Toyota's Troubles; Eight Americans Freed; Two Americans Still Held in Haiti; The Foreclosure Fix One Year Later
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. Good Thursday morning to you. Our news plate is pretty full. Here's a peek. President Obama, the Dalai Lama meeting today. Whatever you do, please don't tell China. Another example of just how bad the recession is, as if we needed it, a town so hurting for money it will make you pay for emergency calls. Better save up before you fall and can't get up. And remember the big plan to help fix the foreclosure mess? That working out for you? Still in your house? If so you are one of the few. And check out who's playing with us this hour. Josh Levs on the Toyota patrol. A very busy beat right now. He's covering the Corolla complaint for us. John Zarrella in Miami. Eight American missionaries very happy to be back in the U.S. And Gerri Willis, telling us how the government's big foreclosure fix is or isn't working. Let's start with the enough is enough. The U.S. government now opening a new investigation into Toyota. This time it's about steering problems, not brakes or accelerators. The car, the Corolla 2009 and 2010 models. That's about half a million cars. Many of those cars, part of the sticky accelerator recall. Toyota executives say they're monitoring the new complaints and may have to recall them again. Two House committees hold hearings on Toyota next week. They want to know if the complaints dragged its feet on earlier recalls. And I'll tell you what, those complaints just keep piling up. Kind like the safety concerns, right, Josh Levs?</s>JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, pretty much. It is amazing. Yet another stage now in the troubles plaguing this Japanese automaker, Kyra. And this one, as you said, involves the Corolla. This is Toyota's second most popular model, right after the Camry. And CNN is now told the U.S. will be opening an investigation today looking into some Corollas from the past two years. And officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is telling us 363,000 Corollas for model year 2009 and 136,000 from 2010 could be affected. Now as of last week, the administration had collected 80 complaints about problems with those vehicles, a lot of them are involving the car drifting at high speeds. Other owners complain of steering wheel vibrations or exaggerated motions from steering which basically means you move the steering wheel a little and the car swerves a lot more than you expect. Now yesterday at a news conference in Japan, Toyota's vice president commented on whether the company will be announcing Toyota Corolla recalls.</s>SHINICHI SASAKI, VICE PRESIDENT, TOYOTA (Through Translator): If this is a problem that threatens the safety, but if it's not we will provide the usual repair service based on customer complaints.</s>LEVS: So Kyra, we are all over the story. We're going to be seeing what the company does next. Our CNN Money team is reporting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be officially announced in that investigation today -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: So how many vehicles has Toyota already recalled?</s>LEVS: Yes, you know what? If you put everything together, they've already announced recalls on more than 8.1 million, all over the world for various issues. And a lot of cases sticking accelerator peddles. The company is promising much stricter safety control. The company is going to have some representatives at congressional hearings next week, but Toyota president, Akio Toyoda, does not plan to attend those on Capitol Hill -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Yes. It's been kind controversial as well.</s>LEVS: Yes.</s>PHILLIPS: Josh, thanks. For more on the Toyota recall, you can go to CNN.com/Toyota. We have information on whether your car has been recalled as well as what to do if your gas pedal sticks. Now back here in the U.S., eight Americans get off an Air Force C-130 cargo plane at Miami last night. They were jailed in Haiti for nearly three weeks accused of child kidnapping. However, two of them are still in a Haitian detention center. CNN's John Zarrella at the airport there in Miami on more with the missionaries who did get out. John?</s>JOHN ZARRELLA: Hey, Kyra. That's exactly right. Eight of them coming into Miami this morning, early this morning. Now, just a little while ago, within the last half hour, we were told that they would be leaving here and headed to their airplane, and for sure they did. We managed to catch up with them as they were going through the security checkpoint to catch a Delta flight out of Miami. Now when I managed to throw a question to them through the glass, one of them said to me, he was feeling OK, gave me the thumbs up and smiled, and then I asked if he had got any sleep, and he said yes, he did. Well, in fact, where they slept was here at the Miami International Airport at the hotel here. Now they got in at about 11:30 -- well, they got in about 11:30. Their plane landed, that C-130 military plane, and on that plane, along with them as they deplaned, were members of the military coming home as well. It took them an hour and a half to clear customs before they were released, and when they were released, they didn't come through the normal checkpoint that everyone else comes through. They were taken out a separate exit, and then they made their way to the hotel at the airport. And as they went from one elevator to another elevator, they seemed very, very tired. Again, they would not talk to the media there and then they went straight up to their rooms. We did talk to the attorney for Jim Allen, one of the eight, and he said that his client was very glad to be home and that there was a celebration, a homecoming of sorts, planned for later today back in Amarillo, Texas when they get there. Sometime late this afternoon. So, Kyra, at this point in time we don't know if all of them have left Miami, but we do know that at least four of them, four of the men, have at least gotten down to the gate and are boarding planes to leave Miami, and head, perhaps, back to Idaho. Kyra?</s>PHILLIPS: So, John, I hope we got the situation in your ear figured out. Are you still able to hear me OK?</s>ZARRELLA: I got you.</s>PHILLIPS: OK, good.</s>ZARRELLA: Yes, I got you now.</s>PHILLIPS: There seems to be some technical issues. So do we think we're going to hear from them? Do they have a lawyer representing them here in the states? I mean we know how this works. There's so many questions that want to be asked. Will they make themselves available? I mean what's your take?</s>ZARRELLA: Well, this is what we're hearing. One of them who had the lawyer, Jim Allen, whose lawyer was here, he was the only attorney here -- that we know of representing any of the eight who came back. What we also know is that they were telling us that they have been advised -- this is all they would say -- not to say anything right now because, remember, they still have kidnapping charges pending in Haiti. So they have been advised not to talk. So we don't know what they might say when they return either at Amarillo, Texas or back to Idaho. But at least here now what they're saying is, they're keeping their mouths shut. Kyra?</s>PHILLIPS: Got it. John Zarrella there at the Miami airport. John, thanks so much. Now let's talk about the two missionaries who are still locked in that Haitian detention center. John Vause is in Port-au-Prince. Why are they still there, John?</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the investigating judge in this matter have been asked and he says he still has some more questions for Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter. He wants to know why in particular the two women actually traveled to Haiti before the earthquake. They were here last year. And being the French legal system here, because it's a former French colony, the judge is actively involved. He doesn't just sit back and weigh the evidence as presented by the defense and prosecutor. We were told by the lawyers that Silsby and Coulter could appear be in the judge's chambers sometime today for that questioning procedure to begin. Those lawyers were optimistic that this process may, in fact, just take a couple of days and they are confident that once it was over that their clients would be granted unconditional bail like the other eight missionaries received yesterday. But under Haitian law, the judge has up to two months. Judging by how long it took to get a decision on the bail for the eight missionaries, it may be on the balance of probably that this process for Silsby and Coulter could take about another week or so. Kyra?</s>PHILLIPS: All right. We'll track it. John Vause, thanks so much. Earthquake survivors have been left to make do with what they have in Haiti, whether it be living in makeshift tents or shanty towns. But that could change today. The government may announce a plan to help the 1.2 million people left homeless after the quake, but there's been a lot of debate over what land should be made available and whether people should be given ready-made tents or plastic tarps. It's been a year since Uncle Sam threw a life preserver out there, hoping people about to lose their homes to foreclosure could grab on. But how's that plan working out? Let's just say it could be a heck of a lot better.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center. How's the plan working out to get some warm air in here? Well, not too quickly. We're going to warm up a little bit and then cool down again. Full details coming up. Stay there.