The Murdochs Regret but Deny Responsibility for Phone Hacking

Besieged media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has expressed regret about News of the World phone hacking scandal, during his grilling by MP's in London. But as our London correspondent Tu Yun reports, both he and his son James are denying ultimate responsibility.

The 80-old Murdoch entered Parliament under heavy police protection.

During the first half hour of testifying before the lawmakers, the media baron paused frequently before answering questions.

"This is the most humble day of my life."

Murdoch has already apologized personally to the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by the News of the World, a move which -- at the time -- gave the family hope that the missing girl was still alive, because messages on her phone were being deleted.

The phone hacking scandal, which was first exposed in 2006 and has been fermenting over the last two weeks, has led to the closure of the 168-year-old publication, the arrests of a number of its former journalists and editors, News Corp.'s withdrawal of its BSkyB takeover bid, and the resignations of senior London police officers.

At issue for the MP's during the Tuesday session was just how much the senior executives of News Corp. knew about the extent of the hacking.

James Murdoch, who became Chairman of News International late in 2007, denies he had any knowledge of the hacking at the tabloid until two weeks ago.

"If I knew then what we know now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can look at all these things. But if we knew then what we now, we would have taken more action around that and move faster to get to the bottom of these allegations."

And while seemingly humbled, the senior Murdoch is denying the ultimate responsibility for the hacking scandal.

He's also throwing cold water on any notion of him resigning as the Chair and CEO of News Corp.

"No. I feel that people I trusted let me down, and I think they betrayed the company, and me, and it's for them to pay. I think currently I'm the best person to clean this up."

At one point the testimony was interrupted for some fifteen minutes, after a protester shoved a plate filled with shaving cream at Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch's Chinese wife, Wendi Deng, actually jumped in to protect her husband, punching the attacker in the head before security eventually dragged him off.
Shortly after the committee reconvened, Murdoch concluded his testimony with a statement.

"Saying sorry is not enough. Things must be put right. No excuse. I wish we had managed to see and fully solve these problems much earlier."

Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks also gave testimony to the parliamentary committee.

Brooks, who was arrested a few days after resigning as chief executive of News International, has also denied any knowledge of the allegations before they went public.

Investigations into the phone hacking scandal are expected to last months, or even years.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun reporting from London.