it contained no allegations directly linking andy coulson to illegal behavior. it did not shed any further light on the issue of phone hacking. imad the editor of the guardian the very next month and he did not raise meat -- rates with me once. i'm at 10 a year later, and he did not raise that either. if this information is so significant, why have i not been asked one question about it? the reason why a, the reason why, the reason why, mr. speaker, it did not add anything to the assurances that i was given. if i was lied to, if the police relied too, it would be a matter of regret and a matter of criminal prosecution. >> anybody might think it was an orchestrated noise that was taking place. order, the house will come to order. >> andy coulson had hired a man, and jailed for seven years, for criminal conspiracy to make payments to the police on behalf of "news of the world." this evidence cast serious doubt on his assurances as an isolated example of illegal activity. the prime minister says the chief of staff is not pass on this very serious information. can h

did the prime minister discuss the allegation of andy coulson, and if not, why not? >> as i said i had a number of conversations all the time during his employment and in the end the swirl allegations is why he left but what we have now is not only a criminal investigation where people are being interviewed by the police and the police can go without fear or favor but also a public inquiry. that none of these things happened properly under the last government they're happening now and no one will be immune from it. >> may i just remind members that as a basic courtesy trying to catch my eye should not be fiddling with their electronic devices. i thought it was a major of courtesy but i guess not. >> mr. speaker, can i ask the prime minister whether he will ensure that the activities of damien mcbride, the king of smears and spin under labour will also form part of the investigation that he undertakes? >> they don't like hearing it on party opposite because they had people working on downing street that is absolutely despicable and that's a contrast they can't avoid.

he employed andy coulson as his head of communications. coulson has since resigned. there is newspaper speculation rife in the uk that coulson may be arrested in connection with the hacking in the next few days. waiting for the prime minister to address those issues. we'll bring you that live when it happens. >>> earlier we spoke to one of rebekah brooks' former colleagues, paul mcmullen, former climbist for "news of the world." he's less than impressed with his old bosses. >> so far five of my colleagues have been arrested. the police asked me to come in for questioning to arrest me as well at scotland yard. for the last year our bosses, rebekah brooks, murdoch's right hand woman in britain, and also the editor, andy coulson have been saying it's the reporters. it's nothing to do with us. we didn't know it was going on. that was an outrageous stance for our bosses to take, throwing the reporters to the wolves. >>> among the celebrities, politicians and royal aides hacked is lord prescott. the former deputy prime minister, john prescott has led for calls for action a

and in relation to the work he did for the work for andy coulson i was unaware of that. that's an important point and one of the issues is the transparency and information that there was about neil wallace and the metropolitan police. the one thing everyone has to say about number 10 downing street, there was no hiding the fact that we had employed andy coulson. >> mr. simon hughes. >> mr. speaker, i join the prime minister to paying attention to paul stevenson and thank him for the announcements he has made but will he now explicitly say that he accepts that all governments from this one back for over 20 years have been far too close to the media giants in this country? that has to end which means no back-door visits to number 10. and that we should be able to have not just sight of party political parties but if necessary cabinet papers and the recommendations of the information commissioner and others to be implemented to increase criminal penalties for illegality immediately? >> well, first of all, i accept the point he makes about transparency and what i set out is

there was questions about his decision to hire andy coulson as his media chief. >> the right hon. gentleman. >> a stormy session in parliament. david cameron rallied his party as he deflected criticism. he has announced an inquiry into the phone hacking affair. at the heart of the scandal, there are questions about the cozy relationship between the police come and media, and politicians in britain. >> i am the first prime minister to publish meetings between senior executives, private tears -- proprietors. this stretches right back to the general election. >> it was his decision to fire the former "news of the world," editor andy coulson that is drawing the most criticism. there are questions about whether andy coulson knew about the illegal activity on his watch. >> he was caught in a tragic conflict of loyalty between the standards and integrity that people should expect of him and his staff and his personal allegiance to andy coulson. he made the wrong choice. >> you don't make decisions in hindsight, you make them in the present. you live and you learn and to believe you me, i

but today, the prime minister insisted that he had always accepted andy coulson's assurances. >> andy coulson said he did not know was going on at "the news of the world," and he resigned because of it. i decided to give him a second chance. >> uncovering the web of deceit at "the news of the world," will be the source of two increase. there will be won by the phone hacking spread and why the police failed to uncovered. the other will be the ethics of the media. it will not be up to the promised to stop rupert murdoch from purchasing all of sky tv. >> -- it will not be up to the prime minister. >> i do not believe that he can lead the change we need. he could not even bring himself to apologize for hiring andy coulson. >> david cameron must be wondering how he ended up being the man to clean up british press and dealing with the cozy relationship between media barons and politicians. his critics say that this is only the beginning of the price he has to pay for hiring andy coulson. the man who returned home tonight, knowing he is destined to make headlines but never to write them. >>

cameron defended hiring andy coulson but he said that in hindsight he would not have made the same choice. this report contains flash photography. >> a french in need -- a friend in need is a friend. they become a massive headache. david cameron has always defended his decision to give andy coulson a second chance. >> with 20/20 hindsight, i would not have offered him the job and i expect he would not have taken it. you don't make decisions in hindsight, you make them in the present. you live and you learn, believe you me, i have led. >> the prime minister said he was extremely sorry. what he -- was he ready to say sorry for hiring him? >> if it turns out that i had been lied to, that would be a moment for a profound apology. >> few expected him to go that far. >> that is not good enough. this is not about hindsight, mr. speaker, it is not about whether mr. colson lied to him, it is about all the information that the prime minister ignored. >> there was questions about the prime minister's other choice of friends. there was many meetings with news international bosses with rebekah brooks

he did do some formal work with andy coulson.e announced that before the house of commons went down. we wanted to get the information out, and unlike the complete lack of transparency we saw, we will make that available. >> what about the recent remarks about the results of this inquiry that they should impose a balance in the media. >> we want a free and vigorous press. sometimes it is infuriating that the idea of having equal coverage to every point of view would kill the vibrancy of the press, and i have to say if we have to have equal coverage of every speech, it is going to be a lot harder to read in the morning. >> >> after he resigned, did the prime minister take the opportunity to talk to him about these phone hacking allegations and what his reasons were for resigning? >> he felt he was not able to go on doing his job with all the allegations. he felt nikkei not doing his job. he needed to move on. i have been clear about the reasons for hiring. you do not have to reveal private guest said you pay for yourself. i have do

acutely embarrassing episode for david cram ro-- cameron, admittg it was his decision to keep on andy coulsons keep on coming about why he agreed to take him on. surely he realized that coulson must have known about the phone hacking. andy coulson himself is at a police station in central london at the moment we understand, about to be arrested. >> you know, i heard lord prescott earlier saying this is like closing down the factory and all the factory workers and owners go away scot-free. what about managers and what about management and the people who own this company? >> reporter: well, this is part of the rupert murdoch empire. it is a jewel in the rupert murdoch empire. one of his favorite tideses, "the -- titles, "the news of the world." there are lots of questions about what will happen about the executives, notably rebecca brooks, who used to run the paper in the early 2 00s -- 2000s, she's a close ally of rupert murdoch. he was desperate to keep her, to save her, she's been clinging on to her job amid calls from every political party here that she should stand down. she remains in pos

. >> have you been in contact with andy coulson during the sheraton case? >> i think andy was -- andy coulson was in downing street during the sheraton case so i would have had. >> did you have direct contact a? email, letter -- >> i would have had contact. >> email? just a conversation? >> it was mainly to do with work, and by email or by telephone. >> just of couple of final questions. why were you paying andy coulson's legal fees and glen mulcaire's legal fees during the sheraton case? >> as i understand it i know james murdoch could address this. when andy coulson left the "news of the world" he had an agreement that all matters relating to this. his legal fees, were paid. and i think the same for clive good man. on glen mulcaire his legal fees would be paid when he was a codefendant in the civil cases. >> are you aware of any payment to police officers. >> no. >> okay. >> i have questions about the milly do yo dowler. "news of the world" during milly dowler ab suction and murder. i have specific questions i'd like to ask you about this. could you paint

brooks testifying with andy coulson. coulson went on to become david cameron's spokesman and has since resigned and has been arrested in the scandal. >> can i ask, the one element if you ever pay the bliss for information? >> we have paid police for information in the past, and it's been -- >> will you do it in the put? >> it depends on -- >> within the code and within the law, there is a clear public interest and the same holds for private detectives, subterfuge. >> it's illegal for police officers to receive payments. >> no, no, no. i just said within the law. >> this is not only the beginning of the scandal. it's the beginning of the news corporation's attempts at damage control. coulson stepping in to blunt brooks' answers. i spoke with the other british whistleblower about the death of sean hoare and about the spread of allegations of illegal practices up the chain of command at news corp. here are the other stories we're digging into tonight, first. >>> deadline, do they know what the word means in washington? two

he stopped short of giving a full apology for hiring andy coulson to be his head of communications, andyrse, being the man from the "news of the world," the editor at the time of the phone hacking allegations. the opposition didn't like the fact that he didn't give a full apology for hiring andy coulson, and they accused mr. cameron of a catastrophic lapse in judgment of hiring him and mr. cameron countered by saying if he ever found out andy cowlingson had lied to him and if andy coulson is found guilty of anything to do with the phone hacking allegations, then as prime minister he would come forward and give a profound apology and put his full weight behind it, but for today there have been a lot of calls for mr. cameron to resign over the past few days, but for now those voices seem to be pretty silent. >> sally, really paralleling some calls for rupert murdoch for his future, that he might step down and lit his vice chair take over, how have those two prominent figures been compared in the uk? >> well, yesterday was pretty much rupert murdoch's today and today was mr. cameron's. ther

after two weeks of resisting pressure for a full-scale apology for hiring andy coulson david cameron edged towards one and he said people would hear the full genuine article if andy coulson was found to have lied. >> i have an old fashioned view about innocent until proven guilty. but if it turns out i've been lied to that would be a moment for a profound apology. and in that event i can tell you i will not fall short. people will of course make judgements about it. of course i regret and i am extremely sorry about the furore it has caused with 20/20 hindsight and all that has followed i would not have offered him the job and i expect that he would not have taken it. but you don't make decisions in hindsight. you make them in the present. you live and you learn, and believe you me i have learnt. >> that isn't good enough. because people, people, it's not about hindsight mr. speaker. it's not about whether mr. coulson lied to him. it's about all the information and warnings that the prime minister ignored. >> reporter: labour says the prime minister should have turfed andy coulson out

the allegation which i have read is that i told the prime minister to hire andy coulson and that is not true. never was true and the idea came from george osborne. >> so you had no conversation with david cameron about andy coulson being suitable for that position? >> no. >> none whatsoever? >> no. obviously, you are talking about about before his appointment? >> yes. >> no. >> and you presumably would in a social context swap gossip with david cameron when you would meet, and that gossip could actually be having been obtained by illegalle means. are you satisfied that your dealings with david cameron before and after becoming prime minister that the sort of gossip that you might share was above board? >> well, as i shared earlier, any relationship and conversations with the prime minister were wholly respectable when i was with the "sun" and he was prime minister. >> and what about when you were at "news of the world"? >> again, that is not true. so, i didn't approve it. >> so, the news stateman report and the daily mail report is inaccurate that his salary is not being subsidized by "

. >> have you had any contact with andy coulson during the sheridan case? >> during the sheridan case? >> i think andy was -- andy coulson was in downing street during the sheridan case. so i would have had some contact. >> no direct contact, no emails or letters? >> i said i would have had contact. >> there are no emails just a conversation? >> it would have been manly to do with work, but by email or by telephone. >> just a couple more questions. why would the news of the world, why were you paying andy coulson's legal fees and mull kair's legal fees? >> as i understand it, i know james murdoch addressed this, when andy coulson left the news of the world, he had an agreement that all matters relating to this his legal fees were paid. and i think the same for clive goodman. on glen mullclaire, i think it was when his legal fees would be paid when he was a codefendant in these civil cases. >> are you aware of any payment to police officers? >> no. >> none. >> i'd like to ask some questions about the dowda case. you were editor of news of the world during the

andy coulson was his communications guru. prime minister is facing growing calls to explain while he shows to hire a man. >> he resigned because of the things that happened on his watch. i decided to give him a second chance and no one has ever raised serious concerns about how he did his job for me. the second job did not work out and he had to resign all over again. the decision to hire him was mine, and mine alone, and i take full responsibility for it. >> as for the questions about -- >> on the case of backup brooks -- rebecca brooks, i do not think the prime minister should choose who should run it news organizations. >> david cameron has done his best to try to distance himself from the scandal. questions about his own judgment and his friendship continue. especially now some say they warned him years ago about hiring the former editor. >> president obama, the u.s. economy has been the overriding challenge. today, it comes more disappointing news. only 18,000 jobs were created in june, the fewest in nine months. that pu

he was warned by lord ashdown by hiring andy coulson. he's now admitted in the house of commons today that his chief of staff was given complete evidence which contradicted andy coulson's previous accounts. >> on wednesday, sensationally as the house of commons was about to debate rupert murdoch's controversial takeovered by for the british broadcaster bskyb, rupert murdoch abruptly walked away from the table acknowledging theed by was impossible in the current clima climate. suggesting that the a.c.led ho -- holds he could come back again. with talk in the u.s. that news corp may be viewed there for bribing police from the foreign services act. there's speculation he may come back to the table at a future date. he desperately does want to get his hands on that broadcaster bskyb. we'll have to see if he comes back to play another hand. wolf? >> dan rivers from london. thank you. and dan mentioned the possible u.s. investigation. did rupert murdoch's news corporation take advantage of 9/11 victims here in the united states? up next you're

in terms of andy coulson, no one has argued the work he did in government in any way was inappropriate or bad. he worked well in government. he then left government. there is a contrast in the situation where clearly at the metropolitan police the issues have been around, whether or not the investigation is being pursued properly. >> tonight, the phone hacking inquiry is making more headlines. police officers are at the home of the reporter, who was now found dead tonight, after telling folks to he had been pressured to hack phones. his death is being described as unexplained, but not suspicious. nick robinson, bbc news, westminster. >> the sun newspaper has suffered major attacks by computer hackers. anyone trying to access the web site was redirected to the speed of -- feed of lulzsec. they posted claims that rupert murdoch had been found dead. it has emerged that officials in the american state department and the libyan government held a meeting in tunisia. americans say they delivered a certain message that colonel gaddafi must step down. more details about the meeting. >> from the

putting his fingers in his ears and say that i don't know what anyone will have to tell me about andy coulson. each time there is another meeting -- move and the story, david cameron will have a lot to answer. >> we have seen the fallout and this is felled around the world. people tune in to watch the murdoch testimony. -- we have seen the fallout and this is being felt around the world. the news corp. shareholders, do they have confidence in rupert murdoch? i see that shares closed up in news corp.. >> i think was a good day for the murdoch's. there was a lot of questions, would this be a huge disaster. they came away with that when any damage to themselves. i thought that james murdoch gave a very strong performance. he stayed on script in the face of tough questioning. he was apologetic to the families and victims of the hacking scandal. he said again and again that we set up a compensation committee for the victims. for he looked confident without seeming arrogant. i think he did a good job. >> you think that he can still succeed rupert murdoch? >> i think that he has a long way to go. he

most of the grilling surrounded his choice to hire former "news of the world" editor andy coulson as his communications director. coulson was one of the first people arrested over the hacking scandal within rupert murdoch's media empire. >> with 20/20 hindsight and all that has followed, would i not have offered him the job, and i expect that he wouldn't have taken it. >> cameron says he regrets his decision to hire coulson and once again denies claims that his staff tried to stop an investigation into the phone hacking. more live from london with the latest. so does this get the heat off of the prime minister? >> reporter: well, tamron, it's been an incredibly difficult day for david cameron, but the consensus here in the uk is that he dealt with it pretty well. he tackled the question of why he hired andy coulson, the former editor of "news of the world" as his communications director and he didn't exactly apologi apologize. he said, of course, i regret it and i'm sorry for the furor it's called. >> the opposition leader didn't like what he said saying it showed him a catastrophic

he still -- the question of andy coulson and why he hired him in the first place. he was asked time and time again what specific conversations he had with andy coulson. distanceng to put some between his former communications and himself. >> also, top people at the news international empire, including rebecca brooks. she's a former editor of "news of the world." did mr. cameron give a signal about her? >> that's the interesting part of this paris conference -- of this press conference. he did call for her to quit, but he did it in a clever way. said that if he was rupert murdoch, he would have expected her resignation yesterday. he's careful to not get involved in the running of a private company. he was effectively calling for her to go. the only problem for mr. cameron here is that the opposition has been calling for her to go for days. it does make the prime minister look like he is a bit behind the curve. >> mr. camera and talking about changing the political pollster -- mr. cameron was talking about changing the political culture. >> he made it clear that the

-- showed andy coulson had authorized payments to police for information. either he or news international did not tell the truth. >> discovering the truth could take months. today, britain pose a military families became the latest group to erupt -- britain's military families became the latest group to erupted in anger. it has been released that some of them may have had their voice mails intercepted. initially, no family scheme for reducing that police had warned them they might be victims. even the allegation was enough for the british royal legion to pull out of its fund-raising with the news of the world. >> we felt that until these allegations have been investigated, we ought to suspend working with news international. >> police are investigating the case of a man killed in afghanistan. according to his father, e-mail messages he received after his death have been read, he suspects by hackers. >> the need to be called to account for what they have done and to suffer whatever punishment is appropriate. i'm sure that will happen, but it is going to take

there was the ones that were gave to downing street about andy coulson's relationship with a detective who is facing charges for axe murderer. consequently, he was -- consequently, the trial collapsed. the general picture here is that david cameron was putting his fingers in his ears and saying i don't want to know what anyone has to tell me about andy coulson. if it happens that he is charged and goes to court and if he's convicted, each time there is another move and the story, david cameron will have a harder and harder question to answer. >> the fallout from the scandal is being felt around the world. people tune in to day to watch the murdoch's testimony. joining me to discuss the impact is the media reporter for the "new york times." the did the murdoch's do well enough to stay in charge of their own companies? >> i spoke to some wall street analysts to said yes, this was says good as that -- as it could have gone. every statement made with them and comparing them to their record and to whatever sources they are saying. for one day, it was a pretty good day for the murdoch's. >>

sean ward said andy coulson hacked into phones. police are not treating the death as suspicious. >>> a u.s. official says a meeting between the u.s. and libya at the weekend was meant to deliver one message, that moammar gadhafi must go. libya called the face-to-face talks in tunisia a first step. the u.s. says the meeting was a one-off event. >>> the women's world cup team soaked up the limelight after bringing japan its first cup title. japan's the first asian nation with a world cup championship. those are the headlines. auto' jane verjee at cnn in london. "world business today" starts now. >> a very good afternoon to you from cnn hong kong, i'm alicia tank. >> good morning from cnn london. you're watching "world business today." time to testify, news corp boss rupert murdoch, his son james and ex-news international chief rebekah brooks will prepare to face british legislators. >>> two giants of tech as ibm powers ahead but cisco loses its way. >>> and banks lead the losses as debt ditherring continues to drag the world stock ma

andy coulson is also uncomfortably the former spokesman of british prime minister david cameron, who, today, scrambled to distance himself. >>>> the press freedom does not mean the press should be above the law. >> reporter: but "the news of the world" was, which is why the famous and the powerful in britain have feared and loathed the tabloioifor years. case in point? remember when sarah ferguson was caught selling access to prince andrew? >> 500,000 pounds when you can, to me -- open doors. >> reporter: and this headline. when prince harry angerer his girlfriend by visiting a strip club. how did the paper know? they'ves dropped on the prince's voicemail. >> you have to get the story at all costs. you go and do anything. >> reporter: even breaking the law? >> absolutely breaking the law. >> reporter: at least symbolically here in britain, it is the queen that prime ministers report to. what this scandal is up pressed for so long is revealing, is that rupert murdoch is the one who's really had their ear. every prime minister here for the last 30 years has needed the endorsement of mur

he first said andy coulson knew people were hacking on people's phones. in an interview he had with "the new york times" and last year in an interview with radio four, he spoke about the culture of dark arts, he claimed, that andy coulson had created at "news of the world," a culture where getting the story became the the most important thing. >> do we know any more about the circumstances of his death? >> well, what we know so far is that the police describing this as an unexplained death. they are saying they're not treating it as suspicious but a colleague working here at the bbc in london did speak to shawn hall about ten days ago within we know he was fairly badly seriously ill at that time. but the police this evening saying it's an uncomplained death not being treated as suspicious but their investigations continue tonight. >> well, all of this comes on the eve of rupert and james murdoch's highly anticipated appearance before british lawmakers tomorrow. for more about the fallout this is having on the media empire itself, i'm joined by "vanity fai

he wanted to give andy coulson a second chance.ed him when he said he knew nothing about phone hacking. now we know that, well, we don't know for sure what andy coulson knew. he's been arrested. it's all rather embarrassing. the prime minister still sticking to this line, look, he's not been tried and judged yet. let's wait and see what the police find out. >> it is incredible, dan, to watch this all unfold between the hearings yesterday and everything that's happened and all those that have resigned and been arrested. what does parliament say about how all this has been handled so far? >> reporter: well, there has been withering criticism from all parties about how the police have handled this. don't forget that they looked into this initially back in 2006, '07, looking first of all into the hacking of members of the royal family's phones and concluded that only a handful of people had had their phones hacked into. now they're saying 4,000 people and upwards may have had their phones hacked into. and that has been roundly criticiz

will he place in the library a log of any meetings and phone calls between him and andy coulson following his resignation? >> as i said, i think perhaps before she wrote her question or had it written -- [laughter] >> of course, i sought assurances from andy coulson. i received assurances. those were assurances that were given. absolutely. those were assurances not just given at the time to me, but also given subsequently to the select committee and to a criminal case under oath. these were repeatedly given. let me say to the avoidance of any doubt, if they turn out not to be true, it's not just that he shouldn't have worked in government, he should face the full force of the law. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister related a different case of hacking, computer hacking gary mckenyon. once they have a legal process to follow, does he share the concern for the constituents nine-year nightmare as he feels his life is literally hanging on a thread, waiting to be cast by extradition? >> i do recognize the seriousness of this case. the deputy prime minister and i raised it with president obama w

because he has not will not acknowledge his error in employing andy coulson because he will not answerquestions about the bskyb he can not show that leadership. >> are you saying that because neil wallace was resigning matter for the metropolitan police commissioner that coulson is resigning matter for the prime minister? >> no, we're not calling on the prime minister to resign. we're calling -- no, no. >> [inaudible]. >> the labour front bench is not labour party's position to call on the prime minister to resign. we are calling on him here. >> by extending parliament a day on and coming back on wednesday. >> why -- >> logic he should go if it is right for paul stephenson to resign over supposedly what he did, the logic is presumably, your logic he should go. >> we're calling on him to answer questions. >> you called clark to go over misstatement about rape. this is the prime minister who employed in ten downing street and okay for him to stay. >> he didn't have to employ andy cowell son. he did. that was error of judgement. we're calling on him to acknowledge that was error of judgem

>> i had a deputy andy coulson. >> so andy coulson was editor while you're away quite >> it could be. >> i do want to take too long. you saw the exchanges over the e-mail -- the paper that was residing for a long time. it gives to the light at the evidence that we received previously about the result of a huge e-mail. clearly that was still sitting there when he became the chief executive 2009. so is out of commission before your watch, but not sitting under your watch. james murdoch said he first learned about it in april, may and passed in june. when did you first learn about the evidence was fair? >> just before james murdoch and then i just went. >> did he report to find you quite >> actually would have been nice to know we have this management committee that we set up and after the police we open their investigation in january 2011. and obviously it was her investigation that led to the opening of the inquiry and they subsequently set up a management committee in order to facilitate the police within the information they requested or anything like tivoli could find to help them.

and one of the things here, she went to cameron and said you hire our guy, andy coulson. if you do that, i can help bring rupert around, and she succeeded. >> and he hired the prime minister, the candidate of prime minister, hired her, hired coulson, then ended up getting what, the respect or what? how would you describe how rupert responded to that deal? >> actually, rupert responded grudgingly. he still doesn't like david cameron, he liked gordon brown, but rebekah and his son james wanted this, this was their show, he was trying to be hands off, and plus he got a man in number 10 downing street, and that was a victory. >> tomorrow, you have the high case, this case is going before a parliamentary committee. you're going to have rupert murdoch, his son, james, stephanie, you're going to have -- what's her name, rebekah brooks, they are going to be there under oath. will the name jude law come up? will the name -- who else is going to come up in this case? jude law has been apparently involved in this. >> let me back up a little bit, it's unclear whether they'll be under

andy coulson out years ago and out as prime minister's spokesman this year.executive of dow jones and publisher of the "wall street journal" is gone. news of the world has closed down. now that rebekah brooks has resigned and been arrested many say that james murdoch, chairman and ceo of news corp's division in europe in asia is on the firing line. it may come down to where else james murdoch's fingerprints can be found. >> james murdoch made is clear that he paid off a huge amount of money to gordon taylor who had his phone hacked and james murdoch made it clear now that he regards that as an error on his part and he much regrets it. >> reporter: if it's found that james murdoch knew more about the hacking than what's been revealed so far, smith says shareholders, board members, may force his father's hand. >> if they demand that he change the way the company is structures to stop james from taking over, he would have to listen to them. >> reporter: there are reports that independent board members are going further questioning whether a change of leadership

andy coulson, he arrived at a london police station for questioning overnight.tabloid, the tabloid now shutting down under intense pressure. sunday's issue will be its last after 168 years. i think this is the most read paper in the uk. reporters from the paper are accused of breaking into the voice mails of celebrities, politicians, breaking into voice mails of relatives of the london transit bombing victims. it's part of the media empire run by rupert murdoch. murdoch's son james talked about the move to close up shop. >> i feel regret. clearly the practices of certain individuals did not live up to the standards and quality of journalism that we believe in and that i believe in. and that this company believes in. >> this all started with this huge scandal where the reporters were hacking into the voice mail of missing girl, actually giving -- >> false hope. >> altering. >> the investigation. you may know rupert murdoch as the man who owns fox, "new york post." analysts say losing "news of the world" would barely make a dent in his media company known as news

january, 2011, was when andy coulson resigned. does the prime minister just think that's a coincidence? >> the point i was going to make which is important is the re-opening of the investigation in my understanding was in response to new information from news international wasn't in response to the april article. the point about andy coulson's resignation which had been under discussion for some weeks was that he just recognized he couldn't go on doing his job. it was not to the best of my memory connected with any single event. it was literally -- i can't go on being an effective communications spokesman. i have to resign. let's just make sure we do it in an orderly way. i know it doesn't fit the many conspiracy theories that honorable members have tried to produced but i'm going to make some progress but that's actually what happened. let me make three suggestions on media plurality and power. one, it is right there are good and proper legal processes for considering media merger but we should ask whether politicians should be s

andy coulson, of course, being the then-"news of the world" editor who went on to work for prime minister cameron. joining me now, sarah elson, author of "war at the wall street journal." the -- the wall street journal today wrote a very defensive editorial for the whole bloomberg -- murdoch empire. how did you read that editorial? >> well, i was sort of surprised that they took such a defensive stance, given that the wall street journal doesn't have anything to explain at this point, and it's not really the edit page's role, in my view, to defend its corporate parent, so i thought that was actually something after having spent so many years at the wall street journal that was unnecessarily putting the reputation of the wall street journal on the line given everything that's been going on outside the wall street and the rest of news corporation, at the "news of the world" and other parts of the company. >> what do you make of this bloomberg report they are making plans for what happens if rupert murdoch cannot remain in his position? >> i think that is one of the many unthinkable things t

the first time i ever heard of him being approached was from andy coulson and not the prime minister. >> and so you had no conversation with david cameron? >> no. the answer is that -- the allegation which i have read is that i told the prime minister to hire andy coulson and that is not true, never was true, and the idea came from george. >> so you had no conversation with david cameron about andy coulson being suitable for that position? >> no. >> none whatsoever? >> no. obviously you were talking before his appointment? >> yes. >> no. >> you presumably would, in a social context, swap gossip with david cameron, and that gossip could actually be having been obtained by illegal means. are you satisfied that your dealings with david cameron before and after becoming prime minister that the sort of gossip you might share was aboveboard? >> well, i hope my earlier assurance that in any social encounters i've had with the prime minister that any conversations with wholly appropriate both as my position as editor of "the sun" or chief executive and his station as prime minister. >> and di

then andy coulson was arrested. and allegations surfaced former prime minister gordon brown had also been targeted. the controversy caused news corp to drop its bid for b sky b. phones of 9/11 victims were hacked. last friday rebecca brook the ceo resigned. this the wall street publisher are stepped down. on that same day murdoch met with millie's family to personally apologize. saturday murdoch placed fill-page newspaper ads saying "we are sorry." brooks was arrested and questioned by police. and yesterday the man who went public with the allegation, the news of the world's former business reporter sean hoare was found dead in his home. he claims a number of phones were hacked for exclusive stories. >> reporter: also scheduled to appear will be rebecca brook during a parliament session in 2003 she said news international paid police for information for stories. jamie: eric, thanks so much. bill: there is a committee hearing looking at the role of police already underway. we await mr. murdoch and his son james. when

the former "news of the world" reporter found out that andy coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff. andy coulson the then "news of the world" editor who went on to work for prime minister david cameron. joining me now, sarah ellison, contributing editor at "vanity fair" and author of "war at the "wall street journal."" sarah, the "wall street journal" today wrote a very defensive editorial for the whole bloomberg -- the whole murdoch empire. how did you read that editorial? >> well, i was sort of surprised that they took such a defensive stance, given that the "wall street journal" doesn't have anything to explain at this point. and it's not really the edit page's role in my view to defend its corporate parent. so i thought that was actually something after having spent so many years at the "wall street journal" that was unnecessarily putting the reputation of the "wall street journal" on the line, given everything that's been going on outside of the "wall street journal" at "news of the world" and other parts of the company. >> and what do you make of this bloomberg report t

andy coulson is also a former editor of "news of the world." coulson has been arrested for his alleged role in all of this. so the question is, what did his former boss, david cameron, know and when did he know it? >> let me say once more, if i was lied to, if the police were lied to, if the select committee were lied to, it would be a matter of deep regret and a matter for a criminal prosecution. >> order. anybody might think that it an orchestrated noise is taking place. order, order. the house will come to order. and these order -- and these exchanges will continue in an orderly way. mr. ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister has just made a very important admission. he has admitted that his chief of staff was given information before the general election that andy coulson had hired a man -- had hired a man jailed for seven years for a criminal conspiracy who made payments to the police on behalf of "the news of the world." this evidence casts serious doubt on mr. coulson's assurances that the phone hacking over which he resigned was