toyota operation. now, one of my sons had a toyota forerunner several years ago and my wife drove a small lexus until about two years ago. both of those are very good automobiles. i think you've got a very good company and put out almost entirely good automobiles. i have a good impression of your company. but having said that, i don't believe i've heard a good answer today -- and i've been in and out some -- i don't believe i've heard a good answer or a complete answer as to why it took your company so long to respond to these complaints. because apparently there were many complaints. @ @ @ @ @ z@ @ @ @ @ @ @ z8@ @ v why was there not a response before now when you get all of these complaints? >> [speaking japanese] >> translator: i listened to the testimony by miss smith yesterd yesterday, and i feel very sorry and regret for the fact that while she was driving a car, such huge anxiety was caused to her. at the same time, i apologize for the response by the dealer, which is not really up to our standa

toyota operation. now, one of my sons had a toyota forerunner several years ago and my wife drove a small lexus until about two years ago. both of those are very good automobiles. i think you've got a very good company and put out almost entirely good automobiles. i have a good impression of your company. but having said that, i don't believe i've heard a good answer today -- and i've been in and out some -- i don't believe i've heard a good answer or a complete answer as to why it took your company so long to respond to these complaints. because apparently there were many complaints. i've seen it described as several hundred. i've seen it described as a few thousand. i don't know which it is. but there were many, many complaints. i appreciate the fact that you've expressed remorse and you say you're going to do better. but why was there not a response before now, when you had all these complaints? [ speaking japanese ] [ speaking japanese ] >> translator: i listened to the testimony by miss smith yest

. >> couric: tonight, what to do with that recalled toyota. the transportation secretary first says... >> stop driving it. >> couric: then does a sharp u-turn. >> what i meant to say.... >> couric: i'm katie couric. also tonight, training for the super bowl. >> on the ground, don't move! don't move! >> couric: this team has to be ready for anything. and the american spirit. he spent a lifetime making eyeglasses. now he makes smiles. captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> couric: good evening, everyone. this day began with yet another big recall, but this time it was the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, forced to recall his own words after he said owners of recalled toyotas should stop driving them. that set off alarms, and he quickly said he meant they should take the cars in for repairs, especially now that dealers have the parts to fix the more than two million vehicles recalled for potential sticky accelerateors. but will the fix actually work? a

and the reliability of toyota's call. -- toyota's corporate culture, its ability to respond in an open and timely way. i think it is safe to say that their reputation is not rescued yet. >> we will bring more on that story later in the program from washington. >>> the cuban president raul castro says he regrets the death of orlando zapata, who died on tuesday after 85 days on hunger strike. other dissidents have been arrested for attending his funeral. it is unprecedented for a cuban leader to comment on a political prisoner. our reporter describe the impact of the statement. >> the message from castro about the death of the prisoner was emailed to the foreign press by we have been looking online. it has not appeared on state radio or television or the official government website, but it is on par said it to actually regret the death of a prisoner. -- it is on precedent to actually regret the death of a prisoner. they did not say how it was the result of the united states, and he also said there was no torture in cuban prisons. the only torture takes place at guantanamo bay. but the de

>> toyota. >> toyota international? >> yes. tms/usa is a distribute your for toyota in the united states. my group is not designed or efrpg neared products. >> i would like to talk about that a little bit. because you're the president of toyota motor sales in the u.s. as was pointed out by ranking member barton. does toyota motor sales make safety determinations? does your department make safety determinations? >> no. what we do is we get feedback from a number of different sources. we get feedback from customer that's call in or contact us online. we look through the internet. we look at nhtsa data. we look at a number of different sources. we get reports from our dealers. we have product reports. all of that information from my side gets put together in reports and they go to japan to the quality site. to say that i'm not involved in quality, i am from an antenna standpoint. >> you also said that communication is pretty one way with respect to safety and reporting back to japan because you testified here today in relation to

would learn japanese production methods from toyota, and toyota would learn how to operate in an american environment. u.k. berkeley business school professor robert cole who studied the auto industry says the collaboration was mostly successful especially for toyota which back in 1984 had several goals. >> to figure out how to manage u.s. workers, perhaps deal with unions. also they wanted to figure out how to replicate their "just in time" delivery system that they had in japan. and both of those objectives were accomplished . >> rooney: for g.m., cole says, the venture was less successful. >> for at least ten years, they show very little interest in serious learning from that plant. so a lot of the g.m. managers that were sent there were put back into low-level positions where they had no influence because people didn't want to hear that japan is doing things better. >> reporter: and for the auto companies, the cost of getting supplies to nvmmi sitting all alone on the west coast was becoming a burden since most supplies come from the midwest or elsewhere. >> for example, all of the en

>> this is a learning experience for toyota. this has never happened to toyota on this scale in the way that it really just hit them in a way they thought maybe it would be a glitch that would have a one-week news cycle to it. toyota is out there. it's learning contrition. it's learning pr. it's giving a second look at its revered manufacturing process, which by the way, is shocking something like this could get through the rigorous envied manufacturing system where even if one person on the assembly line sees an error, he is instructed to pull a cord and stop the factory. it is shocking toyota allowed this to get through. >> in terms of what may have caused these problems, is there something in the manufacturing process that lid to that? >> there is an array of problems. we are seeing the brake level, gas, things about carpets getting stuck. large when you have broader computer generation of next-generation vehicles, you're bound to run into these hiccups. >> what is causing that? why can't they fix these problems? >> it is a l

i mean what happened to the toyota of the '80s to bring us to the toyota of the 2010? >> one comment before that is there are dealers that still make house calls. my father who lives in colorado, his salesman lives about three or four miles away and every time he needs service, the sales person drops his demo off, picks up my dad's car and takes it in for service. so that does still happen. we're not totally out of the '80s yet. but i think what happened, i think we lost sight of the customer. i don't think it was a goal for us to grow faster but we did. we had a lot of customers that loved our product. our loyalty rates were growing higher and higher. and our volume grew. the complexity of the product line grew from the number of models to the number of engines to the number of transmissions to everything else that goes with it. and i think we outgrew our engineering resource. and i think when that happens -- and we had strategies to deal with that. but the strategies didn't work. and i think as a result of that, we're suffering from that today. i think -- i think the

we have to go back to that toyota hearing. there are other levels as to what the administration is doing and even john mccain says he was duped, misled about the bailout. hopefully we can have you back on. take our audience back to the toyota hearing and ray lahood. >> a little more than a year and prior to my time, which would have been prior to january 23rd of '09, if there are issues that i can answer, i'll get back to you for the record, but i'm going to tell you this. 30,000 complaints come to nhtsa every year and we look at every one of them. we think every one is important. some come from people who are driving cars. some come from the industry. we look at what's going on from stakeholders, people who are in the automobile business. sometimes they file complaints with us. and then when we see a pattern, we will do an investigation, we will look at it. and if our investigation shows there needs to be a recall, it will be done. that's -- that has been the work of nhtsa. with respect to your specific question during that t

, the global president of toyota. there he is. you are seeing him now. he is the grandson, akia toyoda is the head of toyota worldwide, and he has been the ceo and president since 2009, and a degree from bapson college in massachusetts. everybody is getting seated. let's listen in to the president of toyota. >> our second panel -- i would like to introduce our second panel testifying on this panel is mr. akia toyoda, president, ceo of toyota motor corporation. mr. anaba, president and ceo of toyota motors north america. gentlemen, it is the committee's longstanding policy that all witnesses are sworn in. please stand and raise your right hand as i administer the oath. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? if so, answer in the affirmative. let the record reflect that the witnesses answered in the affirm tif tive. you may be seated. let me begin by first welcoming you. i really appreciate the fact that you have come to testify, and that mr. toyoda, that you actually voluntee

but in the end i believe toyota did the right thing. >> reporter: adding to toyota's problems, the new prius. news today the japanese government has warned toyota to investigate possible problems with the anti-lock braking system for the 2010 prius. fuelling questions about whether toyota took action on safety concerns quickly enough. toyota says it first learned of sticking gas pedals in u.s. cars in october, and launched an investigation. so did the department of transportation. in december, d.o.t. officials flew to japan to urge toyota executives to move quickly on the issue, a message u.s. officials repeated in a meeting withoyota executives last month. leading to the recall of 2.3 million cars and trucks two weeks ago. despite full-page ads and top executives saying they have the problem under control, not everyone is convinced. >> we can't make this stuff up. we can't -- we don't know what's wrong. we don't know if they know what's wrong. >> reporter: we may get more answers overnight when toyota reports quarterly earnings and executives talk with reporters in japan. the impact o

toyota here in the united states. when they founded the company they decided to change it from toyoda with a "d" to toyota with a "t" because the founder thought it sounded better it sounded softer and in japanese it takes eight brush strokes to rush toyota's title with a "t" and that's apparently a lucky number in japan as well as china. he said that all the vehicles bear my name and when they are damaged, i am, too. i want customers to be safe. now they will go into the question and answer period after this gentleman. we expect that to be in japanese with translation. we'll keep monitoring it for you as news is made and we'll bring you the headlines as we get them. it's also streaming on foxnews.com. meantime there is this. most people who read the "national enquirer" are probably interested in juicy gossip, not award-winning journalism. but apparently they have gotten both when the tabloid dove into the sex scandal involving then presidential candidate john edwards. it is being considered for the prestigious award.

outside of toyota. so i think that there shouldn't be suffered from the current problem. so i think there's opportunity for the investor to buy opportunity to the vendors. and those for the chinese carmakers, it's a good time for them to penetrate into the u.s. market since people try to shift away from toyota and that there should be a narrow differentiation in the quarter of toyota and its chinese competitors. >> this is nicole lapin in the united states. you were just talking about the opportunities within the toyota group and with vendors. yesterday we saw a big boost in u.s. auto sales, specifically with ford and gm. to what extent will the rivals continue to win after toyota's woes? >> well, actually, how long that the current recall problem will continue is fully depending on toyota's attitude toward the public communication. so since we are not so satisfied with the toyota experiments on the recall problems so far. so they have the top executive of toyota should go to the public to explain the r

what happened to the toyota of the 1980's to bring us to the toyota of 2010? >> one comment before that -- there are dealers that still make house calls. my father, who lives in colorado, his son lives about 3 miles or 4 miles away. every time he needs service, the sales man picks up his car and takes it in for service. it still happens. we are not totally out of the 1980's yet. i think what happened -- i think we lost sight of the customer. i think we -- i do not think it was a goal for us to grow faster, but we did. we had a lot of customers that loved our product. our loyalty rates were growing higher and higher and our volume grow. the complexity of the product line grew from the number of models and engines and transmissions to everything else that goes with it. with it. and i think we outgrew our engineering resource. and i think when that happens -- and we had strategies to deal with that. but the strategies didn't work. and i think as a result of that, we're suffering from that today. i think -- i think the most important thing is we lost sight of our

toyota is a global corporation. those two alarm bells should have sent your engineers scrambling to figure out what was wrong and what was needed tock done to fix the problems. -- to be done to fix the problems. instead, the same types of problems cropped up in additional toyota models resulting in the recalls that brought you here today. here today. so instead of deploying your everything nears after toyota got those early warnings in 2000 and 2003, they waited until problems cropped up in the united states and then toyota deployed lawyers and lobbyists to convince the department of transportation that this was a small floor mat issue and not something more serious. and that, mr. lentz, has done a disservice to toyota's kists and u customers and ultimately to toyota's dealers and employees. so according to documents obtained by my office, toyota recalled a lexus in the united kingdom in 2000 and a sellica in canada in 2003 because of floor mats were entrapping the accelerator pedal and the exact same problem that h

>>> another recall for toyota? toyota denies it's about to recall its latest model of the popular prius hybrid. >>> job jitters. the latest unemployment report out later today and the news is not expected to be good. >>> and brace for impact. a major storm ready to pound mid atlantic states with up to two feet of snow. this is the "cbs morning news" feet of snow. this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, february 5th, 2010. captioning funded by cbs >>> good morning. thank you for joining us. i'm randall pinkston in for michelle gielan.ining us. in the news this morning, toyota is denying reports in a highly respected squap these newspaper that it will recall the latest version of its popular prius hybrid. tara mergener is in washington with the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, randall. well, according to that report, this recall is looming, yet another hit to toyota's once stellar image. toyota this morning is denying published reports that it will recall 270,000 prius hybrids. on thursday, the auto

of toyota motor sales usa. as you heard today from the toyota president, akio toyoda, and as the subcommittee of oversight investigation heard yesterday from jim lentz, president and chief operating officer of toyota sales usa, toyota is taking decisive steps to restore the trust of the tens of millions of americans who purchase and drive our vehicles. our 172 team members and dealers across north america are making extraordinary efforts to complete our kurncurrent recall quickly and convenient as possible. we have rigorously tested our solutions and are confident that with these repairs, the toyota vehicle will remain among the safest on the road today. we also are going further by installing advance brake override systems in all of our new north american vehicles before the end of 2010, and in an expanded range of existing models as a customer confidence measure and taking comprehensive steps to ensure strict quality control and increased responsiveness to our customers and regulators in the future. as you ha

recalled toyota? the transportation secretary said no, then yes. >> tom: we turn to the former head of the national highway traffic safety administration to help sort out the confusion. you're watching "nightly business report" for wednesday, february 3. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> susie: good evening, everyone. if you own a toyota on the recall list, is it okay to drive it, or should you park it? tom, americans are still puzzled thanks to some mixed messages today from the nation's transportation secretary. >> tom: susie, ray lahood told lawmakers in the morning that toyota owners should stop driving those cars. they were recalled due to sticky gas pedals. >> susie: but tom, lahood later back-pedaled on the advice. >> what i said in there was obviously a misstatement, what i meant to say, or what i thought to sa

toyota immediately told us, toyota usa, that's not the case. they can't confirm whether it is the case or deny it's the case. we're not entirely sure. as is emblematic of the whole situation once again toyota doesn't have a clear message. so, people in the industry are speculating that there could be a recall coming on these, but as of right now, toyota is saying no recall right now on the 2010 prius of the brake problem. >> are we hearing of specifics -- >> yes. keep in mind the other problem was an accelerator that sticks a bit of o problem but a brake that fails is more serious than an accelerator that sticks. i would venture if we talk about this tomorrow, there will be a greater development on this one way or the other. i would venture if you and i are talking about this tomorrow, there will be a greater development on this tomorrow. something will be done about the priuses. >> if not enough. >> we have the rest of it, more than five million cars, re-called on two major re-calls basically. this is the gas pedal, one is a gas pedal that is

we're talking about the toyota prius. a hasty news conference, what we heard from toyota executives is what's happening here is a failure with the abs system. so when you press on the brake of the brand new 2010 prius, the brake doesn't fully function. there's a gap. exactly how long that gap is, toyota executives say it is less than a second. they couldn't quantify beyond that. so the fix is a software glitch. they've clicked the software into place in cars produced after january. so if you own a 2010 prius produced after january and beyond, you're fine. but if you own a 2010 prius before then, that's the question. exactly how toyota is going to remedy that, reach out to those customers. at this point, toyota says, quote, we need more time. toyota also saying they don't believe this glitch is a big enough to be a recall level, that they are not going to issue a recall at this point. it is something that they're thinking about, but right now, christine, they say it is not necessary based on the information that they have.

if your toyota is safe? we'll answer your questions tonight on "washington week." >> never have so many members of the house and senate behaved show well for so long before so many television cameras. gwen: they did behave well. but they did not agree. >> the solution to that is to put that on the shelf and to start over with a blank piece of paper. >> the gaps in my judgment are not that great. gwen: honest differences of opinion or rank partisanship? >> both of us during the campaign promised change in washington. >> let me just make this point, john. because we're not campaigning anymore. the election's over. >> i'm reminded of that every day. gwen: one almost certain casualty, bipartisanship. but is ere room for cross-party cooperation on another key issue? >> the yeas are 70. the nays are 28. gwen: the senate passes a jobs bill. and one of the world's most powerful businessmen receives a congressional scolding. >> if the camry and prius were airplanes, they would be grounded. gwen: trouble at toyota. co

and in our broken government segment tonight, who they are, what they get from toyota and how toyota's influence reaches into the agency that's are supposed to be looking out for your safety. answers to night from joe johns. >> reporter: this woman's company does business with toyota. she is recusing herself saying she will not participate in the investigation of the company. but other members with connections to toyota are staying in the game. like senator jay rockefeller of west virginia. toyota sponsored and paid for in court a dinner where rockefeller was honored last year and toyota runs a plant in rockefeller's home state that created 1500 jobs and close to a billion dollars in investment. his staff says he's going to stay with the investigation and that he'll be tough on toyota if he thinks they deserve it. just two examples of the close connections between congress, the policymakers and the foreign automakers that spent more money on lobbying in the u.s. than any other. toyota has spent $25 million on federal lobbying over the last five years. according to the independent resea

>> this is a learning experience for toyota. this has never happened to toyota on this scale. in the way that it really just hit them in a way they thought maybe itould be a glitch that would have a one-week news cycle to it. toyota's out there, it's learning contrition, learning pr, giving a second look at its re veered manufacturing process. which, by the way, is shocking that something like this could get through the rigorous envied manufacturing system where even if one person on the assembly line sees an error, he's instructed to pull the cord and stop the entire factory. so it's really shocking, even to toyota, that this was allowed to get through. >> in terms of what may have caused these problems, is there something in the manufacturing process that led to this? >> there's an array of problems so far. we're seeing the brake level, gas, you know, things about carpets getting stuck. but when you have broader computerization of next generation vehicles, you're bound to run into these hiccups. >> whas causing that? >> it's a learning curve. once you have the fleet of vehic

news now about toyota. the company has added its fashionable prius hybrid to the list of vehicles with safety issues. and this time, it's the brakes, a problem toyota knew about months ago. and tonight, a whistle blower has come forward to abc, telling brian ross this is not the first time toyota hid problems from customers, brian. >> reporter: that's right, diane. toyota has been caught failing to disclose to its customers and the government all it knows about its cars defects. toyota's veil of corporate secrecy may be about to crack. >> it was a culture of hypocrisy and deception. >> reporter: dimitri biller is a former toyota lawyer who handled product liability lawsuits and is now coming forward to say officials in japan repeatedly ordered cover-ups of safety issues. >> they were hiding evidence, concealing evidence, destroying evidence. >> reporter: biller and toyota are now involved in their own lawsuit, with the company claiming he is violating his severance agreement by making unfounded allegations.

it's toyota's single biggest u.s. dealer and a spokesperson tells me they will focus on the toyota situation, quote, "big time". that's tonight's "market focus". >> suzanne: the f.a.a. appears to be ready to slap a huge fine on american airlines. the associated press reports the agency is wrapping up a probe of american's safety records, and could fine the carrier more than $10 million. the agency wouldn't comment on that report, and the airline said it wasn't aware of any pending fine. in april of 2008, the government grounded hundreds of american planes to fix safety problems in their electrical wiring. >> tom: despite the possible fine, american airlines is one of the favorite airline stocks of tonight's "street critique" guest. he's julius maldutis, president and chief airline analyst at aviation dynamics. we began our conversation talking about the environment for airlines. >> i think everybody was very negative over the last year. but the fundamentals are improving. we've got an economy that's improving. we've g

yesterday, the head of toyota u.s.a. acknowledged the floor mat and gas pedal recalls may not fix all of the unintended acceleration problems. and today, akio toyoda was asked whether electronic systems may be to blame. >> ( translated ): with respect to the electronic throttle control system, the system itself has been designed based upon the philosophy of "safety first" and therefore whenever any abnormality or anomaly is detected, fuel supply is instantly cut off. repeated and conducted however no malfunction or problems were identified based upon the tests conducted internally within toyota. >> reporter: earlier, transportation secretary ray lahood promised to investigate every possible cause and he said he considers all cars on the recall list as "not safe." under questioning, lahood insisted the federal stake in detroit automakers does not create a conflict of interest. >> i don't think it's out of line to question and at least caution that the department of transportation and nitsa be extremely careful in how they

toyota is working hard to fix the sticky gas pedals. toyota expects to fix millions of cars. it's causing sudden acceleration in a number of cars. >> the furniture is returned and part of the wall missing. i walked up to the front of the lobby and found the car parked inside the building. it was still try iing to come inside. it was try to accelerate forward. >> we are expecting to see 5,000 to 6,000 of these vehicles. the best thing to do is wait until you get notified. come in at your leisure. >> they are giving dealers payments up to $75,000 to fix the problem quickly. >>> colin powell is changing his mind about gays in the military. they should be able to serve and the don't ask don't tell policy should be repealed. he said attitudes and circumstances have changed since the law was put in place. >>> a survey shows teens and young adults aren't using blogs and twitter as much as they used to. the number of teens dropped from 2006 to 2009. a report found that more young people prefer facebook and texting to keep up with their friends. we got our facebook going this morning.

toyota's corporate culture is facing an overhaul, too. since the 1950s, the company's made decisions by building consensus among employees which can be slow and can discourage whistle-blowers who are afraid of being singled out. a japanese proverb reads "beginning is easy, continuing is hard." the japanese government and akio toyoda have already vowed to change their ways but both have a hard road ahead. celia hatton, cbs news, tokyo. >> couric: now, you may have noticed that while the company is toyota, the company is toyoda with a "d." and if you're wondering why, it goes back to his grandfather. back in 1937 when he started the car company, he changed the spelling and here's why. in japanese, it takes ten pen strokes to write the family name toyoda. but if you leave off those last two little strokes you get toyota, that's only eight strokes. so it's simpler to write and in japan eight is a lucky number. meanwhile, in florida today it started out the way it usually does. tourists gathered for a show at sea world in orlando. then, withou

>>> and we start with toyota. toyota's troubles just keep coming. in addition to the massive recall, the company faces new problems with its popular prius hybrid. the transportation department announced just today it has opened an investigation into brake problems on the 2010 prius. toyota blames a software problem, but has not issued a recall. >>> and dealerships around the country are racing to make repairs on millions of toyotas that were recalled because of sticky gas pedals. the troubles just keep on coming, as we've been saying for toyota and also for toyota owners. >>> first, it was sticky gas pedals, now it's the brakes on one of its most popular cars. if you've had it with your toyota, our personal finance editor, gerri willis, has some advice for you now. gerri, what's your advice? what can you do? >> well, don, look, if you have an affected model, you might want to get rid of the car, as you said, but you have to 23 whether it makes sense. a sticking gas pedal is rare. not all of the gas pedals in the affected models are problematic, beca

longo toyota is not only the largest toyota dealership in the country. it's also the largest sales tax generator for the cash-strapped city of elmonty, california. >> we're guesstimating anywhere from $80,000 to $120,000 a month in losses of revenue. >> reporter: toyota's troubles come as sales tax revenues across the country are plummeting due to the company. down 9%, a loss of $6.9 billion from a year ago. at longo toyota they say they're focused on fixing falling parts and hope to be adding to elmonty's bottom line. >> we've been around for 43 years. we're not going anywhere. >> reporter: the lingering question might be how much damage is done to toyota's reputation. once the car cars are fixed will buyers be back or beware? ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> couric: in washington today, the democrats officially lost their 60-vote super majority in the senate when republican scott brown of massachusetts was sworn in as the newest member of that body. brown's upset victory nay special election last month gives the g.o.p. 41, enough to filibuster demo

as for toyota, it had no comment on our report. brian ross, abc news, new york. >>> all the bad news for toyota has sent its stock price sliding. the company stock has lost more than $31 billion in value from its high just over two weeks ago. a little perspective, that's nearly the same amount as the entire net worth of several corporate giants, including nike, time warner, and ebay. >>> in haiti, ten american baptist missionaries have been officially charged with kidnapping and conspiracy for trying to take 33 children out of the country illegally. the charges clearly came as a surprise. they arrived at the courthouse with their bags packed and their lawyer had chartered a plane to bring them home. if they are convicted they each face up to 34 years in prison. >>> newly installed massachusetts senator scott brown says fixing the economy is his top priority. shortly after brown was sworn in by vice president biden, he blasted president obama's stimulus bill, claiming it hasn't created one new job. brown also concerned about terrori

should we drive their toyota or not? >> they could drive the car, but if they have a concern about it as the secretary said very appropriately, they should take it to the dealer. the dealers are getting parts, and if anybody thinks their car is dangerous, take it in there. if anybody experienced any hint that they have a problem with the accelerator or breaking, they should take them in immediately. if they have not, they should be aware of the problem, the potential for the problem, and if it occurs put it in neutral, immediately, so -- this is with acceleration, so the vehicle engine does not race, and then bring the car to a stop and get it to a dealer -- call the dealer and have it towed to the dealer. >> thank you, and we appreciate your insight. time worked out perfectly as we get the breaking news with the prius. >> yeah, i am glad they are opening that one, johnny on the spot under the new administration. >> there is a little bit of good news there. thank you. appreciate it. >>> next hour, a toyota owner speaks o

host: the avalon, the toyota corolla, the toyota camry, the toyota highlander, the toyota matrix, the toyota previoius, te toyota tundra, the toyota tacoma, all on the recall list. what about the lexus? guest: there are some of them on the format recall. there are some overlapping issues.  in the u.s. in total. host: john, good morning. caller: i have 85,000 miles on my toyota avalon and i have never had any problems with it besides the radiator and a battery. also, i recently purchased a 2006 and they are putting the wrong size transmissions in those vehicles. they switched from a 75 -- from the 100 down to a 75 transmission. it cost me $2,500. i did not take out a warranty. they do not want to talk about me or have anything to do with me and i think that is not right. i have always taken good care of my vehicles, doing everything have to do. by do not think that it is right that they are selling a super dude the ford vehicle like that. -- i do not think that it is right that they are selling a super dude the -- duty for a vehicle like that. guest: when you consider the number of ve

will toyota, mr. toyoda, will toyota company pay for the victims' funerals and hospital costs and the like? >> translator: that relates to some of the legal matters going forward. we would like to do our utmost efforts. >> larry: well, we're seeing that obvious -- anyway, your critics back home say you didn't act quickly fluff to deal with this problem. you should have been involved sooner. a lot of japan are saying that. are they right? should, in retrospect, should you have acted sooner? >> translator: yes, looking back at this point in time, i feel that we should have acted much more promptly. when our company has grown so rapidly globally since i became the president, i have assigned the executive vice president to really look at each region so that they can be much closer to each locale so that they can respond to various needs on the part of the customers of each region, and at this time, this problem was so huge, and i really reflect upon the fact that i should have stepped in myself much soone

the bad news doesn't stop for toyota. first it was gas pedals, now the's brakes, and owners are wondering what's next? >>> was it fraud? the market tanks as the government goes after the man who used to be in charge of one of america's biggest banks. >>> serious trouble tonight for those american missionaries in haiti who say they want to help children. what happens there now? >>> man on a mission. some say his job is a lost cause. he's out to prove them wrong by making his job his life. >>> and one of the biggest changes in fast food in this country in generations. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. for decades in this country it was the automaker that stood for quality, the car company that could do no wrong, but these days nothing is going right for toyota. the once-mighty automaker has been paralyzed by an accelerator scare, what may be a botched response to it and a safety question involving brakes on some of its cars. our own government seems to be trying out h

he's been covering toyota's troubles for several months. here's a look at one of his reports about toyota's faulty pedals. it aired last november. >> charlie, federal safety officials said today the underlying cause of some 2000 so-called run away toyotas remains under active investigations. until today, toyota had solely blamed either the wrong formats or driver error. the government's statement comes as a growing number of toyota ownersor coming forward to insist that floor mats don't explain the mystery. before the tragic accident in this highway outside san diego in august, a luksz 2009 driven by an off duty california highway patrol officer was out of control. >> it's stuck, we're in trouble. there's no brake. >> the messenger called 911 from the back seat. >> we are approaching the intersection. hold on. >> a four people in the lexus died after it hit another car, crashed into only embankment and burst into flames. >> charlie: joining us from ann arbor is jeffrey liker. he's an engineering professor and wrote several books about toyot

caller: in october i please my third toyota. -- i least my third toyota. in october, i decided i wanted a 2010. the minute i signed the papers, i came home and saw the publicity on the television. i do not know anything about cars or electrical engineering. i thought the business about the format and cattle were insanely stupid. i thought it -- floor mat and pedals were insanely stupid. i did not want to bring my car in. we have wonderful state roads with wide shoulders of here. i thought these idiots were telling me that the five get a surge: 100 miles an hour, fro it in neutral. i forgot about it. i said i am doing a voluntary recall. i went into my on-line banking in canceled my car payment in million times. they kept putting it back in. i got on the computer and did research. i decided that these incidences are so old. maybe it is political. maybe they want people to buy american cars. yesterday there were testimonies. i listened to rhonda smith and her husband and the experts until the republican senator started laying into them. the experts were sayi

the president of toyota had this to say. >> i myself as well as toyota am not perfect. at times we find defects but in such situations we always stop, try to understand the problem and make changes to improve farther. in the name of the company, it's longstanding tradition and pride, we never run away from a problem or pretend we don't notice them. by making continuous improvements we aim to continue offering even better products for society. that is a core value we have kept close to our heart since the founding days of the company. >> but today lawmakers blasted the department of transportation just as much as toyota. as you know, the feds are trying to get to the bottom of the safety issue which forced toyota to recall more than 8 million vehicles. a number of people have died because of the unintended acceleration and today on capitol hill, the chairman of the house economy on over sight and government recall tried to put it in perspective. >> we have 39 deaths attributed to sudden acceleration in toyotas. to give that perspective, there were 27 deaths contributed t

for the latest news on the toyota recall and safety issues, go to cnn.com/toyota. again, cnn.com/toyota. >>> we'll be back right after this. >>> we have more must see news happening now. hln's mike ga lawn know here for tonight's download. >>> north korea says it will release an american missionary captured on christmas day. human rights activist robert park was detained after crossing the border from china. north korea's news agency quote as saying park has shown, quote, sincere repentance for wrongdoings. >>> the pentagon requires military bases worldwide to make the morning after pill available. a new policy was recommended by an independent panel of doctors and pharmacists. the bush administration resisted the change. it was okayed by the fda in 2006. >>> no response from iran after secretary of state hillary clinton turned down an offer to swap three american hikers detained in iran for iranian prisoners held in the u.s. mahmoud ahmadinejad proposed that trade. the americans have been held since july and are accused of espionage. they claim they crossed into i

toyota denies that. at least two congressional committees also plan to take up the issue at hearings this month. >> woodruff: and for more on this story and for more on this story, we are joined again by micheline maynard, senior business correspondent at the "new york times" and author of the book, "the selling of the american for being with us. >> my pleasure, judy. >> woodruff: first of all, toyota is saying they are sending these parts out to dealers in the next few days. that part is going to fix the problem. tell us what the part is, how is it going to fix it. >> well, the part is just a little piece of stainless steel. and toyota describes the problem this way: that there are two pieces of this accelerator pedal assembly just above where the car is. and the two pieces can sort of stick together the way two pieces of glass can stick together if you put a little bit of water on it. and they say that over time that's what is causing these pedals to stick sort of halfway down or halfway up. and driver

>>> another recall for toyota? toyota denies it's about to recall its latest model of the popular prius hybrid. >>> job jitters. the latest unemployment report out later today and the news is not expected to be good. >>> and brace for impact. a major storm ready to pound mid atlantic states with up to two feet of snow. this is the "cbs morning news" feet of snow. this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, february 5th, 2010. captioning funded by cbs >>> good morning. thank you for joining us. i'm randall pinkston in for michelle gielan. in the news this morning, toyota is denying reports in a highly respected squap these newspaper that it will recall the latest version of its popular prius hybrid. tara mergener is in washington with the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, randall. well, according to that report, this recall is looming, yet another hit to toyota's once stellar image. toyota this morning is denying published reports that it will recall 270,000 prius hybrids. on thursday, the auto giant ad

. >> why didn't toyota take immediate action to prevent the much later accidents that toyota clearly knew the problem existed as far back as 2000? >> i can tell you that a weakness in our system has been within this company we didn't do a very good job of sharing information across the globe. most of the information was one way. it would flow from the regional markets like the united states, canada or europe back to japan. >> and lentz stressed, however, that the problem with toyota is mechanical, that it's not electronic, and wolf, that runs very much counter to what many engineering experts and certainly lawmakers here are afraid of, that this isn't a problem with the foot pedal or any sort of matt in the car, that it really is a problem with the computer in the car. as we speak right now, the committee is in recess. we're waiting to hear some of that tough q&a no doubt that they'll be asking of ray lahood the department of transportation secretary. >> i take it he said this has not been necessarily resolved, that it's still under investigation, or that is the case closed? >> he sa

worse for toyota. among the latest developments, the national highway traffic safety administration has launched a formal investigation in to the brake issues that we've been hearing about on the 2010 prius hybrid electric model. let me tell you what the recall involves right now. first of all, there are two separate recalls. the prius is not involved in the recall at all. the first recall, which involved the gas pedal getting stuck on a floor mat. let me show you the models involved in that. the 2005 to 2005 avalon. the 2007 to 2010 camry, and the 2009 to 2010 corolla. also the floor mat recall involves the 2008 to 2010 highlander, the 2009 to 2010 matrix or vibe, that's the pontiac vibe. and the 2004 to 2009 prius. they're involved in the floor mat recall. continuing on the floor mat recall, 2005 to 2010 tacoma. 2007 to 2010 tundra, pickup truck, and 2009 to 2010 venza. those are all the floor mat recalls. now, there's a second recall going on, and that is this accelerator, the gas pedal, that tends

...berto guerra vino al congreso para apoyar a toyota. es dueno de 1 concesionaria fabrica partes de camionetas toyota con un 90 por ciento de empleados latinos. "si acaso esta descompuesto, toyota nos esta dando todo el apoyo para componer todo." la compania japonesa vivia asi quiza el dia mas critico de su historia, con su presidente testificando ante el congreso para disculparse por el retiro de millones de vehiculos. "lamento que esto ha resultado en los problemas de seguridad descritos en los retiros que enfrentamos al gobierno por no tomar medidas rapidamente ante aceleradores que se atascan en muchos modelos y que han causado 5 muertes y una investigacion sobre otras 29 en estados un y numero 2, fueron a japon para hablar con toyota para hacer la decision. y la preguntaue hice si es 1 compania americana, toyota america, porque no se hizo la decision aqui." toyota ademas ofrecera recoger en sus hogares y pagar transporte a clientes que necesiten reparaciones. el gobierno por su parte prom

"we're not finished with toyota" said lahood. autoanalysts estimate recalling and repairing millions of cars will cost toyota at least $900 million, with lost sales amounting to some $155 million a week. >> i'll have someone give you a call back. >> reporter: toyota said it first received a complaint of sticking gas pedals back in 2007 but determined its cars were not at fault. >> the first line of defense, the consumer was wrong, they stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, it's their fault. >> reporter: yet federal data showed toyota accelerator complaints totaled nearly 600 last year, a fact excluded from sales pitches to some customers. >> in the economic downturn they sacrificed quality and now that has come back to bite them. >> reporter: as worrisome are the increasing reports of runaway acceleration in toyota models not currently on the recall list, including fatal accidents involving a sienna and this lexus last august that killed four. >> we're in trouble. we can't... there's no brakes. hold on. pray. pray. sho

will toyota, mr. toyoda, will toyota company pay for the victims' funerals and hospital costs and the like? >> translator: that relates to some of the legal matters going forward. we would like to do our utmost effort efforts. >> larry: well, we're seeing that obvious -- anyway your critics at home say you didn't act quickly enough to deal with this problem. you should have been involved sooner. a lot of japan are saying that. are they right? should in retrospect, should you have acted sooner? >> translator: yes, looking back at this point in time, i feel that we should have acted much more promptly. when our company has grown so rapidly globally since i became the president i have assigned the executive vice president to really look at each region so that they can be much closer to each locale so that they can respond to various needs on the part of the customers of each region, and at this time, this problem was so huge and i really reflect upon the fact that i should have stepped in myself much soo

and coo of toyota. toyota reached out to mr. wozniak to discuss the situation. if we are eager to learn about what mr. wozniak experienced with his prius and share what we know about his systems in his vehicle to clarify the situation. is that true? have they reached out to you? >> well, i -- more than anything else in the world, i would like somebody high up in safety at toyota just to acknowledge, oh, we heard about your problem now. because i had so much lack of success two months ago. and i'm sure they're very nice people, but you know, wolf, i'm not an angry person. i haven't complained about this problem to a single friend. it's almost humorous to talk about. i have a neat story. and, you know, you guys -- you guys here on cnn, you guys aren't as friendly as on "dancing with the stars." >> steve wozniak, thanks very much for coming in. >> glad to be here. >>> they lead america's intelligence agencies and they all agree on one thing. there will be another attempted terror attack on the united state