gm ramps up sales of volt as sales falter and gm recently wednesday had this full-page ad in a lot of the national newspapers. a few words about the volt saying that the news about the volt is wrong. >> yeah, i guess it's a paraphrase. you're not reading that from something. >> no. >> but you're referencing it from the "wall street journal," i think and then the full page ads were an open-page letter from dan ackerson who was here giving testimony on the investigation of post crash fires with nhtsa. so that's what happened over the last day. i was very proud of the way -- so was everybody else in gm i think and our -- and our volt owners have gotten information from them and in the way that the company is operating. we can always be better. the volt was basically validated by every agency out there on crash tests when we went to production, five-star ratings and everything. so it clearly had safety leadership. what we have done with an extraordinary test that, you know, again, punctures the battery, dumps a ton of cool end on the battery and lets it set for quite a while and rotates i

government is running gm. i would say, given the philosophy of some of my friends on this side of the aisle and that gm has had such success recently to assert that the government was running gm would probably create a feeling that the government is either more confident than you think it is or that gm is less competent than you think it is. i think either of those two assertions might be interesting to have to decipher. >> i think every american is pleased by the success of general motors. but that doesn't dismiss the fact that even today half of the board are approximately half of the board were selected by the administration to sit on the board, that the taxpayers that invested $50 billion in this company and that there are all kinds of incestives, tax breaks, et cetera, for people to purchase this product. those are the facts. >> the gentleman is correct. the gentleman is correct by that. but the e-mails were about the government's -- >> you talk about the totality of the situation. i want to make sure we

there were no protocols, gm wasn't informed. and it appears, we talked about appearance being reality, that the administrators, the safety administrators didn't have the knowledge of this battery and the danger that this leaking fluid out of it could cause. and did cause this fire. so i believe i'm out of time and i yield back my time. >> actually i would like to respond to that. i'll be very brief. am i satisfied for the fact that what we, as an agency or with the manufactures do with the time and terms of post crash protocols for lithium batteries? no, that's why we addressed it. there was no reason to think that there was an issue with the protocols because of the processes we went through and are learning over the years with these systems. in battery intrusion, we've always known is a situation that we want to avoid. and in this particular situation an anomalous way, the battery was intruded upon and we discovered a list of events that we know we need to address lithium ion batteries post-crash, which is what we did with the

has it helped gm become more competitive? >> as i said, this is an evolving area of automotive engineering and technology. it's a halo car in the sense that we get a cache being an innovative and successful companies all innovate. just to set an expectation, a little bit of background, we sold more volts in the first year than toyota sold priuses in the first year that they rolled out the prius. so new technologies do take a while to get hold, to get traction. so i think the engineering around this has been viewed as, it was described as a moon shot. from a technological point of view. and indeed, i think it was. and i think that has benefitted other cars. we're rolling out -- >> it's your -- it's your experience then, that the manufacturing of the volt, will put america essentially on the map with respect to these electric vehicles, is that right? >> these electric vehicles, the derivatives are going into many of our cars. for example, the buick lacrosse, with the high 20s in the road mileage. with eassist, as we call it, it

because we want gm to be successful. or they have inflated the cafe standards with all of this, which is ridiculous. so i'm going to ask you a few questions, want to you clear up a few things. what happens here, mr. strickland, our lives are short. and damage can be done to somebody sitting in that chair and they don't even know it's been done. or your wife will be looking at you on television tonight and saying, you know, they really made you look bad. i just want you to know, calm down, you don't look bad.

and our unions. >> mark reuss, a vice president of the gm corporation and president of gm north america. he has joined us here "on the washington journal" from the auto show in washington. thank you, mr. reuss. >> thank you very much, peter. and thank you for questions and calls. they were great. . >>> i do believe the west for all of its historical shortcomings, and i'm scathing in my book in discussing these shortcomings because they have to be admitted. for all of these shortcomings, the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable, universally workable political culture. >> in 1991, the united states was the only global superpower. today how to restore its status in the world. from former national security adviser zbigniew brzezinski saturday night on after awards. also on book tv, did fdr use world war ii as a cover to create a more powerful executive branch? burton and anita folsom, saturday at 11:00 p.m. and sunday night at 10:00 p.m., the new privacy is no privacy. book tv, every weekend on c-span 2. >>> 1150,000 square feet of cars. that's what the vice-chairman

has gm addressed and fixed the issues? >> i think it was a huge opportunity for us yesterday when our chairman and ceo gave a view to the world of how our company operates. nunumber two, we can always design cars and trucks better as an industry and a company. when we see things are run new technology and severe tests that may or may not ever happen, those are opportunities for us to look at it and how to do it better. we crashed cars with gasoline in their tanks. a 12-volt battery and drain the fuel tank for obvious reasons. we did not have those protocols in place for the battery. those are the kinds of things you learn with new technology. we have to seize the opportunity and make sure we are doing this right because the cars are a wonderful piece of technology. it pays for itself on a lease base operation-wise. >> yr ceo said the volt was becoming a bit of a political punching bag. >> i think it did. hopefully that is history. we are really working hard to relaunch of the car with all of the transpararency of what it d

to gm ever ask you not to disclose that or make a public? >> absolutely not. >> did anyone in the administration who is your superior ever ask you to fail to disclose information relating to the revocation of the fire. >> absolutely not. it is my expectation, the executive president's expectation that i do my job. >> so would you do if someone did talk to you and say, hey, you know what, these issues out here with the technology. we have the shoes out here with standards. would you do? >> i have a high moral obligation to the american public. i would probably disclose any risk if it was proved to be and are reasonable risk to safety. >> this day always keep the initial internal investigations confidential prior to opening a formal safety defect investigation. >> like all agencies we have free decision were to be done. >> why. >> because we handle confidential business information, a proprietary information and discuss serve the american public trust to make and not deliberate and careful decision about something that poses six risk. >> so wh

if gm wants to do with their own money, but we're so deep into gm and this is coming from the white houseperiod. no cost consulting with general motors management. this is strictly the white house's idea utopia. >> the task force said that the volt wasn't financially viable. >> that would be plug prince and-- but, all right. go ahead, adam, defend this, go ahead. [laughter] >> two things, one, the volt was on the drawing boards for years, nothing to do with the obama administration. >> it should have stayed on the drawing board. >> and furthermore, i covered the technology industry where companies release whacky products all the time, that are different from the competition, and some succeed, most fail. and that should be-- >> and you are astutely so like for apple. i can't believe that, by the way. >> thanks, neil. but did you know better than anyone here, that this on paper was a disaster, debuted as a disaster and continues to be funded as a disaster, something that would have never done. in fact, apple can charge a premium for its products because people want them so much. this thing

gm and chrysler both did., did they keep the same people in that company, or did they get rid of them? it was a fact that they certainly did not know how to run the business. number two, if they manage to get themselves into another dilemma like this, are they expecting the government to bail them out? the taxpayers are real fed up. host: mr. reuss? guest: will start with the first question. personally, i've been in the company as an engineer for many years. i started as an engine engineer in 1986. i have seen the company all the way through all of this. your question on the bailout part of it, i'm not proud of that. i am grateful for the opportunity to add the jobs and the investment back in the united states, which we are doing at a fairly good rate here. this is a jobs recovery that is real for the industry, i think, in this country for a long sustainable period of time. if you look at the company today, there's no one in the leadership team that was here during those times. in answer to your question, the

gm is making money again. in every corner of the globe, from north america to europe, from south america to asia, sales of gm cars and trucks are up. more than $7 billion in profits. and final figures are expected to go higher. 640,000 more cars and trucks sold last year than the year before. ♪ see the usa in your chevrolet ♪ >> reporter: it was hardly the journey dinah shore once dreamed of. a grueling road back after gm's 2009 bankruptcy and the taxpayer rescue. gm has now paid back nearly half of that. >> it's clearly a comeback story. and one of the notable aspects of it is that they've been able to achieve this sales success not using the incentives that they might have used in years past. >> reporter: without those incentives or rebates, he adds, gm had to win with quality. and tonight, there are brand-new signs of ford's turnaround, too. ♪ have you driven a ford lately ♪ >> reporter: the answer to that question, for many americans, is yes. sales, up 11% in the last year. and tonight, ford is now plannin

did gm ever ask you not to disclose that or make it public? >> absolutely not. >> did anyone in the administration who is your superior ever ask you to fail to disclose information relating to ntsa's replication of the fire? >> absolutely not. it is my expectation, it is the secretary's expectation, it is executive office of the president's expectation that i lead this agency. >> what did you do if someone did say, you know what? we've got these issues out here with the technology. we've got, you know, issues out here with cafe standards. what would do you if that happened? >> i have a higher moral obligation. i would disclose any risk if it's proved to be unreasonable risk to safety, period. >> does ntsa all keep initial internal investigations confidential prior to opening a formal safety defect investigation? >> we have predecisional work to be done. >> why? because we

what dow expect out of gm? >> not much u nor-- euphoria in gm's stock any more but here's a company that will benefit from an old-fashioned economic cyclical recovery that seems to me to be gathering some team here in the u.s. up to 14 million cars and trucks sold, that's the annual pace now. and that's really going to help gm. >> tom: so you are buying this really for the domestic exposure in the united states, to the necessarily the asia business. >> pramly the domestic exposure in the u.s. and i think those people have a legacy, bad feeling about gm, it's got a better balance sheet that solves some its problems. >> tom: i wouldn't have taken you for a fan of the sherk movie franchise but you like dreamworks at 18 per share b half the price it was a year ago. >> yes, are you kidding, i love shrek, but actually the price reflects the fact that investors think they will never have another shrek. pus n boots is not shrek and kung fu panda is not shrek but they will have another big hit and selling at low multipl

be fair to gm. they had a good year. >> they were selling a lot of cars. >> bill: i have a gm. car didn't set fire, but i put gas in it. >> i don't know how upset the white house is because all those cars that gm is selling and this is a happy thing, they are using fossil fuel. >> bill: we can be fair to say this is an unmitigated disaster. another global warming play, another environmental thing. i want the volt to work. i think you do, too. >> yeah. absolutely. >> bill: i would love to have an electric car. >> i would too, because as a taxpayer i would like to get some of that money back. >> bill: but it doesn't work. we were going to get to this other story. next week. if you don't have a high school diploma, you may be disabled. don't give it away yet. we have another good one next week. you can catch lou dobbs on saturday, january 28. you might want to check that out. drive up there in a volt. upcoming, chris wallace on the republican debate this is weekend. and then ellen talking politics with the "jersey shore" folks. don't miss this one, moments away >> bill: back of th

gm has also provided extensive documentation of meetings and information it provided

but on the missouri taxpayers, let me say this, we won with ford, we won with gm. we are going to win with the auto suppliers and concrete even more jobs. let's done. now the next component of missouri works is to sell more missouri-made overseas to great more jobs here at home. it's clear that the world wants what missouri has got. cotton, chemicals semiconductors f-15s. when i talk about selling missouri-made goods overseas, i don't mean just the established fortune 500. it's important to compete globally for family farms in every part of the state. forest keeling nursery in ellsbury is ahead of the state. they grow more than 250 types of trees and grasses and sells them around the world. they have patents pending in more than 50 countries. last year i had the pleasure of visiting this small hometown business that is winning in the global economy i would ask the owner and his wife join and their daughter to stand and represent what we want to do to sell to the world. [ applause ] now because of companies like this, missouri eximportaports w in the first quarter o

. >>> gm is asking the owners of chevy volts to bring in their cars.kes center stage at the international auto show. david louie is there and joins us live with more. david? >> there has been three fires happening from days to weeks after the volt was taken to a lab for testing to check its side impact safety. here is some video of the test. general motors says a coolant pack was punctured but it caused a short circuit, setting off a fire. it's used by gm to keep the battery operating in extreme temperatures. the plan to modify the pack is not a recall. gm says it's intent to assure owners vehicles are safe. >> we're going to reenforce the pack itself. and there is a monitor monitoring the level of the coolant as well as tamper proof lid that will help prevent that coolant for fluid from coming into the incident. >> anything can happen. sure, a freak accident. >> and the volt is center stage along with the electric cars. gm points out no fires have occurred involving volt owner who's have driven 0 million miles. the modification will add three pounds t

gm sold the most motors at just over 9 million.w was in second position with sales of 8.2 million. the japanese giant toyota fell into third place, 7.9 million, following a disastrous year. tom hewitt of's manufacturing had been hit by the -- toyota had been hit by the tsunami earlier in 2011. they are going to move back into the driver's seat, they say. >> stay in the transportation, the european aviation safety agency has ordered them to carry out safety checks on the airbus a380's. they will carry them out on 20 of the double decker airliners within the next six weeks. they will now be grounded in those with the highest mileage will be given priority. this will effect those operated by singapore airlines, emirates, and air france. german prosecutors are considering whether or not to press charges in a raid from lower saxony. he is suspected of corruption. they believe he used his public office to promote a series of conference events in exchange for the use of holiday homes belonging to a wealthy businessman. he was the spokesma

prior to that, he was ceo of gm china. executive vice president of shanghai gm. executive vice president for a long time. a lot of it focused in asia. is that correct? >> that is true. i left the u.s. in 1991. i spent three years in japan. two years in england. roughly 16 years in china. >> are you fluent in mandarin? >> no. i can get by in a taxi. i'm fluent in english. >> austin, texas. you are on with phil murtaugh. >> yes, sir. first thing i would like to say is there is no such thing as a green car. that's vapor wear. these never going to happen. my question is since the fleet of the united states automobiles is about 250 million cars, how in the world do you think that you will plug in all of those cars into the grid? i don't understand that. >> mr. murtaugh. >> well, you made quite a few comments. if you consider a green car a car that does not use energy, you are absolutely right. there is no such thing as a green car. what is important about electric vehicles, really, is energy independence. those 250 million vehicles that you talk about, 125 million of

people that work in gm or chrysler and auto-related jobs, how can you criticize the president for that? >> romney says the president did what he told him to do. >> i thought that was interesting. because i've heard him speak before and i never heard him say that the president did something right, so i was kind of surprised he said that, but the fact is we all know what the president did, what obama did was very helpful to our country and we've seen the auto industry and these companies in particular rebound and now gm was announced last week now they are the largest automaker again selling more cars than any other company in the world. >> did he say at that meeting that he was in favor of tax dollars helping out the automobile industry? that is the question. because it was all the republicans were against it, and now mitt romney is out there trying to say he was in favor of a government loan saving the automobile industry? did he say that? >> he did not say that he was in favor of that, he did not say they did the right thing. i think what he tried to say, that president obama did what

>> gm says the modifications will be done over the next month.utomaker says it will buy back any cars by owners that are still concerned or offer them loaner cars. >> dan: sandhya patel is here to talk about the weather. >>> the hunt for rain. >> i have still not seen any signs of rain any time soon. the storms are kicking up the surf. we have a high surf advisory that went into effect. we'll talk about that in a moment. live picture from the high definition mount tamalpais camera. as we look across the bay, lovely view looking back towards san francisco. visibility is looking good but by morning we may have limited visibility in spots with patches of fog and certainly low clouds along the coast and around the bay. today, we have some records to talk about. it was 67 degrees in oakland. santa rosa, 70 degrees. you can see it's unseasonably warm like livermore, 70 degrees. 66 san jose. 67 fairfield and 66 in cloverdale. temperatures are running about 5-10 degrees above normal in most locations. numbers right now in the 50s and the 60s. here are th

reggie mckinsey is the new gm. he worked for the packers for nearly 20 years and they have done well. he can begin his duties with the raiders only if the packers agree. mckinzie is currently under contract with green bay. he was a 10th round draft pick by the raiders in 1985. so he has silver and black ties and that would be a big bonus if they can snag him. >>> about 40 of the world's best surfers, we talked about this, will be on the san mateo coast this afternoon. >> that's right. they are having the opening ceremony for the mavericks big surf contest. the contest itself won't happen unless the waves get big enough between now and the end of march. look at the monster waves. but the competitors will paddle into the water at 2:00 today and have a prayer circle. >>> a rare sight in honolulu harbor. humpback whales surfaced. the last time they showed up there was in the mid-1990s. the whales migrate through hawaii. >>> when your dog looks at you may figure out what you're thinking. researchers found dogs read our

. >> reporter: we are outside gm in palo alto. gm and ford are fierce rivals. according to ford the company will be moving into the silicon valley within the next couple of months. the company won't say where and how big the lab will be, just having fewer than 50 people. some of them will be recruited locally. some of them will be transferred from ford's headquarters in dearborn, michigan. ford will investigate new technology looking into integrating personal devices in the cars as well as looking into safety systems that that warn drivers when they are approaching another car. now, here's a statement from a ford executive. "silicon valley recommends a deep and dynamic technology neighborhood and is far from dearborn. our new lab will allow us to scout new technologies and partners in their own environment." now, ford is following the footsteps of not only general motors but also bmw and renault- nissan. back to you. >> thank you. this is the place to be. >>> it is 6:05. and let's get a look at your traffic and weather. >> elizabeth is not in position. she has

to asia sales of gm are top. 7 billion dollars in profit. final figure expected to go higher. 6 40,000 more cars and truck sold last year than the year before. grueling road back after gm 2009 bank situation and taxpayer rescue. gn now paid back nearly half of that. clearly a comeback stor story. one of the notable aspect of it is that they have been able to achieve this the sales success not using the incentive they might have used in year past. >>reporter: without the incentive or rebate he says gm win with quality. tonight brand new signs of ford turn around too. answer to that question for many americans is yes. sales up 11 percent last year. tonight ford now planning to give raises to 2 20,000 employees contributing more to the 401(k). union workers under new 4 year contract signing bonus and profit share. giant change of fortune. ford was 30 billion in the re. they have had 4 generation who worked ford assembly line. there have been prayers at the dinner table about the auto maker future. >> we were very close to going under. >>reporte

gm says there's plenty of blame to go around.ed about his meeting last night. >> it was my decision. i felt like we needed a different voice and a different direction. i had hired flip and i just, i know the situation pretty well and he said if that's your recommendation, then i'll go with it. >> i'm telling the fans i'm still here today because i believe this team is better than where we are right now. >> i'm joined by 106.7 the fan. part of our new relationship with 99.1 and 106.7 the fan. it's a pleasure to have you alongside. what a day down here. gm says his job is secure. that's what he said. what do you think? >> no chance it can be secure. it's like they are putting a band aid on a wound that needs stitches. unreasonable to think that ernie would last any further. >> he made a lot of questionable decisions. his relationship with andre, saying some of these guys are untradeable. he has undercut flip in the past, especially in an andre situation. where andre didn't want to go into the game. flip wanted to suspend him. the g

gm to come and sidown t to explplain it to me. the book is called utragege." tay daish, you did a a great job advocating and documenting a real eye oner for the bubusiness world. thank you for coming on. up next, how to get your message out in the age of social media. that is next. >> is used to be public relatitions was reaching o out to a shorort list of reporters. if youou are n not knowledgegeable on the many mediums made possible by the internet and new technology, you need someone like chris abram, preresident of abraham hararrison, a small business specializing in online public relatioions. welcome. ll us what it is rahamm harrison does that people cannot do for themselves. >> we discover, engaged with, and communicate with the online influencers and we build long-term relationships with them. we are a also really good at digging deep down into the thousands of bloggers who are genelly not engaged with. >> kimberly clark hired you for a health campapaign and said i it was quite succecessful in my coat targeting the specific bggers they needeto reach but

gm thought we need to do something that connects passengers with the outside world. they challenged the students at the future lab at bezle academy in israel and told them we want you to come up with some apps for window that people in the back seat can play with. >> the focus of this project was about the content, so given the specific user interface what kind of content can you provide? >> these apps they create ready not available in cars right now, they're not planning it, but it's going to give gm's research and development department something to think about. some of the things they came up with are, auto. >> another application has to do with a ltlitecreature that and you as you drive and it's interactive with what the car is doing, if the car speeds up it slides faster. >> it's interactive with the landscape that you're driving through. >> exactly, christian. they said for this to work, they would need cars with electronically charged glass. >> like a -- >> turn it into a touch screen. >> i really like it because sometimes you go on really long road trips and

government's was somehow running gm. now, i just want my friends and know that we really looked at this very deeply, and i wrote a letter dated june 209th 2011 which i don't know. i'm guessing you may not have had a chance to see it because what is effectively did is to debug any evidence of collusion ended june 209th 2011 letter to the chairman. i would specifically site pages six and seven. when i wrote this letter i have not received any response to indicate that there was a dispute as to what was said. i just wanted to share that with my friend. with my chairman. we looked at this end we need to effect -- effectively did but it. >> i ask unanimous consent. >> i would just point out, the e-mails of the males. when the people and the administration telling people at the company how they should structure a press release and right things, i think that speaks for itself as well. .. i think either of those two assertions might interesting to contrast my good friend. i think ever on the committee, every american is pleased

that's th ofofofofofofofofofofoffered ther position to former 49ers gm scott mccloughan, but they e miles apart on >>> the raiders offered their general manager position to former 49ers gm, but there were miles apart on money. according to a spoke i talked with. now espn is reporting that packers will operate on mckenzie to take that season. the raiders have not confirmed this report. bill o'brian has reportedly been chezzen to replace joe paterno at penn sit. 49ers offensive cooer nay tore was believed to be one of the finestists. nba, the kings fired paul. his replacement, former warrior. a two-year keel. >> i'm doing this for free. i love it so much, i'm doing it for free. >> they may ask for a raise after his debut. >> time expires, kings come back to beat the bucks. it's a new era. college hoops, he keeps doing his thing. michelle defects the pass. jones, a career high 31 to pho with republic republicanning. st. mary's witch one. 16 points, eight assists. they are 14-2. the oregon duck football season is over, got beat up last night. no more touchdowns. all those stanford and eugene.

make pontiacs any more, and tonight we'll show you what has become of pontiac, michigan, where the gm plants there are gone and the city is taking extreme measures to stay afloat, selling everything down to and including the walls. we get our report from nbc's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: in a struggling city synonymous with the american car, a fire sale. >> this building is for sale, the parking lot. >> reporter: today in pontiac, michigan, you can buy the police station, library, golf course, cemetery, even city hall. >> so far, nothing's sold. >> nothing's sold so far. >> this is the great one. >> reporter: in its heyday, the city and the car that bore its name swaggered with the brawn and muscle of the post war boom in america. >> built for you by pontiac, of course. >> reporter: now, the fabled brand is gone and the city barely hanging on is forced to slash and downsize. they don't make things here any more. even the silver dome, home of the 1982 super bowl was unloaded. and since vacant save for the occasional tractor pull. >> we used to be a boom down. >> reporter: what are you

the news leaking out of a closed-door meeting between jackson and the newly appointed oakland gm reggie mackenzie. his tenure was just for one season. he finished a disappointing 8- 8, the team losing four of the last five games, just missed the play-offs by a game, also the most penalized team in the league. only days on the job now, it's mackenzie's first move as the general manager. he will meet the media today to talk about this and who might replace him today at 2:00. >>> an suv crashes into a high voltage power pole in san jose triggering an outage to homes and businesses and a school that lost electricity is closed for the entire day. lisa washington is in san jose where crews have just succeeded in getting almost everyone back online. >> reporter: pg&e says only one customer is still without power. you can see the end result. about 100 yards or so from where we are, you can see still see that white such suv that hit the pole. lots of work to be done after that high voltage crash. the first order of business for pg&e workers in san jose tuesday is replacing a power pole that poli

allen had second interview with new gm today in alabama at the very bowl. what he said it worked. he's the first defensive oriented coach since madden hired by dave is in 1969. raiders have yet to confirm allen hiring. contract details still have to be worked ou. now prior to allen arrival the broncos allow league worst. they jump up to 24th and 20 respectively in the category past season. sack 23-41. tebow main yo was huge this year. more coaching news. forty-niner special teams coach reportedly scheduled to interview with the colts. they are looking for new head coach. he's one of the best in the business of special tee. he started his coaching career with the colts back in 1989. baseball news now. tim in a giants uniform for at least the next two years pending a physical. he will reup for 4 40.5 million dollars. he asked for 21 and half million a year in arbitration. close to get that go. this deal pays the cy young winner 18 million and 22 next year and a signing bonus. when this contract expires tim will become a free agent and could be looking at offers of 25 million a year