Clem’s Chronicles: Toyota Recall/Afghan Speech/State Dinner Crashers

Happy almost Turkey (and 3 NFL GAMES!!!)…Travel woes appear to have been minimal today so here's hoping you're where you want to be already! Tonight's note…..

TOYOTA RECALL-Toyota USA announced today a massive recall of some 4 million cars because of sudden acceleration problems caused by floor mats getting jammed under the accelerator pedal. As you probably recall, Brian Ross has been reporting on this story for several weeks and found many owners complaining of instances of sudden acceleration problems that did not seem to involve floor mats at all. But first let’s get back to today’s recall-Toyota said dealers will offer to shorten the length of the gas pedals by about 3/4 inch beginning in January, as a stopgap measure while the company develops replacement pedals for their vehicles. New pedals will be installed by dealers on a rolling basis beginning in April, and some vehicles will have brake override systems installed as a precaution. As Ross noted on WORLD NEWS this evening from Portland, Oregon, “it is a humbling and costly admission by Toyota, which had, until last month, sought to dismiss or do a quick, cheap fix to solve the problem of its runaway cars.”  It also seemingly doesn’t answer the questions of consumers who reject the floor mat scenario. Ross re-introduced us to Marianna Eisner, a Portland Oregon woman whose “Lexus crashed into a truck after it shot out of control on the freeway in September. She says she had already heard this floor mat problem and made a point of checking hers.” Eisner told ABC NEWS: “The mat was nowhere near the accelerator”. With dozens of others reporting similar situations, Ross notes, lawsuits were filed by owners “over a possible glitch in their cars’ computer control systems.” For its part, Toyota continues to reject any electronic problem saying today “We can come up with no indication whatsoever that there is a throttle or electronic control system malfunction.” Ross adds though that “even so, Toyota did announce a major change in their cars’ electronic acceleration system today.” He explains: “As ABC NEWS has previously reported, under the current Toyota design, the brake is not powerful enough to stop a runaway car at full throttle. Now in a major concession, Toyota says it will retro-fit its Lexus and other models with a brake over-ride that cuts power to the accelerator, and add that feature to all newly manufactured cars as well.” That’s the good news-the bad news? Ross: “Toyota owners won’t be able to get the newer or shorter gas pedals or the brake over-ride until spring of next year at the earliest.” Until then? “Experts say the best advice is for owners to practice shifting into neutral if their cars somehow take off on them."

AFGHANISTAN SPEECH PREVIEW-The White House announced that the President’s address to the nation on his Afghanistan strategy Tuesday will be delivered from West Point.Jon Karl, filing for WORLD NEWS, was asked why that location was chosen. Karl: “White House officials say the President wanted to speak directly to some of those that will bear the cost of his decision.” As for the speech itself, Karl reports “I am told this is going to be a detailed speech. The President will outline not just his decision on troops and his strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan but also he’ll go through the process he went thru…that means a long speech, likely more than 40 minutes.” While we continue to hear that the decision includes sending more than 30K additional troops, Karl tells us the speech won’t be focusing so much on that element. Karl: “Most of the speech on Tuesday is going to be about the exit strategy. The President wants to make clear, even as he announces more troops to Afghanistan, that there is an end in sight, that he does have a plan, though not an exact date, for when American forces will return.” Congressional leaders won’t have to wait for Tuesday night. Karl adds that “you will see congressional leaders here at the White House  on Tuesday before he goes to West Point where he will give the message directly.”

AFGHANISTAN/A LOOK AT ONE TOWN-Miguel Marquez is currently embedded with 3rd battalion, 4th marines in Delaram, Afghanistan and reported on WORLD NEWS how US forces there are trying to build a local government from the ground up. “THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS THE STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT TOWN OF DELARAM… OVER THE LAST 8 YEARS,  INSURGENTS HAVE BEEN CHASED FROM HERE ONLY TO RETURN.  ON THEIR FREQUENT PATROLS… THE NEIGHBORS… NO LONGER SHOOT AT THEM BUT THEY’RE NOT WARMING UP THE WELCOME WAGON EITHER” This small village is unlike any US town you know- there is no town hall, no City Council, no law or judicial system in place. Miguel spoke to a 19 year old boy who commands 50 policemen. They are all currently being trained by the Marines and a State Department adviser says even though the police training is slow-going, he was very optimistic for its success and believes this town in 6 months will be fully functioning. As for an influx of additional troops, a US commander Marquez talked with thought they could help with the training of locals. Tribal elders aren’t looking for the US presence to end anytime soon-they believe the longer the Marines stay the better. As Miguel points out “EVEN WITH A NEW STRATEGY AND MORE TROOPS… THERE ARE NO SHORT CUTS.” (thanks to Faisal Jamil for this entry)

BLACK FRIDAY-Yeah there will still be big-ticket items like HDTVs and computers for cheap prices, but this year’s Black Friday  will also offer up plenty of practical items at discounted prices. As AP noted in a Black Friday story “What should shoppers expect? Fewer sumptuous sweaters, $200 robotic toys and other flashy items. Everyday items like flannel shirts, blankets and underwear are the order of the day.” But it’s still the electronics deals that provide the most incentive for the early-morning scrum. Case in point-folks started lining up outside a Best Buy in Elk Grove, CA Tuesday for the store’s 5am Friday opening. Among the bargains being offered at Best Buy-Dynext 32-inch 720p LCD HDTV, $299.99; Samsung ToC 46-inch 1080p LED HDTV, $1,599.99; Garmin GPS, $99.99; DVDs beginning at $3.99; Blu-Ray discs starting from $7.99.—Another element this year-the increasing number of stores choosing to stay open for 24 hours.

OBAMA STATE DINNER/SOCIALITES CRASH THE SOIREE-President Obama’s first State Dinner last night was a hot ticket but it appears having an invitation wasn’t a requirement. The Washington Post first broke the story of two folks who went who weren’t on anybody’s guest list. WP: “Tareq and Michaele Salahi — polo-playing socialites best known for a bitter family feud over a Fauquier County winery and their possible roles in the forthcoming ‘The Real Housewives of Washington’ — were seen arriving at the White House and later posted on Facebook what appeared to be photos of themselves with VIPs at the elite gathering.  ‘Honored to be at the White House for the state dinner in honor of India with President Obama and our First Lady!’ one of them wrote on their joint Facebook page at 9:08 p.m.” Pierre Thomas reports the U.S. Secret Service has put out a statement “confirming the incident and acknowledging that security procedures were not followed” and that a comprehensive review of the incident will be conducted.

ISRAEL/HAMAS PRISONER EXCHANGE HICCUP-There appears to be a snag in the deal to swap some 450 Palestinian prisoners for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. From Simon McGregor-Wood: “Indications from Hamas sources in Damascus that negotiations have run into trouble – they say no deal this week or next – at least. Israel is refusing to release several senior Hamas prisoners from the West Bank as well as prisoners who are Israeli citizens. There is also dispute over plans to send prisoners into exile.”

ABORTIONS RISE FOR FIRST TIME IN DECADE- From Joanna Schaffhausen: “A new report from the CDC on abortion finds that the latest available data (2006) show a 3.1% rise in the number of U.S. abortions, the first increase seen in a decade.  There were 846,181 abortions performed in 2006.  This translates to 236 aborted pregnancies for every 1000 live births.
Because the birth rate also increased between 2005 and 2006, researchers speculate that the increase in abortions is the result of more pregnancies in the United States.  When more women become pregnant, both outcomes rise – more babies born and more abortions.
The vast majority of abortions were performed early in the pregnancy: 62% were performed before 9 weeks, and 95% were performed before 16 weeks.”

JOURNALISTS FREED IN SOMALIA-From Dana Hughes: “Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan have been freed after a year of captivity in Mogadishu.  In an interview given to CTV Lindhout, 28, says she was tortured, beaten several times, and often given little food, as she said her captives were upset that her parents could not afford to pay a $1 million ransom.
She was not pregnant nor did she have a baby in captivity as was rumored. Senior AU official tells ABC news that the negotiations have been ongoing between the journalists captors, members of the Somali government, AMISOM and the Canadian and Australian government. It is believed a ransom was paid, but one for less than $100,000. Source says the captors were motivated by money, not by politics. Says if it had been al Shabaab "they'd be dead by now."

WHITE HOUSE JOBS SUMMIT PREVIEW-Next Thursday is the White House Jobs Summit. We don’t yet know who the 150 or so invitees are going to be, but Betsy Stark has some ideas about where the summit might be headed. Stark: “if you want to know what kind of ideas are likely to emerge from this national brainstorm on jobs, White House officials say take a look at the six “break-out sessions” planned for that afternoon and you’ll get a good indication of where jobs policy is headed.  They are:
“The Innovation Agenda and Green Jobs of the Future”—creating jobs through investment in energy efficiency and renewable technologies;
“Paving the Road for Small Business Job Growth”—creating jobs by expanding small business’s access to capital and making government funds available to community banks that lend to small business;
“Creating Jobs through the Rebuilding of America’s Infrastructure”— hiring created by stimulus-funded infrastructure projects;
“Expanding Job Opportunities for American Workers Through Exports”—creating jobs by developing export growth and sales to foreign consumers; 
“Encouraging Business Competitiveness and Job Creation”—stimulating private sector investment that creates jobs;
“Preparing Workers and Strengthening Main Street”—retraining workers in dying industries for next-generation jobs.
A White House spokesperson says ‘the goal is to act within weeks not months’ turning the ideas that come out of the summit into concrete policy proposals.”
As for the timing of the summit, Stark adds “The Jobs Summit will take place a day before the government’s release of the November jobs report, expected to show a loss of another 120 thousand jobs—making it the 23rd consecutive month the economy will have lost jobs—and the unemployment rate unchanged at 10.2 percent.”

SPACE SHUTTLE HEADING HOME- Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station early Wednesday and headed home. Good landing weather is expected for the Friday morning return-Sunseri says that “NASA is only calling up Kennedy.”