JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: The tire maker Bridgestone/Firestone is getting more heat today over potentially dangerous tires and the massive recall that has touched millions of American drivers. Congressional investigators are at the company's Nashville headquarters right now asking tough questions. First and foremost, who knew what and when? CNN's Susan Candiotti is there too and joins us now with the latest -- Susan.</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jeanne. Officials at Bridgestone/Firestone headquarters here in Nashville are being put through the paces as their counterparts were at Ford just last Friday. A team of lawyers and staff from the House Commerce Committee are in the middle of what is being called a no-holds-barred "grilling" of Bridgestone/Firestone officials, and it's been going on for about three hours now. Staffers are conducting interviews and collecting documents at the tire maker to have them explain how long it's known about potential problems with these tires, including tread separation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating 62 traffic fatalities and more than 100 injuries that could be linked to the tires in question, the ATX, the ATXII and the Wilderness AT tires. Firestone says, so far, it has replaced 1 million tires of the 6 1/2 million in question. They claim that is a record pace. However, critics are calling for a much broader recall. So far, 100 lawsuits have been filed. Now the troubles for both Firestone and Ford, which carries a lot of these tires, they're both in trouble, going through public relations problems. Sales of Ford Explorers are down. And just late last week, Firestone announced that its profits have been taking a pounding, down 50 percent for the first six months of this year. Susan Candiotti, CNN, reporting live in Nashville.
Congressional Investigators Grill Bridgestone/Firestone Officials on Tire Tread Separation