Ford and Firestone Go Their Separate Ways
JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: First up this hour: a messy public divorce. No, not Rudy Giuliani's, we'll talk about that later. This is Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone, partners for nearly a century, splitsville today. As you probably know, problems began last year, when Firestone called back millions of tires linked to 174 road deaths. The final straw was Ford's recent demand to expand the tire recall. Firestone heard it about it first through press reports. Firestone says its tires are safe. It says the problem is the Ford Explorer, which has a penchant for rolling over when the tires fail. Firestone charges the auto giant refuses to shoulder the blame. CNN's Susan Candiotti has been covering this story since last year. She joins us now from Miami -- Susan.</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Joie. Firestone is sending Ford a public "Dear John" letter. Firestone to Ford: I can't trust you anymore. Firestone says that the century-long marriages is kaput after meeting today with Ford officials. Firestone's CEO John Lampe says that Ford appears unwilling to consider its possible responsibility in all those rollovers that may be linked to 174 deaths and more than 700 injuries.</s>JOHN LAMPE, CHAIRMAN, BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE: We told Ford of our concerns, and they have steadfastly refused to discuss or even acknowledge these concerns. We have always said that to ensure the safety of the driving public, it is crucial that there be a true sharing of information concerning the vehicle, as well as the tires.</s>CANDIOTTI: Bridgestone/Firestone says that Ford accounts for only 5 percent of its business, and insists that the tire company will be able to survive all of this. Firestone says that the -- they will not expand the recall beyond the 6.5 million tires, and today a public safety group said this -- it issued a study today as it continues to hound both Firestone and Ford to broaden the recall. SafetyForum.com saying that in the study based on figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says that Ford Explorers roll over four times more than other sport utility vehicles when tires fail. So far, no comment today from Ford. Joie, back to you.</s>CHEN: Susan, let me ask you this: what about all those lawsuits that stem from these tire blowouts and the rollovers and what have you? Does this have any impact on that?</s>CANDIOTTI: Well, it could. That will be interesting to watch and see. As we know, a number of those lawsuits have been settled. There is a federal judge in Indiana who is overseeing a number of these lawsuits; and separately, there are several states that are also considering suing both Firestone and Ford, and there is talk of settlement among all those groups.</s>CHEN: CNN's Susan Candiotti for us from Miami today.