toyota just to promote gm and chrysler, which the government bailed out. the mississippi governor, haley barbour, he s here in the situation room to explain. and did an employee for the company formerly known as blackwater take weapons intended for the afghan national police using a name from the animated show southpark ? i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. all the recalls, deaths and a public disaster over toyota, this was the man so many people have been waiting for, the president of toy toit ta explaining it all to lawmakers. but he was also talking to you. a congressional panel is investigating the recall of more than 8 million vehicles over issues of sudden acceleration and unresponsive brake pedals. akio toyoda began with an acknowledgment. in the past few months, our customers are started to feel
to our viewers, you are in the situation room, and happening now is the breaking news we are following a. killer whale kills one of its veteran trainers in seaworld orlando. we have a biologist standing by. in a new twist of a killing that seems to be something out of a spy novel. the assassination of a hamas leader in a luxury hotel and suddenly the number ofs s of s is exploding, and is there a u.s. connection? and a fallout of the toyota recalls is plummeting safety regulators, and you will want to see my interview with the transportation secretary ray lahood. i m wolf blitzer, and you are in the situation room. let s get some more now on today s historic hearings on the toyota recall.
of transportation. is nhtsa underfunded? the president has included 66 new positions in our 2011 budget. we have the people and the expertise to really find these problems and get the car manufacturers to fix them. one of the reasons that i listened to that testimony yesterday from mrs. smith and i know the horrific anxiety caused by the acceleration of her vehicle, and we encourage people, if you are having a problem, take it to the toyota dealer. if you are on the recall, definitely take it back and get it fixed. so, yes, it is underfund and understaffed right now? well, we will get additional people in the 2011 budget. we have sufficient number of people and using outside folks to help us when we need them to correct these problems. even if you get these additional staff people that the
i will try one more time. is it safe to drive a toyota pending the resolution of the electronics matter? if you are experiencing problems with your toyota, take it to the dealer. if your car is on the recall, you should definitely take it to the dealer and get it fixed. that is the best advice i can give you, wolf. let me play this clip of rhonda smith who testified this week before congress and the experience she had with her toyota built lexus. listen to this. this failure is shared by toyota and nhtsa today. in our view, they have demonstrated an uncaring attitude and disregard for life. the results have been tragic, and today, i must say, shame on you, toyota, for being so greedy. and shame on you, nhtsa, for not doing your job. nhtsa, is the national highway traffic safety administration. which is part of your department
theme. this is an important end, talented agency, but it is in disrepair. it needs a huge infusion of cash, and more staff. it does not have some of the expertise that it needs for example electronic engineers and so on. reporter: nhtsa has a staff of 635 employees with 57 working for the office of defects investigation and says it reviews more than 30,000 consumer complaints a year. its budget is $856 million with roughly 70% given to states for highway traffic safety grants. compare that to the faa which has a budget of $17 billion. the agency only got authority by congress in 2000 to hire more staff after ford ordered a massive recall of firestone tires. some of the same issues raised by nhtsa today were raised eight years ago after the ford firestone recall. in 2002, the office of inspector general here at the department of transportation had issued this report, and it was critical