militia? >> caller: to keep a eye on government along with them keeping an eye on us. it's supposed to work hand in hand. there is not one particular group that has power working out. >> host: do you feel threatened by the government? >> caller: the government itself has gotten worst with the patriot act and other laws that they passed that are unconstitutional. we're not out to try to knock down the government. we're out there to keep an eye on them, just like they keep an eye on us. i am not here to spread racism. i'm just here to say that everybody is in the same boat. i am a republican. we would still be doing the things they were going right now. >> are you white income --

white? >> caller: yes, i am. >> host: are there any blacks in the group? >> caller: about 1500. >> host: how many all together? >> caller: i can't tell you that. i hope you understand. we do have white, black, other colors, we do have a very diverse military group. >> host: thanks for your call, james. sorry to cut you off. mark potok, go ahead. >> guest: well, i simply don't believe him. 1500 black people in one militia group, out of the question. i say that on the basis of you know, actually looking at any militia group in the country that has 1500 people of any color, you know, there were in the militia miewflt until the

190s, there was an occasional black person. it was not 100% white. was it 99 plus percent white? absolutely. i think that's true now. by saying that, i don't mean to say all of the militias with racist. i don't think that's true. but to say there are 1500 black members of a militia is false. >> host: francis from san antonio, on the line for the democrats. go ahead. >> caller: yes, i would like to make a statement in reference to the last caller. why do they call themselves militia, to me they are terrorists. because what is the difference between them and the ones from other countries? they ask to overthrown the government. they had training in the bushes. so what makes them any different? >> host: thanks for your call, francis. let's go to round rock texas on

the line for independence. ks. >> caller: yes, good morning. >> host: go ahead. >> caller: thank you for the opportunity to speak. i recently moved back to texas after being away from 40 years. i grew up here. i'm a black person. and i have in my family about five different cultures. i'm very pleased about that. but i do think that much of this is kind of racially based. i've been pulled over by the police more times than ever. i found the best way to do is to try to get involved with the community and get involved in the police department and go on as a volunteer so there's not a visible threat as to being perceived. it's a problem. there really, really is. i think one the other things i've observed about what's going on since obama has been present is we have so many people misinformed about health care, about what the government is going to do, and they get most of their thoughts from, you know, fox news or some of these other radical discussion groups that just kind of help

perpetuate it. those are my thoughts. >> host: mark potok, your thoughts? >> guest: well, i couldn't agree more. i think the kind of work that the caller talks about, knitting together communities one stitch at a time is the kind of hard work of democracy that we all have to do. i said earlier, i don't think the country is collapsing or that we are going to see a race war or anything like that. i think it is worth remembering that for all of the trouble that we are going through, we are a nation that went through 250 years of slavery, followed by a century jim crow and 40 years later, tens of millions of white people in the country did vote for a black man for president. and in addition to that every poll shows that each new generation of young people in this country is more open to interracial relationships and marriages and so on. so i think those things get at the core long-term process of what's happening in the

country. i think we are moving to a better place. but, you know, historic doesn't move forward. we go through the difficult periods. i think as the caller suggest, we're seeing one of them right now. >> host: keith on the line for the republicans. you have the last call for mark potok. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. thanks for giving me the last call. people like chris matthews and yourself when democracies were voting against president obama, they were considered racist. you know, it's not against the law to be antigovernment. we're allowed to. i guess your partisan. but, you know, daily 24 hour domestic terrorism is happening in black neighborhood with the crypts, environmental terrorist, black panthers, that's a racial group, why don't you ever discuss these? and you've only had 75 incidents between now and 95.

that i call loan wolf. these people are killing their own people daily. why not go after them domestic terrorist? >> host: mark, go ahead. >> guest: because they are not domestic terrorist. we're not a law enforcement agency. so i absolutely agree. obviously gang violence in the cities and elsewhere is responsible for far more criminality and numbers of deaths than people who blow up federal buildings. there's no doubt about that. but, you know, the crypts and the bloods and the mexican mafia, these are groups that are criminal enterprises. they are not seeking to impose some kind of racial ideology in the country. as to the liberation front that i talked about them earlier and i we do write about them. we do cover hate groups of all kinds. the new black panthers which is utterly unlike and unrelated to

the original is a racist hate group. we've listed it as such. we try to look at the whole send and assess it in an even handed way. >> host: mark potok of the southern poverty law center. thank you very much for being on the washington journal this morning. >> guest: and thank you for having me. i really appreciate it. >> all this month, see the winners of the studentcam competition. they subjected on one of the great east strength or challenge the country is facing. watch the top videos every morning at 6:50 eastern and at 8:30, meet the students who made them. for a preview of all of the winners, visit c-span.org. >> i know what the challenge is. we're in a unique position to go

to work. we need a road map to get it done. >> something about energy policy that you'd like to talk about on your blog? at the new c-span video library, you can search it, watch it, and flip it. over 160,000 of video from yesterday or 10 years ago. every c-span program since 1987. the c-span video's library. people's latest gift to america. >> live at 6:30, author simon johnson talks about "13 bankers" which he coauthored. also tonight former treasury are secretary hank paulson and his book "on the brink q and bill and janet cohen on "race issues." recent toyota recalls have questioned the government's enforcement auto safety standards, along with dave, president and ceo of the

alliance of automobile manufacturers which represents toyota and detroit news reporter dave who covered the recent congressional hearings discuss federal oversight of car safety standards. we welcome your calls and tweets. it's underway at 8 p.m. eastern live on c san. and here's of portion of one of those recent corrosional hearings, starting with the opening statement of the executive vice president of the toyota corporation. >> my name is yew hiv yam da. i am the chief engineer for our company. i was fortunate to be the chief engineer of the first generation prius. i helped plan and develop the first hybrid in the world and

this hybrid led over auto makers to realize they importance of environmentally-friendly technology. toyota testified to congress last year to show as the priority has traditionally been the point. first, 5th, second quality, third volume. our goal in developing generated technology isn't only to comprise with standards and to strive for good safety rating. but also to improve consumer safety in their world. sons are being raised about the

system. this system used by all major automakers represented a against percent of the neighboring contraction control and electronic control among other things. because the etc controls the engines with the assistant, too depressive to break this importance on ensuring that's a ability of the system is absolute by undertaking viewers design and testing processes. three things ensure the liability. the first is -- the first is mechanisms we build into the design. second, is its extreme

environment of the conditions. and third, is its programs. the systems with the gps is a robust. but the design includes two separate center systems. the main or control cpu characterized the operating command for all engine systems. the monitors for the input and output and processes are what's the signal? ask between the two cpus many times for a second to confirm that the processes are working correctly. it's two cpus are not in

agreement, or either the main or subcpu doesn't receive what's the signal, the engine management system will alert the driver and go into a fail-safe mode. for each machine, it's all designed and tested to make sure it will stand all of the foreseeable environments in terms of. , moisture, vibration, and electromagnetic interference, or emi. we have testing data that confirms it's reliability from all of the markets in which we operate worldwide. the emi -- sorry, one emi, there is known in the u.s.

but we test to withstand dozens of european for emi. in none of these cases are the etcs failed. and in addition, test in the system, extense ily in the design phase and after airs ya developed to ensure that there is not possibility of sudden and intensive acceleration. i want to be absolutely clear, as a result of our extensive testing, we do not believe sudden and intensive acceleration because of a defect in our etcs has ever happened. however, we will continue to search for any event in which would happen.

no doubt it's further the facility of our components. we have asked the engineering and scientifickic to conduct its own comprehensive evaluation. we are also addressing the issue of unintended acceleration through new technologies, including recorders and brake override systems. in conclusion, our prius has changed the global economy with its environmental performance. now, we will strive to continue to be the leader in the area of safety. our help drives our efforts to meet these challenges. and it ensures the driver safety and regain their trust and confidence.

thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. uch uchiyamada. now mr. sihchi. >> thank you. my name is mr. shinichi, i am responsible for the assurance and customer service. in my testimony, i will outline the significant ways in which toyota is changing its approach to customer safety. in light of the lessons we have learned from our recent rerecalls. as we look for the future, we need to ensure that we listen

more closely to our customers voices. and operate them for frequently and aggressively. we are overhauling the toyota process. this overhaul will cover entire assurance processes from big group running and design to manufacturing, sales, and service. in the united states, we previously have been focused on technical operations. however, we need to consider customer expectations and real world with usage over the

vehicleses. we also will reduce the number of things we ask our customerred to do correctly. while quick and updated positions are important, these are the steps we can take to prevent such an event during the assurance process. therefore, we will intensify our focus on safety design and prevent any harm during the vehicle ride. with regards to the customer service, we will be the better network to collect customer information. in the more timely manner at the sight. in the tradition of which it will go to see, in the united

states we will establish additional technical branches. in several cities, this is the cause of the customer service and allow us to deploy teams of reported incident. as quickly as possible. to make this activity more useful, we will not only use the data, but improve our vehicle diagnostic proves. with regard to the calls, in order to help us, make timely and appropriate decisions, we will share the information by allowing each staff to access the network globally.

for the future, it will have a clear decision-making law. or maybe of our goal is for the united states to have an even greater voice in the decisions on vehicles and as the safety and satisfaction issues. the 40 and 50 of the vehicles are toyota's lifeline. i will do my utmost to make sure that our views remain among the safest and most reliable in the world but leading and training all toyota safety personal in the united states and all of the companies. members of the committee, these important actions deflect on

waiverring commitment to restoring the application that our company has built in the united states over more than half a century. we look forward to working with congress to advance our shared goal of improved road safety for the driver and the general public. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. s sasaki. now i'd like to call on yoshimi inaba. >> members, thank you for inviting me inviting me to testify. my name is yoshimi inaba, i am the president and coo of toyota

motor company in north america. i'm talking the steps to restore the trust of the tens of millions of americans who purpose and drive our vehicles. for 50 years, toyota has provided americans with cars and trucks that are safe and reliable. for the past 25 years we have built many of those vehicles here in the united states. our 200,000 members at plants, dealerships, and suppliers in this country are united in their determination to provide even safer, high quality vehicles in the future. i am honored to be joined here today by several members of the toyota family in the united states. they have the education to our values has helped establish toyota's record for quality and

dependability. in event months we have not lived up to the high standard our customers and public have come to expect despite all of our good faith efforts. as our president of toyota told members of congress last year, we regret our short comings has resulted in the issues associated with our recent recalls. i can assure you that we have learned from this experience here are the actions that we have taken. first, we have developed effective and durables solutions for the vehicles we have recalled. our dealers have repaired 1 million vehicles and made efforts to complete these recalls quickly and conveniently. they are literally working

around the clock. second, we are making fundamental changes in the way our company operates in order to assure that we set a higher standard for vehicle safety and reliability. responsiveness to customers and transparency with regulators. a global level we have established a special committee for global quality to thoroughly review operations. in addition, we have sending a blue ribbon panel of distinguished independent experts to confront that the enhanced quality controls we have putting into place conform to best industry practices. i am pleased to say that former transportation secretary rodney slater will help lead this panel. we will also putting a system in

place for better important quality and safety information across the operations and to work for closely with the government agencies including n.h.t.s.a. in the united states. at the regional level we will ensure that our customers voices will be heard and acted upon in the timely manner. in the united states we will deploy s.w.a.t. teams of technicians to make onsight inspections on acceleration reports as quickly as possible. northern american operations will have more economy and power with regard to recalls and other safety issues. in addition, we'll establish a new automotive center for quality excellence in the united states where a team of the top engineers will focus on strengthening our quality control throughout the region. at the customer level we are taking significant steps to

bolster confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles. toyota will be one of the first automakers to make brake override system standards on all of our new models sold in north american, including prius which you have seen the similar result. we have all installs brake override on seven existing models. we have a comprehensive evaluation of our electric control system by a world-class engineer and scientific consulting firm. we are confidence that the system is safe, but we recognize the public seeks additional reassurance and we will make the findings of the analysis public. member rock -- rockefeller and members of the committee, we are

proud of the heritage and appreciate the loyalty of toyota drivers so much of whom continue to tell us how much they love our cars. in the future we will revitalize the principal since 1937 to build the highest quality, safetiest and most reliability automobiles in the world. thank you so much. >> thank you, mr. inaba. >> thank you. i will close from my earlier points. >> i can't hear you very well. >> sorry. thank you senator rockefeller, our focus, i want to go to some policy issues. first of all, strong regulations in effective enforcement protect not only the consumers, but it also protects the manufacturers reputation.

but ensuring the safety and reliability of the vehicles that they sell. no one wins by cutting corners on safety. whether it's the consumers, the manufacturer, or the department of transportation. the -- unfortunately is not kept up with modern automobiles. the standard should lead, not lag behind technology. the agency, toyota itself during the last 10 years has lost sight of where it was. in the 1980s when the camry was introduced, toyota steps up, found the problems within a year, mote if iing the consumers, and took care. toyota needs to go back to what is does best which is building safe, reliable vehicles and

responding to the consumer. out of all of this toyota and n.h.t.s.a. need to move forward. they need to install the brake overhaul with the electronic throttle control. to restore consumer faith in the openness of toyota, it needs to release all of the information that it submits to the government in the acceleration investigations. it needs to conduct a public engineering study into electronic controls that has experts with no ties to the automobile industry. n.h.t.s.a. itself need to immediately set a standard for accelerators and not the old mechanical standards that dates from 1973. it needs to break open and set a standard for electronic overrides for all manufacturers. it needs to ura