthquake, about 70, 80 percent of the buildings are destroyed or structurally destroyed. There was chaos and destruction all over.

The second was when we met the prime minister, along with his major officials, and he said - he said, "I am now the prime minister of a graveyard."

So that is really the two instances that to me gave the essence of what has taken place, this tragedy.

RAY SUAREZ: Now, Kenneth Bacon, the worldwide relief community watched in horror as the temperatures dropped; it was threatened that a lot of people were going to die from exposure; and as it turns out. that wasn't enough to make things just happen. There are a lot of people who are still out in the cold, aren't there?

KENNETH BACON: There are, but I have to say that this has been an extraordinary relief effort under extremely difficult circumstances.

We all were appalled in the early days when we saw the devastation, people being dragged half-alive from buildings with their legs broken off, people undergoing surgery without any medication whatsoever.

A lot has happened since then and there is a huge humanitarian infrastructure there.

They started by reaching out to the people in the highest altitudes, above 5,000 feet. And they have done a very good job of getting blankets, tents, food, and winter provisions to these people.

Now, it's still going to be a very tough winter; they're still in very unsubstantial shelters and tents. But they have reached most of these people. Fifteen thousand separate communities and villages they had to reach by foot, by helicopter, and by truck, when they could. So they've done a much better job in the last month than they did in the first week

RAY SUAREZ: Mr. Kathwari, what do they still need to make it through this winter?

FAROOQ KATHWARI: Right now, the most important issue for them is the next three or four months. The winter is already there. They need shelter, especially for those who are still at higher altitudes.

Lots of people who live in these mountainous regions don't want to give up their homes; that's the only thing they possess. And also they don't have the kind of deeds that we have over here, so they're concerned that if they leave, that possibly they may lose their home.

So the challenge has been to take shelter to them. And that is taking place, but I believe that the world cannot forget that we could have a catastrophe in the next three or four months because now the challenge has just started; the winter has just started.

So I think there's a tremendous amount of need for the next three or four months. And then of course the reconstruction starts; they have lost 80 to 90 percent of their educational facilities, many of the schools, their teachers have been killed; their main hospitals are destroyed. It was an amazing sight to see a five- or six-story hospital come down one story, just the ground just gave in.

And today the students are in tents; the students have no facilities, so I think the most important thing is the world to understand that the crisis is not over; in fact, it is just beginning.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, Kenneth Bacon, the local government took a very interesting approach toward trying to jumpstart the regional economy. Talk about what they did.

KENNETH BACON: Yes. Basically the Pakistani government made an almost immediate decision to pump cash into the pockets of the survivors. They did this in three ways.

They set up a very generous shelter compensation account. If you lost your house, you got almost immediately the equivalent of $400, which is a lot of money; this is a country where the per capita Gross Domestic Product is $2200 a year, so $440 is a lot of money. Eventually, though, everybody who lost a house will get a little over $3,000 -- about $3100.

They have also paid people death benefits. If somebody in the immediate family died, you get up to about $2,000. And they also are compensating people for injuries. If you lost a limb, you would get about $1,000.

Now, there's, of course, no way to put a price on death; there's no wayto put a price on a limb. But what this has done is give people a sense of confidence and a sense of independence. But it's also made the recovery owner-driven. People who had houses got the money to repair those houses almost immediately.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, let me stop you right there. Once money is in your hands, does supply rise up to meet demand? Is there something to spend that money on?

KENNETH BACON: Well, in this case there has been. There's been a huge effort to bring in corrugated iron roofing slabs. And these are shiny things that you put on the top of a house.

So the strategy has been - since most of the houses are built out of rocks and cement made from mud and some wooden beams, those rocks are still there, so they've used the beams and the rocks to reconstruct the walls of the house, and then they've put these corrugated sheets on top. So they've been able to reconstruct the houses very quickly.

Sometimes they will reconstruct - get the roof up - and build - set up a tent under the roof so they can live in that because the walls aren't reconstructed yet.

But the fact of the matter is that we saw -- one of the important aspects of monetizing aid is that it allows the economy to keep going and we saw markets that had risen from rubble. There were people selling building materials out of shops that didn't have roofs themselves.

And so there is -- the entire Pakistani steel industry is devoting its output now to producing these corrugated sheets so they can replace the roofs of lost houses. It's really quite an extraordinary effort.

RAY SUAREZ: Farooq Kathwari, Kenneth Bacon, gentlemen, thank you both.

KENNETH BACON: Thank you.

FAROOQ KATHWARI: Thank you.

RECAP

JIM LEHRER: Again, the major developments of this day: Rescue teams in West Virginia continued to try to reach the 13 miners trapped deep underground; and Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud in a major probe of influence peddling in Washington.

We'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.