DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We move on to next story and the troubled Bridgestone/Firestone company expected to name a new chief executive officer this afternoon. The announcement is expected at a news conference at 2:00 p.m. Eastern from the tire maker's U.S. headquarters. Our Susan Candiotti is joining us from Nashville, with more on that. Susan, what's the significance of this resignation?</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, certainly, the announcement of a change at the top is not a shocker. Since the recall began last August, the president of Bridgestone/Firestone in Japan had said that a management shakeup was in the works including Mr. Ono. Now, his departure as CEO is now expected to be formally made public during a news conference at 2:00 this afternoon Eastern time. Masatoshi Ono discussed his retirement yesterday during a deposition in a civil lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone here in Nashville. He said he wanted to step down because of health reasons, but insisted that the company's president had asked him to stay on at least for a while. Now, Mr. Ono, you will remember, apologized to the American public during Congressional testimony in September. During his deposition yesterday, he did not admit to any defects with Bridgestone/Firestone tires, instead said there was a safety problem. Now Ono's expected successor is Bridgestone/Firestone vice president John Lampe. His strength is in sales and marketing. Now, it was Mr. Lampe who testified before Congress that there was a defect with some of the Bridgestone/Firestone tires. And he also suggested that Firestone is not totally to blame for its troubles and pointed the finger at Ford, said they should be investigated more for possible design problems with its Ford Explorers, which of course uses the ATX, ATX II and the Wilderness AT tires. Daryn, back to you.</s>KAGAN: Susan Candiotti in Nashville. Thank you very much.
Bridgestone/Firestone CEO Ono Expected to Resign Today