mr. hinton was aware of the work that had been carried out and i think he's testified to this committee to that effect. >> have you asked him whether -- mr. murdoch sr., have you asked les hinton whether he knew about this document? >> no. >> why not? >> about which? >> which document are you referring to? >> the document that you discovered in april, may in the offices of the law firm. >> i don't think it's -- i have not asked him, but i also think that he -- you know, i think he's testified to this, that he as the chief executive of news international at the time would not have been expected necessarily to read x hundreds or thousands of e-mails there but would rely on the opinion of counsel about what they had done. >> was collin miler aware of this evidence lying with the firm? >> i cannot speak to other individuals' knowledge in the past. i simply don't -- >> did tom crohn. >> i simply can't speak for them. >> stewart cutner? >> the same goes, i simply can't speak for them. >> and rebekah brooks? >> i simply cannot speak for their knowledge. i know that mrs. brooks when she was chief

i cannot speak to his knowledge, but i know that mr hinton was aware of the work that had been carried out, and i think he has testified to this committee to that effect. >> mr murdoch senior, have you asked les hinton whether he knew about this document? >> no. >> why not? >> which document are you talking about, mr farrelly? >> the document that you discovered in april or may in the offices of harbottle & lewis. >> i have not asked him, but i also thinkas he has testifiedthat he, as chief executive of news international at the time, would not have been expected necessarily to read x- hundreds or thousands of emails, but would rely on the opinion of counsel about what they had done. >> was colin myler aware of that evidence lying with harbottle & lewis? >> i cannot speak to other individuals' knowledge in the past. i simply don't know. >> would tom crone? >> i simply cannot speak for them. >> and stuart kuttner? >> the same goes, mr farrelly. i simply can't speak for them. >> and rebekah brooks? >> i simply cannot speak for their knowledge. i know that mrs brooks, when she was chief e

mr. hinton misled me for a minute, but you must find out for yourself and make your own conclusions. he certainly did not know of anything. >> i've got two more members. >> thank you. >> before i address my questions to the hearing i'd like to make a short declaration of my own which is something i previously declared to the committee which is that my wife is an employee of the company calledded h edlen which is engaged by news corporation. she has no access to the information. i want to share that to you before asking any questions. mr. rupert murdoch you said we live in a transparent society. do you think it's right for people in public life that people can expect total privacy. >> nope. >> in the watergate, for example, personal banking and phone records were used, belonged to one of the witnesses, they were relevant to that investigation. and to what extent do you think the use of confidential, private information, even phone records, even phone hacking is permissible in the course of a news story. >> i think phone hacking is something quite different. i do believe that investiga

mr. hinton, who told me about it. >> okay. i ask in 2008, another two years, why did you not sdis news of the world chief reporter following the mosley case. >> i never heard of him. >> despite a judge making clear that he set out to blame two of the women involved? >> i didn't hear that. >> a judge made it clear that he set out to blackmail two of the women involved in the case. >> that is the first i've heard of that. >> so none of your u.k. staff drew your attention to the serious wrongdoing, even though the case received widespread media attention? >> i think my son can perhaps answer that in more detail. he was a lot closer to it. >> i'll come to your son in a minute. so despite the fact that blackmail can result in a 14-year prison sentence, nobody in your u.k. company brought this fact to your attention? >> the blackmail charge, no. >> do you think that might be because they knew you would think nothing of it? >> no. i can't answer, i don't know. >> do you agree with mr. edy when he said the lack of action discloses a r

mr. hinton, in his resignation, insists that if -- ifs had wrongdoing tha others knew that wrongdoing wenturther, i was not aware. there will appear to be a clearing of the decks before the at parliamentar next week. the family remains in full control of the company. >> in other news, security forces in syria have shot dead at least 32 professors across the country. hundreds of thousands of people staged some of the biggest protests so far against the rule assad.sident hassaof 40 civilians have died since the upper using began in march. >> another protest in csyria and is in teargas and panic. they came to show the latest unrest in syrian cities after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. opposition groups say that scores of activists were killed when security forces reportedly opened fire on demonstrators following friday parish. -- persrayers. damascus saw some of the biggest protests since the uprising began in march. it was a similar story in the south and demonstrations were even held in neighboring lebanon. this is on the backdrop of the interesting noises from the gov

mr. hinton for 52 years and i would trust him with my life. >> are you satisfied that the cash payments that were made by the news corporation companies to informants for stories were registered with the appropriate tax authorities? >> i don't know anything about that. >> if people were given money in order to have stories -- >> people were given money to? >> in order to get stories. was that -- did you notify the appropriate tax authorities about this? >> all of our financial affairs as a public company are transparent, are audited, the tax jurisdictions that the company works in all around the world are worked with transparentally and thoroughly. tax compliance is an important priority for any business, and the company complies with the laws. >> would that also include people who are in regular monthly retainers, registering their affairs? >> i have no knowledge of people and their own tax arrangements. i can speak for the company's tax arrangements. to the best of my knowledge we are a company that takes tax compliance, regulatory compliance, financial and regulatory transparency hugely s

mr. hinton testified that if it went further he did not know about it.hat is notable in all of this is that the people who have lost their jobs have not been family members. the murdoch's remain firmly in control of the company. >> in other news, security forces in syria have shot dead at least 32 protesters across the country. throughout the day, hundreds of thousands of people staged some of the biggest protests so far against the rule of president assad. police have reportedly fired live ammunition and tear-gas into the crowd of protesters. meanwhile in egypt, thousands rallied in the nation's two largest cities five months after president mubarak was removed from power. the protesters are become increasingly impatient with the military rulers in the interim. they are demanding that those who are accused of killing activist during the uprising be put on trial. in libya, the fighting continues, but the main opposition group was given a demand -- diplomatic boost. the united states recognizes the rebels as the governing authority. the announcement came

mr. hinton was overseeing all of the british papers. but the question of course is you know, is how do they not know about it or shouldn't they have known about it. but you know, hinton in his statement was very emphatic that it was in good faith that he twice told parliament that this was the work of one person and he said pointedly that he thought that the rot was gone when he left to cme t the u.s. to run dow jones and the "the wall street journal". >> rem reider, thanks so much for your time. >> it's my pleasure, thanks. >> sreenivasan: in syria today, huge crowds of protesters challenged the regime of syrian president bashar assad and security forces once again opened fire. activists reported at least 32 people were killed. the demonstrators-- hundreds of thousands strong-- flooded into cities across syria, even in damascus, the capital. they clapped, cheered and waved banners in the largest rallies since the uprising began more than four months ago. the u.s. and more than 30 other nations have fmally recognized the main opposition

mr. hinton or any of those executives, had knowledge of that. nonetheless, those resignations have been accepted. >> reporter: later in the day, brooks faced questions by herself from the same panel. she was arrested on sunday over allegations of phone hacking and payments to police for information. she, too, denies any knowledge of wrongdoing. >> i have never paid a policeman myself. >> reporter: but for the murdochs today's questioning was about salvaging news corp.'s reputation, a business rupert brought up with one paper. >> i was brought up by a father who was not rich but a great journalist. before he died, it was a small paper. >> reporter: james hopes to one day lead the family business but first he'll have to repair the damage sustained over two weeks of an ever-widening scandal. >> it's our determination to put things right. make sure these things don't happen again. >> reporter: rumors were floated that the head of news corp. might use today to announce his own resignation. just rumors. >> have you considered resigning? >> no. >> why

mr. hinton, or any of those executives had knowledge of that and their assertions, certainly mrs.sertions to me of her knowledge of those things has been -- has been clear. nonetheless, those resignations have been accepted. but it's important to know on the basis that there is no evidence today that i have seen or that i have any knowledge of, that there was any impriority by them. >> turn to tom watson. >> mr. murdoch sr., good afternoon, sir. you have repeatedly stated that news corp has a zero tolerance of wrongdoing by employees. is that right? >> yes. >> in october 2010, did you still believe it to be true when you made your speech and you said, let me be clear, we will be vig -- we will vigorously pursue the truth and we will not tolerate wrongdoing? >> yes. >> so if you were not lying then, somebody lied to you, who was it? >> i don't know. that is what the police are investigating and we are helping them with. >> but you acknowledge that you were misled? >> clearly. >> can i take you back to 2003? are you aware that in march of that year, rebekah brooks gave evidence to t

mr. hinton was aware of the work that had been carried out, and i think he's testified to this committee to that effect. >> have you asked him whether mr. murdoch is here. have you asked les whether he knew about this document? >> no. >> why not? >> about? >> which document are you talking about. >> the document that was -- that you discovered in april/may in the offices of the law firm that -- >> i don't think it's, you know -- i have not asked him, but i also think that, you know, he -- i think he's testified to this. he as the chief executive of news international at the time would not have been expected necessarily to read x hundreds or thousands of e-mails there but would rely on the opinion of counsel about what they had done. >> and was colin miler aware of this evidence lying with them? >> i cannot speak to other individuals' knowledge in the past. i simply don't -- >> tom krone? >> i simply can't -- i just -- i can't speak for them. >> and stewart? that's a general pronunciation. sorry. stewart can you teutner and reb brooks? >> i simple cannot speak for them. i know that mrs. br

mr. hinton for 52 years and i would trust him with my life. >> oh! >> as you said in earlier questions, do you not regard yourself as a chief executive. you work 10 to 12 hours a day. this terrible thing happened on your watch. mr. murdoch, have you considered resigning? >> no. >> why not? >> because i feel that people i trusted, have let me down. and i think they behaved disgracefully, betrayed the company and me. and it is for them to pay. i think frankly, i'm the best person to clean this up. at no time do i remember being as sick ed as when i heard what the -- sickened as when i heard what the dowling family had to endure. which was last monday nor, do i recall being as angry when i was told that the news of the world could have compounded their distress. for a newspaper that hold others to account and failed when it came to itself. behavior that -- the behavior that occurred went everything that i stand for. and my son too. not only betrayed our readers and me, also hurt the many thousands of magnificent professionals in other divisions of our c

mr. hinton, it was... [inaudible] for his continuous service. >> 10 million? 5 million? 10 million? >> pounds? >> strictly confidential. >> and is there anything, any

mr. hinton yesterday, you have a rotten barrel problem. and i think there will be more arrests. think about it. no newspaper reporter in this world can go to an editor and say, i have the following scoop, without that editor saying, who is your source, how did you get that story? there's multiple editors involved in news of the world, and many have not been named or implicated. then you have the question, who paid tens of thousands of dollars to get stories from the police. that, by the way, is illegal, as is hacking into phones and presumably that's not a decision made by the reporter, it's made by the business side. we haven't heard who those people are. you'll see many more apples falling from this tree. >> and it has engulfed the british police, the metropolitan police. you said there will be many more apples falling, what will this mean for, let's say james murdoch, his son and executive? >> he has been in charge for the last several years of news corps international, newspapers in england. reportingly he's signing off on budgets. he's next in line there. he's got to be wor

mr. hinton's knowledge. are you referring to 2011? >> this techno/-- >> in 2007 -- i can't speak to his knowledge, but i would -- i know that mr. hinton was aware of the work that had been carried out in a out in a think he is testified to this committee to the effect. >> had the last end? mr. burdick, have you asked him whether he knew? >> no. >> why not? >> which documentary talking about? >> you discovered april, may-- >> i don't think it, it you know, i have not asked him, but he also think that he is testified that is the chief executive at that time would not have been asked acted necessarily to read x hundreds or thousands of e-mails they are, but would rely on the opinion of counsel about what they've done. >> i cannot speak to other individuals knowledge in the past. i simply don't -- i simply can't speak for them. >> that's the german pronunciation, sorry. >> saying goes. i can't speak. >> rebecca brooks. >> i simply cannot speak for mrs. dirks when she was chief executive is one of the people who brought it may attention is

mr. hinton's knowledge. are you referring to 2011? >> this techno/-- >> in 2007 -- i can't speak to his knowledge, but i would -- i know that mr. hinton was aware of the work that had been carried out in a out in a think he is testified to this committee to the effect. >> had the last end? mr. burdick, have you asked him whether he knew? >> no. >> why not? >> which documentary talking about? >> you discovered april, may-- >> i don't think it, it you know, i have not asked him, but he also think that he is testified that is the chief executive at that time would not have been asked acted necessarily to read x hundreds or thousands of e-mails they are, but would rely on the opinion of counsel about what they've done. >> i cannot speak to other individuals knowledge in the past. i simply don't -- i simply can't speak for them. >> that's the german pronunciation, sorry. >> saying goes. i can't speak. >> rebecca brooks. >> i simply cannot speak for mrs. dirks when she was chief executive is one of the people who brought it may attention is

mr. hinton for 52 years and i would trust him with my life. >> what i think is interesting in that exchange, the normal phraseology for people doing that is, i was not to blame, but i take responsibility. the buck stops here. and what we didn't get there was that phraseology or some version thereof. we also finally, wolf, we did get later on in his final statement the hacking was wrong, the payments to the police were wrong, no excuses. >> and there was an incident there at one point where an intruder just showed up with some shaving cream. tell our viewers what happened. >> the pictures don't really tell the full magnitude of the story. as you can see on the screen now, the intruder, an activist, a comedian came in and basically tried to -- well he did. he successfully pied rupert murdoch with shaving foam on a plate. what was interesting, if you look at the picture again, and you see close up, wendy dang, rupert murdoch's wife launches out of the seat, hits good night with the pie, grabs the plate and lunges into her face. murdoch does restart the hearing ten minutes later. he's without h

mr. rupert murdoch. you said that your friend of 52 years i think hinton had stepped down and had resigned because he was in charge of the company at the time. in other words he said he was the captain of the ship and reresigned. is it not the case that you are the captain of the ship. you are the chief executive officer of news corp., the global corporation. >> yes. >> it is a much bigger ship, but you are in charge of it. as you said in earlier questions you do not regard yourselves as a hands off chief executive. you work ten to 12 hours a day. this happened on your watch, have you considered resigning? >> no. >> why not? >> because i feel that people have let me down. i'm not saying who or at what level. i think they behaved disgracefully and betrayed them and me and it's for them to pay. i think that frankly i'm the best person to clear this up. >> thank you mr. murdoch. as i say i do very much appreciate your immense courage in having seen this session through despite what just happened to you. >> thank you. >> i will allow mr. watson a very brief on closing question. >> when you signed off the tay

mr. bryant was asking me to explain my comment and the actual session ended. in 2003 straight after my comment about payment to police was in fact clarified i think the hinton was the chairman of news international in the 2007 inquiry clarified it again. and i clarified it recently to the home affairs committee at tend of march, i think. i can say that i have never paid a policeman myself. i never sanctioned or knowingly sanctioned a payment to a police officer. i was referred if you saw at the time of the that you have people from fleet street discussing that in the past payments have been made to police officers. i was referring to that wide held belief not widespread practice. and in fact, in my experience of doling with the police the information they give to newspapers comes free of charge. >> in evidence to parliamentary subcommittee yesterday he stated to his knowledge the daily mail has never published a story based on hacking or blacking. this from a group that operation motor man identified with 1,387 transactions across its titles. do you think it is credible that all those 1300 plus transactions were lis italy obtained or is there this widericalture

mr. bryant was asking me to explain my comment, and the actual session ended. in 2003 straight after my comment about payment to police was in fact clarified, i think the les hinton who was the chairman at the 2007 inquiry clarified it again and i clarified it recently to the committee at the end of march i think. now i can say that i have never paid a policeman myself, i've never sanctioned or knowingly sanctioned a payment to a police officer. i was referring, if you saw at the time of the select committee recently that you had various crime editors from fleet street discussing that in the past payments have been made to police officers. i was referring to that wide held belief not widespread practice. and in fact it's been my experience with dealing with the police the information given to me comes free of charge. >> mr. baker in the parliamentary committee yesterday stated that to his knowledge the daly mail has never published a story based on hacking, this from a group that operation motor man identified as 1,387 transactions against it's titles. do you think it is credible that all those 1300-plus transactions were licitely obtained or is there this wider

mr. bryant asked me to explain my comment. in 2003 straight after my comment about payment to police it was clarified. i think les hinton, who was the chairman of the news international, at the 2007 -- in the past payments had been made to police, i was referring to -- in fact, in my experience of dealing with the police, the information they give to newspapers comes free of charge. >> mr. dacre, in evidence to a parliamentary committee yesterday, stated that to his knowledge "the daily mail" has never published a story based on hacking or blagging. do you think it credible that all those 1,300-plus transactions were licitly obtained? or is there wider culture of hacking and blagging of which your paper was part? >> i did not see that evidence. you will have seen that, out of all media groups in the country, news international has been the one openly to welcome prime minister's public inquiry. the fact is, i am not in a position to comment often all other newspaper groups. like i said at the beginning, things went badly wrong at the "news of the world." we are doing our best to sort it out. i accept that it is not at th