[News] David Goldman Custody Battle Leads to Block of Trade Bill

In an apparent effort to exert political pressure on Brazil to return a nine-year-old boy to his New Jersey father, Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey is planning to hold up a trade bill that would benefit that country.

The Associated Press reports that Lautenberg placed a hold on the bill, which allows certain countries, including Brazil, to export certain products to the United States duty-free.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court in Brazil kept David Goldman (pictured) from retrieving his son Sean, who was taken to Brazil five years ago by his now-deceased mother.

The court said Sean must remain in Brazil until the case is settled. It goes into a two-month recess at the end of the day.

Goldman had flown to Brazil after a lower court ruled that his son should be returned to him, though that ruling was stayed before he could take the boy back to America.

A number of American political leaders, including President Obama, have pressured Brazil to release the boy to his father. New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith flew to Brazil in an attempt to force the issue.

Goldman's wife took Sean to Brazil in 2004, then divorced him and remarried. She died while giving birth to a daughter last year, and her family has sought to keep Sean in Brazil.

[News] Health-Care Reform 2009

Final vote on Senate health-care reform bill set for Thursday morning

Hours after the Senate cleared a set of key procedural hurdles on President Obama's health-care legislation with more party-line votes, leaders set a vote on passage of the bill for 8 a.m. on Christmas Eve.

Hours after the Senate cleared a set of key procedural hurdles on President Obama's health-care legislation with more party-line votes, leaders set a vote on passage of the bill for 8 a.m. on Christmas Eve.

It was the second time in five days that the Senate -- now in its 23rd straight day of legislative action, all of which has included debate on health care -- has convened in the wee morning hours to hold votes. In addition to the votes Tuesday, which began at 7:30, and a 6:45 a.m. vote Saturday, there were two votes that began shortly after 1 a.m. -- on a defense bill Friday, and on the health-care package Monday.

Lacking the votes to block the health-care bill, Republicans continued to heap scorn on the many concessions made to wavering Democrats in the quest to advance the package.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) took to the floor to lambaste Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) for securing better payments from the federal government for their state's Medicaid program, which could add up to $300 million. Some have called that side deal the "Louisiana Purchase," but Vitter's speech was titled the "Louisiana Sellout," a particularly sharp critique of his home-state colleague.

On Monday, Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele accused Democrats of "thumbing their nose and flipping the bird to the American people." Conceding that the Senate bill is virtually unstoppable, Steele said in a conference call with reporters: "I intend to have my foot on the throats of the Democrats on this issue and hold them accountable." Democrats seeking reelection in 2010, he warned, "can look for their pink slips."

Reid responded by telling reporters he was "disappointed" by Steele's remarks, calling them "crass and such a terrible example for the youth of this country."

But Reid defended the long list of revisions to the bill, which were needed to secure the backing of moderate Democrats such as Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.). Those changes contained additional Medicaid funding for specific states including Nebraska, exemptions for certain insurance companies and tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. "There are 100 senators here, and I don't know that there's a senator that doesn't have something in this bill that isn't important to them," Reid told reporters. "If they don't have something in it important to them, then it doesn't speak well of them."

The majority leader compared the legislation to a defense bill, typically thick with earmarks, many benefiting specific companies. "That's what legislation's all about," said Reid. "It's the art of the compromise."

[News] Brittany Murphy death: Was husband Simon Monjack left out of her will?

Simon Monjack, more popularly known as 'the guy married to Brittany Murphy,' says he wants his late wife's mother to live with him going forward because she's his "link to Brittany." She also may be the sole benefactor in the actress' will.

"I don't know if she will ever recover," Monjack told CNN Tuesday. "And I know when she reads all this nonsense about her son-in-law and her deceased daughter, her heart is breaking.

"She has lived with us and saw the love and support," he continues. "I hope she stays -- I can't imagine my life without Sharon -- she's my link to Brittany.

Monjack's motivation to keep his mother-in-law under the same roof was being questioned by some Tuesday, as TMZ reported that he may not be mentioned in Brittany Murphy's will.

Murphy died early Sunday of cardiac arrest, but the specifics won't be confirmed until an autopsy can be completed. That may take six weeks, say officials, due to the need for toxicology reports.

Murphy had died after collapsing in the bathroom of her home in the Hollywood hills. Half an hour after her collapse, she was found by her mother, Sharon Murphy, who had lived with the couple for the previous three years.

Monjack told reporters Murphy suffered from mitral valve relapse, otherwise known as a heart murmur, which didn't require medication. The actress had been ill for up to ten days, complaining of abdominal pain, laryngitis and shortness of breath. She was self-treating her problems with herbal tea, ginger and lemon, while watching Academy Award screeners in bed, according to her husband.

Murphy had also long suffered from hypoglycemia, to the point where she was hospitalized in 2009 for low blood sugar.

According to noted prepared by the Coronor's office, Monjack "attempted to revive [Murphy] by placing her in the shower and running the water."

"[Murphy] remained unresponsive and purged her stomach contents prior to the arrival of the paramedics."

Monjack said there were no drugs in the house, but the coroner's office later claimed a large amount of prescription medication was found at the residence.

TMZ claims they included depression medication Fluoxetine ,anti-seizure medication Topamax, pain relievers Vicoprofen and hydrocodone, hypertension medication Propranolol, and the anti-anxiety meds Klonopin and Ativan. numerous empty medication bottles were found at the scene, according to those reports.

Monjack reportedly objected to the autopsy, but now says he looks forward to the results.

The pair first met on a photo shoot when Murphy was 13 years old and Monjack was a 21-year-old photographer. They were reintroduced fifteen years later on Murphy's 28th birthday and married a year later.

Murphy's father, Angelo Bertolotti, who had been estranged from his daughter since the arrival of Monjack in her romantic life, told the New York Daily News, "When Brittany married Simon, she cut off communication with a number of people who cherished her."

"She lived in denial about him."