with the car, that it wasn't her fault. >> reporter: it was here that georgia state patrol said brooke melton's 2005 chevy cobalt hydroplaned on a rainey evening. the car spun out and was struck by another vehicle and then dropped 15 feet into this creek. the accident report says melton was driving too fast for roadway conditions causing her to lose control of the vehicle. >> she was driving 58 and the speed limit was 55. >> reporter: do you believe that that could have caused the accident? >> no. i believe that she lost power. >> reporter: brooke melton's parents blame general motors. it's now known the ignition switch on her cobalt was defective. this data analysis shows that the switch was in the accessory position at the time of the crash shutting the engine off and disabling the airbags, power steering and anti lock brakes. >> we believe the evidence is overwhelming that the defects in this key system resulted in brooke's loss of control and her death. >> reporter: gm would not comment on the data recorder information. the defect led gm to recall 2.6 million cars but before the recall the

that it wasn't her fault. >> reporter: it was here that georgia state patrol says brook melton's 2005droplaned on a rainy evening. the car spun out and was struck by another vehicle, then dropped 15 feet into this creek. the accident report says melton was driving too fast for roadway conditions, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. >> she was driving 58 and the speed limit was 55. do you believe that that could have caused the accident? >> no, i believe she lost power. >> reporter: brook's parents blame general motors. it's now known the ignition switch on her cobalt was defective. this analysis of the car's data recorder provided by their attorney shows the switch was in the accessory position at the time of the crash, shutting the engine off and disabling the air bags, power steering and antilock brakes. >> we bleaelieve the evidence i overwhelming the defects in this key system resulted in her death. >> reporter: gm would not comment. the defect led gm to recall 2.6 million cars. but before the recall, the melons settled their case with gm for an undisclosed amount. now the

that it wasn't her fault. >> reporter: it was here that georgia state patrol says brooke melton's 2005olet cobalt hydroplaned on a rainy evening four years ago. the car spun out and was struck by another vehicle. then dropped 15 feet into this creek. the accident report says melton was driving too fast for roadway conditions, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. >> she was driving 58 and the speed limit was 55. >> reporter: do you believe that could have caused the accident? >> no. i believe that she lost power. >> reporter: it's now known the ignition switch on her cobalt was defective. this analysis of the car's data recorder provided by the melton's attorney shows the switch was in the accessory position at the time of the crash. shutting the engine off and disabling the air bags, power steering and anti-lock brakes. >> we believe the evidence is overwhelming that the defects in this key system resulted in brooke's loss of control and her death. >> reporter: gm would not comment on the date taye recorder information. the defect led gm to recall 2.6 million cars, but before th

. >> reporter: but those words aren't enough to the parents of brooke melton, who died driving a 2005hevy cobalt on her 29th birthday. >> i kept thinking that this is not possible. it's her birthday. it can't -- this can't have happened that she died. >> when i touched her hand it was cold. i knew in my heart and gut there was something wrong with the car. that it wasn't her fault. >> reporter: it was here that goode state pa prol says brooke molten's 2005 chevrolet cobalt hydroplaned on a rainy evening four years ago. the car spun out and was struck by another vehicle and dropped 15 feet into this creek. the accident report says melton was driving too fast for roadway conditions, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. >> he was driving 58 and the speed limit was 55. do you believe that that could have caused the accident? >> no. i believe that she lost power. >> reporter: it's now known the ignition switch on her cobalt was defective. this analysis of the data report shows the switch was in the accessory position at the time of the crash shutting the engine off and disabling the

someone needs to investigate this and see why. >> reporter: the parents of brooke melton say they hopeeir daughter's death can help prevent others. >> the only way i know to overcome the pain and make the pain less is to do something positive like this. and try to strive for doing something positive for someone else. >> reporter: ford says it would move quickly if it thought the data indicated the safety recall was needed. but it does not recognize the methodology used for the top 15 list. as for the government, nhtsa continues to claim it has a good track record for spotting deflects. despite the criticism, it's failed to do so again and again. >> brian, thank you so much. if you want to go to goodmorningamerica.com, and we'll tell you where to find the 15 warning watch list. >>> and coming up, smoothies, are they really good for you? how many calories, you won't believe it. >>> and a woman gets a huge surprise from her boyfriend, in a commercial during the world cup. we're going to talk to them live, next. thit's not the "limit yoursh hard earned cash back" card . it's not the "confu

. >> we are on erin burnett "outfront," brooke melton died in a crash. deceived from general motors. listen to what her father told me. >> it's not ready but it will be on at 7:00 p.m. eastern on erin burnett on "outfront." >>> imagine being locked in a close space when passengers are looking for a fight. what is wrong with you people? the airline industry says they need help stopping it. [ male announcer ] whether it takes 200,000 parts, ♪ 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. whether it's building the world's most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. at boeing, one thing never changes. our passion to make it real. ♪ this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪ you walked into the

melton. their daughter, brooke, died in a car crash. they are family says it was the result of a faulty ignition switch on her 2005 chevy cobalt. they settled initial claims against the company but asked to reopen the case, saying gm hid evidence from them. >> they're playing with numbers, that they don't count brooke's death, and she's dead because of that ignition switch. >> are you willing to settle this time? >> no. settlement is off the table. >> reporter: any amount of money? >> right. >> it's not about the money. >> so, general motors denies the allegation that it hid evidence. the investigation is expected to exonerate the current ceo, mary barra, who has repeatedly said she had no knowledge of the faulty switches until she took the top job earlier this year. she did hold several senior jobs before this top job, so the fact that it exonerates here is of importance. >> and her entire career has been spent at general motors. >> yes. >> so, a lot of the attention has been on mary barra. this recall came just a month into her tenure

if not for the brooke melton lawsuit and she was killed and her lawyers found out her ignition switch from model year 2008 was different from model years 2005, '06 and '07 in the cobalt, would we know about this switch problem today? would we be aware of it? >> the answer is yes because the -- there was an open and, at that point, significant investigation going on at that particular point. certainly, there was information and evidence that was accumulating as they were going forward pointing to the fact they had non-deployments and fatality. >> that's a big cover up to me. after general motors learned of the change, it took months to confirm there had been a change. why did this take so long? >> i don't have a good answer for that. i can tell you it did take that long, from the time of april, 2013 when that deposition took place, they knew or should have known or knew at that point they had two different switches. they gave it to the expert and he came back with his confirmation of what they were given in april. that took until almost october. >> yeah, it's amazing. when the issue wa

he was hired by a trial attorney representing the estate of brook melton, one of the victims of the whole, 29-year-old young woman. and mark hood's sleuthing in junk yards allowed him to solve what had gone on here because he compared different parts that had the same number but were different in configuration. bottom line for me is that this case speaks to the power of individuals and the effect that individuals can have on our lives both for good and for bad. you remember that original headline, gm fires 15 employees over recall failures? what i would have written, the power of one. the next headline is from "the los angeles times." donald sterling to drop fight to keep clippers and allow sale to ballmer. the clippers owner you know made those racist statements about magic johnson is now saying i'll allow the sale to go forward. why wouldn't he? he bought the team for $12 million. he's about to sell the team for $2 billion. that's four times the record that was paid. the milwaukee bucks just sold for only $550 million. you know, sports economists say they can't justify, they can't ratio

that's what happened to brooke melton where she's driving down the highway on her 29th birthday, i go anything stops, the car loses power, she goes into the other lane and she's killed. do you know about that case? >> i certainly do. >> and so yet the gm engineer said that this was a convenience issue. right? >> they not only said it internally, they said it publicly when they were interviewed by the press. they said this is our position that a stall does not constitute a safety issue and that -- >> that is just insane, isn't it? >> i won't use the word insane, but i'm troubled by that. >> okay. good. now, at the same time, gm was talking to nhtsa about whether stalling was a safety risk. are you aware of that? >> i'm aware there were those conversations for all this period of time. >> ms. barra, were you aware that at the same time nhtsa was talking to gm in june 2004 that general motors recalled 15,000 b because of stalling risks? >> i was not involved in that area. >> so you're not aware of that. >> gay kent sie sign that had notice. did gay kent every express any concern to you ab

brooke melton was killed in a chevy cobalt with a faulty ignition switch why would that not be coveredensation plan? >> they're taking the position, at least at this point, that the melton case had settled. we settled the case last year, but we've opened it back up because of the fraud committed on the meltons during their case. however, gm continues to take the position that the case is over. >> what fraud was committed? i'm confused by that. >> ultimately in the melton case -- in the melton case, during the case, they told us that they had never changed the switch. their engineer testified under oath and the lawyers sent documents showing that. >> wow. >> ultimately it's come out since the recall they did change the switch, and so what the meltons are saying is, you didn't shoot straight with us, we want to have our day in court. >> right. >> lance, one last question. if they have pretty restrictive parameters on the number of vehicles that are covered, how hard do you think the outcry is going to be from the families of victims saying, wait a second? mary barra has talked about let'

we spent this week talking to beth and ken melton who lost their daughter brooke melton in a crash theytion switch defect. listen to what they told me. >> i would gladly give my last breath just to hug her and tell her i loved her one more time. just one more time. >> i kept thinking that this is not possible. it's her birthday. it can't. this can't have happened that she died. >> when i touched her hand, it was cold. i knew in my heart and my gut there was something wrong with the car, that it wasn't her fault. >> reporter: brooke melton is not counted on gm's list of 13 victims. there are a lot of other families out there like this. they want some answers and we will see if we get more answers today. >> what am i missing here? poppy, thank you for digging into the families and getting us to understand that perspective because that is what matters most here. what am i missing? this company is looking into itself. how is that the solution? i know they had to pay a fine and it was a $35 million fine. if we want to say it's meaningless there is proof because the street who measures this,

that's what happened to brooke melton where she's driving down the highway on her 29th birthday, i go anything stops, the car loses power, she goes into the other lane and she's killed. do you know about that case? >> i certainly do. >> and so yet the gm engineer said that this was a convenience issue. right? >> they not only said it internally, they said it publicly when they were interviewed by the press. they said this is our position that a stall does not constitute a safety issue and that -- >> that is just insane, isn't it? >> i won't use the word insane, but i'm troubled by that. >> okay. good. now, at the same time, gm was talking to nhtsa about whether stalling was a safety risk. are you aware of that? >> i'm aware there were those conversations for all this period of time. >> ms. barra, were you aware that at the same time nhtsa was talking to gm in june 2004 that general motors recalled 15,000 b because of stalling risks? >> i was not involved in that area. >> so you're not aware of that. >> gay kent sie sign that had notice. did gay kent every express any concern to you ab

the power steering, the brakes, the air bags, that's what happened to brook melton where she's driving down the highway in georgia on her 29th birthday and the ignition stops. the car loses power, she goes into the other lane and she's killed. do you know about that case? >> i know about that case, i certainly do. >> and so, yet, the gm engineer said that this was a convenience issue, right? >> they not only said it internally they said it publicly when they were interviewed by the press. they said, this is our position. a stall does not constitute a safety issue. >> that's just insane, isn't it? >> it is -- i won't use the word insane but i'm troubled by that. >> okay, good. now, at the same time, gm was talking to nitsa about whether stalling was a safety risk. are you aware of 245? >> i'm aware of conversations for all this period of time. >> mr. barra, were you aware that at the same time nitsa was talking to gm in 2004, general motors recalled cars because of stalling risks? >> i was not involved in thatiary. >> so you're not aware of that? >> now. -- the notice was signed and was

ken and beth melton say a faulty switch led to their daughter, brooke's, death in 2010. heir initial claims against the company but have asked to reopen the case, saying gm hid evidence from them. this is something gm denies, but the meltons are unconvinced. >> they're playing with numbers, that they don't count brooke's death, and she's dead because of that ignition switch. >> reporter: are you willing to settle this time? >> no. settlement is off the table. >> reporter: any amount of money? >> right. >> it's not about the money. >> as for current ceo mary barra, the investigation is expected to show that she had no knowledge of the danger during her time with the company. she has repeatedly said she was not informed about the switch problems until she became ceo earlier this year. she's worked in the company forever in a number of senior positions. >> the big question is why did it take them ten years? internal documents show they knew about this problem ten years before the recall. that's the crux of this here. >>> all right, time to an "early start" to your money. hap

melton. their daughter brooke's death four years ago and the investigation that followed is credited with forcinghose faulty ignition switches. how surprising is it for the two of you to sit and hear that in 2002 a gentleman with 36 years of gm experience under his belt, an individual who ran the so-called quality audit, warned the entire board of these defective automobiles? >> michael, we're always very grateful when any employee of the general motors corporation stands tall and comes forward with the truth. this also shines light on the fact that gm as a corporate culture wantonly ignored safety issues, even when alerted by their own employees. >> there was something he said, which was breathtaking. i'd like to just play a brief tape and have you respond to it. roll that if you would. >> if that had been corrected in '98, if we had done a thorough check of all our procedures and found out how safety defects were getting through, none of this would have happened. it's pretty simple. >> mr. and mrs. melton, do you believe if his concerns about the corporate culture as expressed in the letter to

if not for the book milton melton -- the brooke lawsuit, from my district, the 11th congressional district of georgia -- if not for that ,awsuit, and she was killed, and the fact that her lawyers figured out the ignition switch evenifferent, would we know about this ignition switch problem today? would we even be aware of it? is yes.nswer there was an open and at that point significant investigation going on at that particular point. informationhere was and evidence accumulating as they were going forward, pointing to non-deployments, et al. it is, and that the switch had something to do with it all stop >> that smacks of a big cover-up to me. after general motors learned of this change, it took months for gm outside experts to confirm. why did this take so long? good answerhave a for that. i can tell you it did take that long. i can tell you that from the time of april 2013, when that deposition took place -- they knew at that point that they had two different switches. they gave it to mr. milani, the expert. expert.ilotti, the until october.ok >> when the decision was made in december, n