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Brazilian Family Agrees to Stop Fighting for Boy's Custody; Spain Hopes to Track Down Soldier's Name; Business Booming for Lobbyists; Burned Teen Leaves Hospital

Aired December 23, 2009 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We are pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with that man, Richard Lui.

RICHARD LUI, HOST: Thank you, Tony. I didn't even know you could dance. Very well done.

HARRIS: Oh, oh.

LUI: I had to bring that back.

That's right, pushing forward this hour on a pair of homecomings. In Brazil, father and son prepare for a reunion, split by an international abduction and five years of custody fights.

And then No. 2 in Florida: mother and son, prepare for more agonizing rehab, but at least he is finally home, two months after he was set on fire.

And only eight days left to keep their promise, AIG executives still sitting on about $25 million in bonuses that we were supposed to get back.

All right, first off for you, David Goldman's Brazilian battle appears to be over, but of all people, he knows to keep the champagne on ice until he and his son are in the air and Jersey-bound.

Goldman's been fighting for five years to get his son, Sean, back from the boy's extended Brazilian family. The boy's mother died last year. Now, the family has decided to stop fighting.

Let's go now to CNN's Ines Ferre for the very latest on this.

Now, Ines, the last we heard about this, that they were still going to have an appeal. What has happened today?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today, we know that the family does not plan to appeal anymore. The Brazilian family lawyer is telling CNN that they want to do a smooth handover, that they will comply with the court ruling.

And also we have new information that a regional court in Brazil has said that this handover must happen by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning local time. Again, a regional court saying that the boy must be handed over by 9 a.m. local time in Rio. Now, the family lawyer, the Brazilian family lawyer, telling CNN that he wants to set up a meeting between the maternal grandmother in Brazil and David Goldman so that she can talk to him a little bit about what the boy likes, what the boy likes to eat, et cetera.

And the maternal grandmother also spoke to CNN herself, saying she was very disappointed with this ruling, and this is what she told us. Quote, "Sean is very sad, because it has never been his desire to go back to the states. He got especially disappointed about not having the right to speak in his own country about what he wanted for himself."

As you recall, she had been pushing for the courts to hear the boy's testimony, despite the fact that he's under 12 years old.

Now, we have also spoke to the paternal grandfather last night after he got word of the ruling. He spoke to AC360, telling us that basically he was very happy. He was cautious as well, though. But that he just wanted to see his grandson and that he was going to hug him and kiss him and tell him just how much he's missed him over the last five years -- Richard.

LUI: And Ines, so it was the maternal grandmother that was, at least we had heard before, going to be the one who was going to have this appeal. She is now evidently, according to the attorneys saying, "No, that's not what I want to do." Is that correct?

TORRE: The attorney for the Brazilian family, which includes the maternal grandmother in Brazil, saying that "This is it. We're not going to be appealing anymore."

LUI: Got it.

TORRE: "We're not going to set up any more roadblocks."

LUI: And that 9 a.m. deadline, it's early on yet. Do we know what happens if they do not meet that getting together by 9 a.m. and that handover that you were describing just moments ago?

TORRE: Right. We just got word of this timeline. We don't know what's going to happen. I mean, we do know that the lawyer for the Brazilian family has said that they're in no rush, that they want this to be really smooth, that they want this to be in the best interests of Sean, the boy, that they really don't want this to be a rush situation.

LUI: Right.

TORRE: So, it's really interesting that we're getting word of this timeline, that it's got to be by 9 a.m.

LUI: Wow.

TORRE: Yet they're saying that they want to kind of make this into a smooth transition.

LUI: Ines, we can't finish this conversation without talking about the number of trips that David Goldman has made down there.

TORRE: Oh.

LUI: At least ten. Is he finally saying it's going to happen, or is he still holding up his guard?

TORRE: Well, we spoke to Congressman Chris Smith, who is with him in Rio, and he said, you know, he's still going to believe it once he's on the plane with Sean, headed back to the United States. But he said that he is starting to show in his body language and in his expressions that this is finally starting to sink in, that this could really be it.

LUI: Ten trips, wow. The patience and, of course, the fortitude that he's had over so many, many years now, some five years. Ines Ferre, who has been covering the story for us, thank you so much for the latest.

Again, that latest development, that there will not be an appeal, and we expect the reunion to happen soon, hopefully.

David Goldman's own father, by the way, Barry, talked to CNN's Anderson Cooper last night. Barry is looking forward to a reunion with his son and grandson, but he's not going to exhale until that plane leaves Brazil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY GOLDMAN, GRANDFATHER OF SEAN: I just feel, again, cautiously optimistic. I've been on the top of this roller coaster so many times to slide down the other side. As David has said many times, until the wheels are up on that plane and Sean and David and congressman and all are on it, it's not a done deal. And -- and hopefully that's going to happen soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Yes, somewhat caution there. And at some point, by the way, today we should hear from the child's Brazilian family, either from them directly or their lawyer. We'll have it right here for you on CNN.

Also for you today, if you're into family history, you know how frustrating it is to have a mystery picture with no name on the back of that. Well, that's kind of the problem here that Spain has with this old photo you see on your screen right now.

The man you see was a U.S. Citizen, one of nearly 100 African- American volunteers who went to Spain to help defend the elected government against fascists during a three-year civil war. This was back in the 1930s, by the way. This gentleman died in 1937 in the battle at Bounette (ph), and that's where the trail ends.

Spanish authorities want a name to go with this face, because they plan to give the picture to President Obama next year. We're going to need some history detectives for this one, no doubt. And the mystery soldier was part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and they have an archive based in New York.

James Fernandez is a board member, and thanks for being with us this afternoon. Do you have any idea who this man is that we saw in the picture there?

JAMES FERNANDEZ, BOARD MEMBER, ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE ARCHIVE: Well, we're working on it. It's become something of an Internet parlor game, in trying to figure out who this man is. People have narrowed it down. There's some names floating around. But I -- I have a thought that might kind of throw the wrench in the works of identifying this man.

LUI: Oh, what's that?

FERNANDEZ: Well, there's a possibility that he's actually Cuban. A board member, Sebastian Favro (ph), was going through his library of photographs, and he found another photograph by the same photographer, Augustine Santagas (ph), of our same soldier beneath a banner that has the name of Abraham Lincoln Battalion, and then below that something called Santonia Antonio Artega (ph), which was a Cuban outfit that left from New York. They were Cubans that were living in New York, and they left with non-Cuban soldiers to go to Spain to fight in the war. But there's a chance that this is an Afro-Cuban man and not an American man.

LUI: Not African-American. So of course, what you're basically intimating here, it's very difficult to understand. Who are these pictures and, of course, that's half the battle here as Spain tries to identify the identity here.

But tell us why this is so important to Spain, this group of Americans back in the '30s that went over to Spain to help them fight for the elected government at that time.

FERNANDEZ: Right. This is really a fascinating part of American history that's not very well known. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, about -- almost 3,000 American men and some women volunteered to go to Spain to fight fascism. And as you said, we think that about 100 of these volunteers were African-Americans.

So, it's a very big part of Spanish history. The Spanish Civil War was really a defining moment in 20th Century history, but it's really been erased, or eclipsed, by the Second World War, the Holocaust and all the horrible things that happened after it. But between 1936 and 1939...

LUI: Right.

FERNANDEZ: ... the world's eyes were focused on Spain.

LUI: So, the Spanish government really trying to look back at history and how the two governments worked together some 70, 80 years ago, at least, by trying to find out the identity of the picture of that man in the picture. James Fernandez, thank you so much for a little bit of the background there. This as they try to find out the identity of that individual in the picture, the Spanish government is. Appreciate your time.

It is the best government money can buy. Ask any lobbyist about the recession, the chances are they'll tell you: recession, what recession?

And, this was a pretty bad day for Vincent Van Gogh, December 23, 1888. The painter lost a chunk of his left ear. Now, the story has always been he sliced it off during a fight with Paul Gaugin. But this year, though, some historians suggested that Gaugin is the clear- cut perp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, I'm Sergeant 1st Class Pageant (ph) Bob Huey from Jalalabad (ph), Afghanistan. To our family and friends back home in Georgia, from the 101st Cav Regiment, Georgia's Army National Guard, best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season. Cool? (ph)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: You're looking at the face of a fighter. Set on fire, burned over most of his body, but determined to be home from the hospital by Christmas. Straight ahead, Michael Brewer's mother joins us live with an update on him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: You know, might not be a good time to be a homeowner or a stock trader, for that matter, or a banker, but it's a great time to be a lobbyist, evidently. In fact, business is booming. Here's CNN's Lisa Sylvester with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Recession, what recession? Certainly not for the lobbyists on Capitol Hill. The lawyers and representatives of special interest groups are having a banner year, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

DAVE LEVINTHAL, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: Despite the recession, despite all the economic turmoil, lobbyists and the clients of lobbyists are on pace to spend a record amount of money in 2009, breaking even the high-water mark that they set in 2008. It's probably going to be over $3.3 billion, with a "B." That was the number set last year.

SYLVESTER: Driving the lobbying boom is the massive health-care bill being debated in Congress. Levinthal says in only the first nine months of this year, Pharma, the lobbying arm for the pharmaceutical industry, has spent $20 million on lobbying.

Individual drug companies added even more: Pfizer, more than $6 million; Eli Lily topping $9 million; GlaxoSmithKline, a little over $6 million; and Johnson & Johnson, more than $4 million.

Spending to get their message across seems to have worked for the pharmaceutical industry, which recently managed to defeat a congressional amendment that would have allowed the reimportation of less expensive prescription drugs from countries like Canada. Pharma argued there was no way to guarantee the safety of those drugs.

But health care is only one of the major issues that Congress has taken up. The stimulus bill, proposed new financial regulations, and energy reform have also brought out the lobbyists. The gas and oil industry, for example, has spent more than $120 million, the first 9 months of this year.

MARIANNE LAVELLE, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: Industry is really makes its voice heard. We've -- we've looked at the lobbying on this, and there are about 2,800 lobbyists working on climate change on the Hill.

SYLVESTER: The group with the deepest pockets remains, though, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which so far this year has spent more than $65 million on lobbying, three times more than anyone else.

(on camera) On the health-care bill, it's not just drug companies and insurance companies, who you might expect, that have hired the big lobbying guns, but groups like the American Beverage Association are also jumping in. The organization is actively lobbying to try to keep a soda tax out of the final bill.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: OK. If those lobbyists make you mad, remember these guys: AIG? The poster boys for corporate bonus outrage? Well, guess what? Most of the bonus cash they promised to give back has not been given back. What gives? Ali Velshi breaks it down next hour for you on that.

All right. A couple days before Christmas, another big winter storm just in time for the holidays. Chad Myers is our man watching the mess for travelers, and what they should be looking up in the sky to find.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not in the east, though.

LUI: Not in the east.

MYERS: That's great news.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: My Web site of the day is FlightExplorer.com. People always ask me, where do you get those planes? Where do you get those -- where do you get -- where can I see all those planes? FlightExplorer.com, www.FlightExplorer.com.

And what I like about it, if you go to the free section and you go to the maps section, you can actually get a picture of all of the different things that I will show you on TV. I'm going to touch now, and it will pop one up. This will be the turbulence for takeoff and landing. So maybe, if you don't like turbulence, you might not want to fly out of the Architects (ph) there today, or to the west. Will be kind of bumpy, too. You can also get clear air turbulence, which would be the high altitude turbulence.

All kinds of great maps at www.FlightExplorer.com.

LUI: You know, Chad, knowing you, though, I thought you were plotting every single one of those planes.

MYERS: I do.

LUI: In your part -- in your spare time. All right, Chad, thanks a lot, man.

MYERS: Sure.

LUI: It was a crime that shocked Italy and had the world buzzing. Now, just weeks after Amanda Knox's murder conviction, a legal victory of sorts for the first defendant convicted in this case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Now, we got our top stories this hour.

Terrifying moments for dozens of people on a Delta flight from Miami to Jamaica. After landing in Kingston in a rainstorm, the plane could not stop and ran off the runway. Ninety-one people were taken to hospitals. No word of any serious injuries.

Then in Italy one of the three people convicted of killing British exchange student Meredith Kercher gets his sentence reduced. An appeals court has trimmed Rudy Guede's sentence from 30 years to 16. Just weeks ago, U.S. exchange student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend were convicted in this case. Knox was sentenced to 26 years, her former boyfriend, 25.

And millions of BlackBerries on the blink. Yes, it happened again. BlackBerry says all of its customers in North America lost service at some point last night. The same thing happened less than a week ago. No word on what caused the outage, just in case you were wondering about that.

Drugged for months against the pain, cadaver skin covering the worst of his burns, Michael Brewer's life and body look a lot different than they did about 2 1/2 months ago.

We've talked about the Florida teen quite a bit in the aftermath of a vicious and shocking attack against him. Set ablaze, allegedly, by a group of schoolmates. Finally, some happy news to report here.

Joining us live from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where Michael's received such great care so far, his mother, Valerie Brewer.

Valerie, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.

VALERIE BREWER, MOTHER OF MICHAEL: You're welcome.

LUI: Let me start by asking this important question. How is Michael doing?

BREWER: Michael's doing great. He's very happy to be out of the hospital. His spirits are very high. He's looking forward to Christmas and spending it with his family and friends.

LUI: Now, he went home yesterday, right? And the question a lot of folks want to ask is, you know, what was some of the first things he did? What are some of the first things that he ate? How is he getting back to being a normal kid again?

BREWER: The first thing he wanted to do was sit out back and enjoy some of the fresh air. And then we went upstairs, and he lounged on the couch and asked for a Lunchable for dinner. So, I ran to the grocery store and got him a Lunchable. And he ate, and we watched some TV and talked and laughed.

And then afterwards we went back to his room, and he took his shower, all by himself. And the only thing I had to help him with this time was to dry off his back. And then I rewrapped his bandages, and we went to bed.

LUI: You know, Valerie, you bring up the shower, and he did it on his own. We've seen pictures of him as he was being released. It seems almost painful or difficult that he would be able to take a shower. Can you kind of describe what he has to go through? I mean, it looks so difficult, at least just from the pictures itself, before he got released.

BREWER: It is very difficult. You have to first remove all the bandages. And then he gets in the shower and washes off, and sometimes when the water hits him, it's excruciating. You have open wounds, and the water hits it. The soap hits it. It's very painful.

And then he takes gauze, and he has to wipe all his wounds and make sure that he gets any dead skin off. And he's very courageous for doing it by himself.

LUI: Amazing. And courageous, as you said. You've been so consistent saying how amazingly brave he has been through this situation. Can you expand on that?

BREWER: Well, he is amazingly brave. And he -- he gives me -- he's such inspiration to me, seeing him go through this. I know the rest of his life he's going to have challenges, but nothing that's going to ever amount to what he has gone through now and what he is going to go through for the next several months. LUI: And you are just as amazing, Valerie, for being so strong and so positive, as well. You did go home yesterday, but you went to a different home. Is that right?

BREWER: Correct. We're -- we're at a safe location, away from Deerfield, because Michael is afraid to go home. We are in the process of looking for a new home. So, we're staying someplace else. It's -- it's temporary, but it's good. He feels comfortable, and he feels safe there.

LUI: Valerie, what is he afraid of?

BREWER: I'm sorry?

LUI: What is he afraid of?

BREWER: I'm having a hard time hearing you.

LUI: Oh, I'm sorry, Valerie. I was asking you. You're saying that your son is afraid to go back to your original place where you lived, that neighborhood. What is he afraid of? Is he concerned about repercussions based on what happened two months ago at this moment?

BREWER: That and families of the boys who did this to him live in a very close radius to our home, so he does not feel safe knowing that they are so close.

LUI: And how close are you talking about? Five, six blocks?

BREWER: Yes.

LUI: All right. So, very, very close.

Now, aside from the physical pain that he's enduring, there's also the emotional concerns that I know you have. How is he getting help?

BREWER: Well, he talks to his psychiatrist and the psychotherapist. He doesn't like to discuss it with us, because he knows that it upsets us. So, he does talk to them. He does take medication at night when he sleeps to help him with his night terrors, because he wakes up every night with nightmares.

LUI: Nightmares and night terrors every single night. How difficult has it been for you, as well, as you've gone through this recovery period and now the release of your son over the course of two months? How has it been for you?

BREWER: Oh, it's been very difficult. The lack of sleep alone would make anybody a little nuts.

LUI: Right, right.

BREWER: I sleep maybe -- I sleep maybe three, four hours a night, sometimes less. It depends on how Michael is and how many times he wakes up in pain or how many times he wakes up with having a nightmare.

LUI: All right. Last question for you. The path to recovery. What have the doctors told you? And what needs to happen now?

BREWER: He's going to continue his physical therapy. He has to come five -- five days a week, and on the weekends we are going to continue his therapy, wherever we're staying.

We have a regime that he's going to do. He has a broomstick that he uses for his arms. He raises it and he lowers it. He has to walk up and down stairs, and he has to stretch, to keep the mobility in his legs, because he's got scar tissue, real bad scar tissue, on the back of his right leg, and it's very painful for him to straighten out his legs.

LUI: Valerie...

BREWER: He just has...

LUI: A way to go is what you're saying. Right. Valerie Brewer, thank you so much. We can hear the resilience in your voice, the strength in your voice, as well as the confidence you have in your son, and we do hope for the best for him as he goes through this recovery process that you just described to us.

Again, Michael Brewer now at home, finally. Valerie, thank you so much again.

BREWER: Thanks.

LUI: And just to recap -- you bet. And where -- to let you know where Michael's case stands right now, two 15-year-old and a 16-year- old charged as adults with attempted murder. They face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. All have entered "not guilty" pleas. We're going to follow that story for you, of course, right here on CNN.

You can't hit the mute button fast enough when it's commercial time. One lawmaker wants to dial down the sound on TV ads, but is anyone listening? We'll tell you who is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, I'm BU2 Mandy Maddox (ph), stationed at Kandahar, Afghanistan, with MNTB-22. I would like to wish my friends and family in Corpus Christie, Texas, a merry Christmas and happy new year's. I'd also like to say hello to all my colleagues and kiddos at W.B. Ray (ph) High School. Go Ray, go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Passing a health care bill while humming, "I'll be home for Christmas." Senate Democrats hope to make both dreams a reality starting next hour. We shall see. Jessica Yellin, though, is right there live on Capitol Hill with an update. Not humming quite yourself yet there, Jessica, but I guess the Republicans are going to be adding some votes to the list today, is that right?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Richard. And believe me, you don't want me humming. I can't sing for my life.

So, yes, Republicans have added three additional votes we're just now hearing and all of this is just an effort to keep driving home the message that Republicans want to make that this bill in their view is too big, too expensive and too much government.

The votes they're adding have to do with what they are calling unfunded mandates in the bill, the constitutionality of state health care plans, state health care rules. And in general, all of this is just going to take more time today for the votes, but it's not going to throw a wrench into the works overall. We still expect that the big hurdle, the 60-vote hurdle, will be met, and passed this afternoon by around 4:00, let's say.

That's our expectation now. And that will allow the Senate to proceed to the final vote on the bill tomorrow morning. The final vote in the Senate. But, again, more monkeying around, more, you know -- more technical votes to happen yet, as the Republicans try to make their point and the Democrats push back.

LUI: So, Jessica, let's just say tomorrow's vote goes OK. We have an OK bill in the Senate and in the House now. Which is a huge accomplishment. But what happens after that?

YELLIN: Yes. And it was a time-consuming accomplishments -- it's taken this long.

There's two very different bills, as you know, there's one in the House and there's one in the Senate, and they don't look a lot alike in key ways when it comes to the language regarding abortions and how moneys might go to abortion are divided up and separated.

There's also the question of how everything should be paid for. Those are massive issues that have to be resolved before both houses can vote, and so what's going to happen is, yes, everybody here's going to take a quick break for Christmas, and their staffs are likely come back beginning next week and members are likely to come back -- leadership will come back, even before the rest of the members come back to start negotiating and discussing how to merge the two bills. They will be in constant talks with the White House.

But most of this will take place, Richard, at the highest leadership, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid and White House staff with a few key members around these two buildings. And then we're going to get something open to public view sometime probably in late January. Richard

LUI: All right, so, leadership powwow there. And you got a day, my friend, to practice the humming, I guess -- I think. Tomorrow?

YELLINS: Don't come back with me on that!

LUI: We'll see what happens tomorrow.

YELLIN: Not happening!

LUI: Jessica Yellin, thank you so much at the Capitol there.

It's an issue that pales in comparison to health care, but it still speaks volumes. We're talking about outlawing loud TV commercials. We've all talked about it, and did you hear me, by the way? CNN's Louise Schiavone has one lawmaker's (INAUDIBLE) on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Enjoy automatic freshness...

LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Don't deny it, advertisements that are louder than the program in which they appear, TV commercials like these, for instance, get on your nerves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time you put on the TV and try to watch a show, the next thing you've got is these really loud commercials.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: I usually mute the television.

SCHIAVONE: You might even have thought, there ought to be a law. Actually, there might be one soon. Approved in the House and awaiting action in the Senate, legislation mandating that TV commercials are no louder than the programs in which they appear.

MARK HUGHES, AUTHOR, "BUZZ MARKETING": This is kind of a dumb bill, but I love it, you know, I really do.

SCHIAVONE: Media analyst, Mark Hughes says it's obviously not a world class political issue, but for irritated Americans, it rings a bell.

HUGHES: It's important in my household that, you know, I don't wake up the kids when they're sleeping, and I don't, you know, kind of tick off my wife when she tells me to turn it down, and then it's high volume.

SCHIAVONE: It's a back-handed compliment, but the bill's author, California's Anna Eshoo will take it.

REP. ANNA ESHOO, (D) CALIFORNIA: I have never said that this is going to solve the huge challenges that face us. I have no idea that people across the country would relate to it and be drawn to the legislation, and I mean, I've gotten more mail, e-mails, telephone calls saying atta-girl, do it, it might even save my marriage.

UNKNOWN MALE: The show goes off and commercials go on, and they like blast it up. UNKNOWN FEMALE: We always have to turn the volume down when the commercials come on.

SCHIAVONE: Political strategist John Ashford, says it's a neat little issue for a time when the big challenges are not so tidy.

JOHN ASHFORD, HAWTHORN GROUP: When congress can't solve big problems like Iraq and Afghanistan and 10 percent unemployment and how to implement this health care bill they're trying to pass, they turn to small problems like blasting television commercials.

SCHIAVONE: The bill gives one year to advertisers and production houses to adopt industry technology that modulate and sets sound levels and apply it to television commercials. Sources at the FCC say that for the most part, issues associated with the internet have been topic A over there, but if congress sends them a bill to regulate the sound of TV commercials, they'll implement it.

Louise Schiavone for CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right, from deafening audio from hard-to-see video. Is your Web cam racist? Sure, that sounds a little crazy to you. But watch this, this YouTube video went viral after a couple of co-workers got together and found Hewlett Packard's motion tracking Web camera did not follow African-American faces as well as it did whites.

Now, HP's Tony Welsch said the company is investigating. "The preliminary finding is the camera might have difficulty seeing contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting," end quote. From Tony Welch from hp. And we'll get a translator on that statement as soon as we can, but the video certainly is interesting.

Football players are not the only ones paying the price for all the hard hits on the field. A very compelling look at the long-term effects of concussions on the brain.

And wish a happy 37th birthday to the immaculate reception. Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris by way of John Fuqua (ph) and Jack Tatum, and maybe an assist from above. The Steelers beat the Raiders in one of the nuttiest NFL finishes ever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And your top stories this hour -- the father involved in the Colorado Balloon Boy hoax gets 90 days in jail. The boy's mom was sentenced to just 20 days. Richard and Mayumi Heene both pleaded guilty to staging that event to promote a reality TV show. They also got four years of probation during which they are barred from profiting from that entire saga.

Now, after a long, tough custody battle, the father of a U.S. boy who has been living with relatives in Brazil hopes to be reunited with his son today. Brazil's Supreme Court ended the fight yesterday, awarding David Goldman custody of his 9-year-old son Sean. The boy's extended Brazilian family says they will hand the boy over without a fight now.

Now to Amtrak's rail service between New Jersey and New York -- it has been restored. It shut down for three hours today because of unspecified power problems. Right now, they are trying to undo the backlog among holiday commuters. No word on how long the delays will last in that.

They say that the great ones play hurt? That may be truer in the NFL than anyone knows, but now the league wants to find out. They have teamed up with Boston University to study the effects of concussions on the brains of pro athletes. Our Tom Foreman spoke with one of the chief researchers of the project along with a former Heisman trophy winner. Here's part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT STERN, ASSOCIATE PROF. OF NEUROLOGY, BOSTON UNIVERSITY: we know there's a disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy that is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain that's caused by getting your head hit over and over again in younger years.

What we don't know is exactly what that magic combination of hits is.

EDDIE GEORGE, COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST, WESTWOOD ONE RADIO: The problem is you don't know whether you have a concussion or not. You get hit so hard and you may get a ding and it could be a slight concussion. and as football players, you know, we're immune to pain. I mean, we grow up and we're taught to think that pain is a sign of weakness, so you tend to fight through it.

I played nine years without missing a game due to injury, and I've suffered several concussions. And the protocol for that, they take away your helmet if you're not able to -- to follow the signs or they take you through a couple tests to see if you're responsive. If you're not responsive in those situations, then you're not able to play. But it's tough for football players to gauge if they're truly injured or if they're a little bit cloudy and they can fight through that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: All right, so as you can see, they fight through the hits. But now we go to our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who talks to a former football player who is suffering the effects of a career's worth of concussions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Punishing blows have become an inextricable part of many sports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody tackles were with my right side.

GUPTA: Ted Johnson took his share as a linebacker for the New England Patriots.

TED JOHNSON, SUFFERED MORE THAN 100 CONCUSSIONS: I've had maybe four or five, six documented concussions.

GUPTA: Those were just the dizzying knockouts. By his count, Johnson suffered more than 100 mild concussions. Impossible to test for, a concussion is a vague injury. Invisible, until now. This is the brain of an athlete -

DR. ANN MCKEE, BEDFORD VA HOSPITAL: Right.

GUPTA: Is that right?

MCKEE: That's right.

GUPTA: That's the only thing you know at this point?

MCKEE: That's right.

GUPTA: How many brains have you looked at so far?

MCKEE: From athletes?

GUPTA: From athletes.

MCKEE: I think this makes eight.

GUPTA: What have you found in the first seven?

MCKEE: They've all had changes of traumatic encephalopathy.

GUPTA: A new study confirms what some scientists have long suspected, concussions start an injury cascade that looks like this.

MCKEE: I think what's been surprising is that it's so extensive. It's throughout the brain. Not just on the superficial aspect of the brain but it's also deep inside.

GUPTA: This is a healthy brain and this is the brain of a former NFL player in his 40s. Those brown tangles, they indicate brain damage that could eventually kill cells. The trauma in this NFL player's brain looks a let like damage in this brain, a 70-year-old who suffered from dementia. Did it surprise you to see some of these things?

MCKEE: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. To see the kind of changes that we're seeing in 45-year-olds is basically unheard of.

GUPTA: Years removed from the football field, Ted Johnson is still tackling side effects of all those concussions -- depression, headaches, anger issues.

JOHNSON: I almost forgot what I was like before, before the hits. I couldn't remember. And I just lost myself for the last three years.

GUPTA: Johnson and former pro-wrestler Chris Nowinski are part of the Sports Legacy Institute which asks athletes to donate their brains to continue the study into the impact of concussion. Is there a message for football players and is there a message for the NFL here?

MCKEE: Well, I think the message is that we need to identify what constitutes a significant head injury and we need to treat it. And I think that probably means resting an injury a lot more than we rest it.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Oh, Santa, is this how you get your jollies? Some bank employees say you've been pretty naughty this week. And you're definitely on the police department's list!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: All right. Pushing forward to our next hour. A four- legged hero who found the last survivor of the World Trade Center collapse. Someone should clone that dog. Well, guess what? Someone did.

Plus, brace yourself. It is about as close to war as you can get without actually being in war. It's not Afghanistan. It's not Iraq. It's the war before the war.

It's definitely a bad economic indicator when Santa's got to resort to robbery, and we're putting "Santa" in quotes here. Be on the lookout for this fake bearded one around Nashville. He knocked over this bank yesterday morning. Saying he needed to pay his elves. Despite his brandishing a gun and threatening to kill tellers, the crooked Kris Kringle seemed jovial. Witnesses say that. He was last seen headed north in his getaway sleigh.

He's not gray hair wrinkles, glasses, or rather, he's got those, and is apparently spending his golden years making illegal contributions to his nest egg. The so-called Grandpa Bandit allegedly hit another bank, Bank of America, in Hillsboro, Oregon, yesterday. The robbery near Portland makes number five. The robber allegedly threatened to kill the teller, but he did not show a gun. One was used in some of the earlier heists, and a $10,000 reward is offered for any tips leading to 2 capture of Gramps.

An alleged highway robbery in small-town Texas. The accused? The local prosecutor of 30-plus years, allegedly banking a load of cash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: We are visiting forfeiture highway. Months ago, e told you about the small-town Texas D.A.'s office who allegedly lived it up, even vacationing on thousands of dollars seized from defendants in criminal cases. Well, the cash, allegedly doled out by the county prosecutor who thought little of it until CNN's Gary Tuchman started to ask some questions. Now, that former D.A. will have to answer in his criminal indictment on corruption charges. Here's Gary's report that's "Keeping Them Honest" in the Texas Hill Country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dusty roads here in Texas Hill Country have been a gold mine for police and prosecutors. But some defense attorneys call it the best little rip- off in Texas.

RICHARD ELLISON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It makes Texans look like buffoons and it makes it look like all of our judges and police officers are crooks down here.

TUCHMAN: In Texas and other states, cops can pull over drivers suspected of serious crimes and they can actually seize their cash and valuables.

Four times the former DA here spent tens of thousands of it for all- expense paid trips to Hawaii for himself, some of his staff and spouses.

(on camera): Do you think it was OK to spend that money to go to Hawaii?

RON SUTTON, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Absolutely.

TUCHMAN: Why do you think that?

SUTTON: Well, it's part of the United States the last time I checked. And we have Congresses all over the other states. What's the difference with Hawaii?

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The organizer of the annual trip to this resort in Oahu, invite spouses, sweeties, friends. The trip does include ten hours of law seminars. Ten hours out of an entire week. The rest of the time is for sun, golf and luaus. The price -- $4,000 a couple. Steep, but not when it's paid for by public money, made back home on the highway.

Ron Sutton was the District Attorney here for 32 years. He didn't run again this fall, but he's still working part-time in the DA's office.

(on camera): Could you understand, sir, how it kind of looks bad to people that you're going to Hawaii four times... SUTTON: Only for those people who are jealous because they haven't been to Hawaii.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The money used by the former DA came from a Texas forfeiture law. The District Attorney's offices get a cut of the seizure money and are allowed to use the cash for quote, "official purposes," which the former DA says is...

SUTTON: Anything used in connection with promoting and functioning of the office retraining. It could be anything.

JOHN WHITMIRE, TEXAS STATE SENATOR: It's outrageous.

TUCHMAN: Texas State Senator John Whitmire says the forfeiture law often leads to corruption.

WHITMIRE: The law that I am going to change is so general that they can literally get away with stealing in my mind.

TUCHMAN: The purpose of forfeitures is to strip real criminals of ill-gotten gains. Although in Texas there have been many accusations that innocent people, often minorities are targeted and pulled over. Deputies told this man he was driving too long in the passing lane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're acting funny, I don't like...

TUCHMAN: It got violent. The driver, a Latino and a U.S. Navy veteran, was charged with endangering police. After his lawyer got his hands on this video, charges were dropped.

GUY JAMES GRAY, DRIVER'S ATTORNY: It was a -- I think, probably a classic profile stop.

TUCHMAN (on camera): This is the Kimble County seat of Junction, Texas. There are 4,400 people who live in this entire county. This is Main Street; you can see, it's a quiet, sleepy place.

But the sheriff's department deputies here are very active and busy. Getting forfeiture money is a very important industry here.

(voice-over): How important? The sheriff's office keeps more than an average of $1 million annually in forfeitures. The former DA says he had more than $1 million in his account when he left office. He says, "Hawaii wasn't a vacation but a way to learn and get legal credits."

But beyond paying for airfares and hotel rooms, there's spending money for the group. Here's a check paid to cash for $6,000 to cover the week.

(on camera): Why do you guys need $6,000?

SUTTON: Well, if you go to Hawaii, you can see why. A hamburger and a drink is $20.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But what really got our attention was this. The former DA says that one year he took this man to Hawaii. Emil Prohl, he's the judge who hears forfeiture cases.

(on camera): But wouldn't it have been better to say, "Judge, you can't come with us to Hawaii because we're using forfeiture money?"

SUTTON: Well, that issue has never come up until right now.

TUCHMAN: Ok, so what's your answer?

SUTTON: The answer is I don't see anything wrong with it. It's help educating the judge.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And what about this? Our search through the public records shows checks written directly to the judge. Here's one for $3,000; $4,000; $4,500.

(on camera): Why were checks written directly to the judge from the forfeiture account?

SUTTON: To cover his expenses in conferences.

TUCHMAN: Can you see how taxpayers might say, a little more documentation would be nice here?

SUTTON: Well, in retrospect, maybe so. I know I did nothing wrong. My conscience is clear.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): We asked for an interview with the judge. But we're told he did not want to talk, but we needed his side of the story. So we caught up with him outside the courthouse and asked him about his Hawaii trip.

EMIL PROHL, DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: I'm really not able to comment on that at this point. I appreciate your interest. At some point I hope I can, but at this point, I can't. I appreciate your interest.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How come you can't comment about it?

PROHL: There's just issues. I've got forfeiture cases still pending and I can't...

TUCHMAN: That's what I'm talking about this because you hear the forfeiture cases but that's the issue.

PROHL: I understand that and we're dealing with that issue.

TUCHAMAN (voice-over): There is a new DA here in Texas Hill Country. He says there will be no more trips to Hawaii.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Well, Gary has an update for us, and coincidentally from Hawaii, where he and his family are vacationing, by the way. Doing so on his own dime. Gary?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Yes, I talked to Ron Sutton today, and I told him I was calling from Hawaii, ironically, and he was not happy to hear from me. He told me that he intimated that he was not happy with the original story, and I asked him why, did he think it was taken out of context? He would not answer me. And then I said to him, what's your reaction to this indictment. And then he hung up the telephone, so I am afraid I don't know what his the reaction to the indictment.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": But if he is found guilty of the charges, what could happen next to him.

TUCHMAN: Well, these are serious charges in the state of Texas. These are third-degree felony charges, and each count carries a maximum of two to 10 years in prison, so this is a very serious case as the authorities in the state of Texas will be dealing with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Okay. Gary Tuchman there with Erica hill on "AC 360" last night. By the way, you can bet we will keep it on the follow-up file and keep you updated on the developments in the case as they may happen.