we want to begin our reporting with nbc's stephanie gosk in london. stephanie, good evening. >> good evening, brian. every day since this scandal broke, there seems it be a new bombshell. revelations, resignations, arrests. the last 24 hours are no exception. it's left people in this country wondering and worried what will happen next. the fabled scotland yard is reeling after two sudden resignations of its most senior leadership. sir paul stephenson, the police chief, and his deputy, john yates, career policemen who are the latest casualties in the phone hacking scandal. scotland yard is being accused of mishandling the investigation into "news of the world qug, maintaining at times close relationships with the very people they were supposed to be investigating. police officers accepting bribes from reporters has allegedly been commonplace. stephenson and yates deny any wrong doing on their part. >> i have acted with complete integrity and my conscience is clear. >> now the department tasked with counterterrorism and the 2012 olympics must find new le

nbc's stephanie gosk is in london again for us tonight. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, news corps got beaten up all day today by british politicians both before and after they dropped out of the bid. one of their fiercest critics, former prime minister gordon brown, who accused murdock's papers of law breaking on what he calls an industrial scale. >> order! order! >> reporter: in parliament today politicians for once found something they could agree on. rupert murdock's news corporation, they said should drop its bid for british tv network bskyb. >> they've got to stop talking about mergers until they sort out the mess they created. >> reporter: but even before they voted, news corps, beat them to it. >> they have decided in the last few moments that it will withdraw. >> reporter: announcing they would walk away from the biggest merger in the corporation's history, potentially worth billions, in a statement they said they would walk away from a deal potentially worth billions. the company said it has become

"it may take some time for us to rebuild trust." >> and that was nbc's stephanie gosk reporting. and rupert murdoch and his son james will face tough questioning in parliament tomorrow. rebekah brooks is scheduled to appear, as well, but her spokesperson says her arrest will change that. >>> to washington now, with the showdown over raising the nation's debt ceiling is fast approaching the august 2nd deadline with no resolution in sight. there are plenty of plans, but no consensus. and while some of those proposals are headed for a vote, the white house suggests that the bare minimum may be all that's possible. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington. brian, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. the white house says it is confident will meet that august 2nd deadline, but right now it's not at all clear how that's going to happen. today on capitol hill, senator tom coburn unveils the most ambitious plan yet to break the debt ceiling stalemate. >> oh, i wouldn't expect it to pass. but i would expect people to look at it. >> reporter: he's taking aim on $9 trillion in government c

stephanie gosk has the report from london. >> reporter: the british public wants answers. rupert murdoch and top executive, rebecca brooks have all been asked to testify next week before a parliament committee. the powerful trio have yet to agree but "news international" the subsidiary that ran "the news of the world" is already defending itself against the latest allegations. in an interview on the bbc today, former prime minister, gordon brown, accused "news international" of employing known criminals to dig up personal information. >> i'm shocked. i'm genuinely shocked to find this happened because of the links with criminals. >> reporter: in 2006, a murdoch paper run at the time by rebecca brooks reported that brown's newborn son has cystic fibrosis. now brown questions the methods the paper used to get that information. tonight a statement from "news international" says the story "the sun" ran is from a member of the public whose family has also experienced cystic fibrosis. also on the defensive, investigators from scotland yards who face accusations that police accep

we'll get more now from stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the man who runs the second largest media company in the world appeared beside his son apologetic. >> this is the most humble day of my life. >> i would like to say how sorry i am and how sorry we are to particularly the victims of illegal voice mail and deception and their families. >> reporter: from the beginning james took the lead. >> i think my son can answer in more detail. >> reporter: at times jumping in to help when his 80-year-old father searched or stumbled for the answers. it was rupert murdoch's wife who stepped in at the most critical moment a right hook to protect her husband from a surprise pie attack. the protester, an amateur comedian who calls himself johnny marvel, was arrested and led away by police. for most of the questioning about phone hacking at "news of the world" the committee focused on who knew what and when. both of the murdochs repeatedly denied prior knowledge and never assumed responsibility. >> i don't know. >> i have no knowledge. >> i haven't heard of that. >> i don't have direct knowledge of that

stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. >>> well, two crew members of the u.s. space shuttle atlantis have a busy and memorable day ahead. removing ae busted cooling pump from the international space station during the shuttle program's final space walk. yesterday the station's robotic arm transferred a bus-size container of supplies that atlantis hauled up from earth. nasa says the atlantis crew will stay in space one day longer than planned to help put away the nearly five tons of food, clothes, and household goods that will keep the station going for an entire year. now here's a look at other stories making news today in america. whether it is winter or summer, chicago manages to keep its windy city reputation intact. a violent storm slapped the city and nearby suburbs on monday pounding morning commuters with heavy rain, downed trees, and blowing out power to over 800,000 residents and businesses. there were no reports of any storm-related deaths. >>> it took seconds for explosives to bring down one historic pennsylvania bridge. the decision to replace the 1

nbc's stephanie gosk is in tripoli, libya tonight. stephanie? >> reporter: good evening, kate. this is one of the largest rallies we've seen in recent weeks. thousands of supporters came out with guns and flags to show their support. gadhafi phoned in to state tv to address the crowd and to warn nato if they continued with this bombardment, that their countries would be next, their homes, offices and families. this speech was just 24 hours after his daughter told french tv that the government is actually in informal talks with the rebels. she then went on to call the rebels the devil. not exactly diplomatic language. kate? >> after months, where do we stand now? are the rebel forces making any gains? are we any closer to gadhafi stepping down? >> reporter: well, if the idea is that rebel forces will make a big push into tripoli and force him to step aside, that's unlikely to happen any time soon. they have been making progress southwest of here. they've been battling over the city of bir al ghanim. today gadhafi's forces pushed back hard. they showed when they want to, they can

the breaking news out of london tonight, nbc's stephanie gosk starts us off tonight. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening brian. well, les henson was the head of news international in the uk from 1995 through 2007. the current head of news international also resigned today, rebecca brooks. she worked under henton when illegal phone hacking took place. the most damaging accusations over the years, the one that triggered this crisis led rupert murdock to an unlikely meeting here. rupert murdock met with millie dowler's family, the young girl whose phone was hacked by reporters. when the meeting ended, murdock was greeted outside by cat calls. he was ushered inside but wouldn't stay there long. >> as founder of the company i was appalled and i will find out when it happened. and i apologize. >> reporter: earlier in the tied today, the head of news international, rebecca brooks resigned. in a letter to her staff who wrote, this is now detracted attention from all our honest endeavors to fix the problems of the past. those endeavors began this week with shutti

nbc's stephanie gosk with the latest from london. >> reporter: london's police chief resigned under intense pressure after it emerged scotland yard hired a former "news of the world" editor as a media consultant in 2009. the same year investigators decided not to further pursue the phone-hacking case. the former editor, neil wallace, was arrested last week in connection with the scandal. >> i have heard suggestions we must have suspected the alleged involvement of mr. wallace in phone hacking. let me say unequivocally that i did not and had no reason to do so. >> reporter: even with the head of police preparing to step down, scotland yard continues to make arrests. rebekah brooks, former head of rupert murdoch's newspaper arm here in the uk who resigned herself on friday. it was just a week ago that murdoch flew to london and stood by her side, all smiles. brooks had a immediate otheric rise at the condition, becoming editor of "news of the world" when she was only 32. neil sean worked for another murdoch newspaper, "the sun". >> she rose to the top through sheer ambition, networking and an

stephanie gosk reports. >> reporter: the man who runs the second largest media company in the world side by side with his son was in front of parliament, apologetic. >> i'd like to say this is the most humble day of my life. >> i'd like to say as well just how sorry i am and how sorry we are to particularly the victims of their illegal voice mail interceptions and their families. >> reporter: from the beginning james took the lead. >> i think my son can perhaps answer that in more detail. >> reporter: at times jumping in to help when his 80-year-old father searched or stumbled for the answers. >> mr. chatman was the top -- >> reporter: but it was rupert murdoch's wife who stepped in at the most critical moment. to protect her husband. the protester and am schur comedian who calls himself john any marbles was arrested and led away by police. for most of the questioning about phone hacking at news of the world, the committee focused on who knew what and when. both of the murdochs repeatedly denied prior knowledge and never assumed responsibility. >> i don't know. >> i have no knowledge. >>

nbc's stephanie gosk is in london tonight with late developments for us in the case. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. well, the casualties in this story continue to pile up. rebekah brooks, one of rupert murdoch's most trusted executives, is under arrest tonight. her spokesman says that she turned herself in and she's cooperating. then late tonight a surprise announcement from scotland yard that sir paul stephenson, the chief of police for the organization now investigating this scandal, he has stepped down. london's police chief resigned under intense pressure after it emerged that scotland yard hired a former "news of the world" editor as a media consultant in 2009. the same year investigators decided not to further pursue the phone hacking case. the former editor, neil wallis, was arrested last week in connection with the scandal. >> i have heard suggestions that we must have suspected the alleged involvement of mr. wallis in phone hacking. let me say unequivocally that i did not and have no reason to do so. >> reporter: even with the head

we begin our reporting here tonight with nbc's stephanie gosk in london, stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. brian. the police were armed with machine guns outside the front doors of parliament today, a good indication it was not going to be business as usual. many here in london said today that this was one of the most important days in parliament's history. the murdochs made a business out of covering the story. today, they were the story. the man who runs the second largest media company in the world side-by-side with his son, in front of members of parliament. apologetic. >> i would just like to say one sentence. this has been the most humble day of my life. >> i would like to say as well, how sorry i am and how sorry we are to, particularly the victims of illegal voice mail interceptions and to their families. >> reporter: from the beginning, james took the lead. >> i think my son can perhaps answer that in more detail. i think that's a question for james. >> reporter: at times jumping in to help when his 80-year-old father searched or stumbled for answers. but i

>> stephanie gosk in london for us tonight, thanks. >>> we'll take a break.ome back, a new hero for all those who believe that old treasured object might just be worth something some day. >>> okay, so if you ever watch "antiques roadshow," you know the drill. folks bring in the fireplace tongs, the vase, the ashtray, the toy train, hoping, of course, it is not just, say, a toy train. on saturday in tulsa, of the 6,000 people who showed up, one guy wondered if his 17th century carved chinese rhinoceros horn cups were worth anything. turns out they are. an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million and that, ladies and gentlemen, would be a new "roadshow" record. >>> hundreds of volunteers turned out at arlington national cemetery today to help spruce up the final resting place of so many of our nation's veterans. an environmental group called planet sponsored the project which donated about $200,000 worth of landscaping services including the installation of an irrigation system. >>> as you may have heard over this past weekend, this country lost a celebrated and de

it may take some time for us to rebuild trust. >> nbc's stephanie gosk reporting. rupert murdoch and his son james will face tough questioning in parliament tomorrow. rebekah brooks is expected to schedule as well but her spokesperson says her arrest may change that. >>> to washington where the showdown over raising the nation's debt ceiling is fast approaching the august 2nd deadline with no resolution in sight. plenty of plans but no consensus. while some of those proposals are headed for a vote, the white house suggests the bear minimum is all that's possible. brian mooar joins us with more from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. the white house says it is confident congress will meet that august 2nd deadline but right now it's not clear how that will happen. today on capitol hill senator tom coburn unveils the biggest plan yet to break the stalemate. >> i wouldn't expect it to pass but i would expect people to look at it. >> reporter: he's taking aim on $9 trillion in government cuts. >> pick half of them. half of them. >> reporter: it's

stephanie gosk, nbc news, edinborough. >>> that's nbc nightly news for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today". good night, everyone. . . # >>> good evening. i'm diane dwyer. we're closely monitoring

>> all right, stephanie gosk this morning. >>> once again, here's matt. >>> now to washington. president obama joined the new line in the sand when it comes to the debate over raising the debt ceiling. nbc's kristen welker has more on this from the white house. >> good morning to, you you matt. with less than three weeks to resolve this issue, president obama told congress aol leaders it's decision time. he has given them a day off, told them to talk to their caucuses and figure out a path forward. for the first time this week there will be no face-to-face meetings at the white house today. the talks are stuck. the president wants a big deficit reduction plan that would also raise revenue by rolling back hacked credits for wealthy americans and large corporations. republicans are holding the line say nothing new taxes. >> that's a place where i don't believe a single republican in the house or senate are willing to go. >> reporter: fearing the talks might fall apart, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and majority leader harry reid are working on a backup plan based on a pr

. >> for more on the meeting to i da, i am joined by stephanie gosk in london. hanie, thank you for joining. >> you are welcome. good to be here. >> was it enough the testimony today? i mean, pie aside, did the murdochs manage to escape the morning unscathed? >> well, they seemed to have, and the objectives of the committee and the objectives of the murdochs were quite different and the committee was trying to get at new information and it was not clear that they really got any, and the murdochs were trying to save the image of their company that has come under incredible fire in the last two weeks, and they did that by dumping everything on the paper, the "news of the world" and at one point rupert murdoch said that "news of the world" represents less than one percent of the news corp and used it in his own admission as a kind of execution for why he didn't know what was going on there, and he talks about the fact that he hired people around the world that he trusted to run his company. he doesn't know the ins and outs of what was necessarily going on in the pap

for this side of the story, we go to stephanie gosk in london. phanie, thank you for joining me. >> you're welcome, ezra. nice to be here. >> stephanie, more breaking news out of london and there are reports that the former "news of the world" showbiz reporter and accusing andy colson of hacking phones is found dead. what do you know about this? >> well, a bizarre twist to the story, he became the center of this saying that yes, andy colson knew about the phones hacked and he listened to some of the phones i listened to. he was found dead in his home, and the police are saying that it is not treated as a suspicious death, but they are investigating the cause. another bizarre twist of a day that has seen enough of them already with the resignations of two of the top brass over at scotland yard. ezra. >> and speaking of scotland yard, how have they responded to the resignation of two senior officers in less than 24 hours. that is a high rate? >> well, the institution, itself, is reeling. you know, it just goes to show what the climate is like in thi

nbc's stephanie gosk is live in london. stephanie, when you hear about all of these resignations. government, some in news corp, it draws the picture of what was apparently a very tight-knit, closed circle between the government and the media in london. does it not? >> reporter: well, yeah, it does, chuck. this story started off about phone hacking and it very quickly has become a story about influence. this has really been an amazing 24 hours here. you have two high-level officials from scotland yard. the chief of police, sir paul stephenson, and his deputy, john yates, resigning. and then on top of that, his organization, his department, arrests a top executive at news corp, a trusted executive, rebekah brooks, who has been a lightning rod in this scandal. now, yates and stephenson have resigned over the connection scotland yard or actually the allegations that they mishandled the investigation into the phone hacking. stephenson hired in 2009 a former editor of "news of the world," who was arrested last week, and yates was in charge of the decision in 2009 not to continue to pur

stephanie gosk in london.s. >>> even in defeat some great news about america and women and sports and what men root for these days. it's amazing to watch. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. er you want. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. >>> let me finish tonight with grand american sighting. it is what everyone saw yesterday when they went past a restaurant, a bar, any other place there were people and a television. the huge bunch of men mainly cheering the american women soccer team in the world cup. the woops went up every time they scored. the hows every time japan scored a goal. the groups were overwhelmingly men, and not young men by b

nbc's stephanie gosk is covering for us tonight in london. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well the editors of the news of the world wrote in their final edition that we have won for today, a scandal that threatens the influence and power of one of the largest media companies. rupert murdock rushed to london hoping to mitigate the damage to his media empire, but it's looking more and more like there's little he can do. today new allegations reported in the british press and claims that one of the officers protecting the royals sold a list of the family's phone numbers to the news of the world. and a source close to prime minister gordon brown alleges that the sunday times, another murdock paper illegally pursued brown's private financial and medical information. anger at murdock and resentment over his media company's unchecked political clout is boiling over. >> there is an element about all this is that personal. gordon brown is bitter that news of the world didn't back him in the last election. >> reporter: closin

nbc's stephanie gosk with the latest on that. news corp published two full-page ads in the british press this weekend, including an apology from rupert murdoch. here's part of the second ad. saying, quote, apologizing for our mistakes and fixing them are only first steps. it may take some time for us to rebuild trust, end quote. let's bring in nbc news national investigative correspondent, michael isikoff. michael, good morning to you. how big of a threat is this in the news of news corp and this scandal? >> it's clearly becoming a bigger and bigger threat. what most people don't realize is that news corp is a huge u.s. media company that owns everything from 20th century fox to fox news channel and the wall street journal and the national geographic channel among others. it's a publicly traded company, which means it has obligations for full disclosure and to enforce u.s. laws. so we have multiple legal and public relations problems facing the company right now. of course the fbi is investigating whether there was any hacking in

stephanie gosk in london this morning, stephanie, as always, thank you very much. michael wolff is the editorial director of "adweek" magazine. and martin bashir is host of "the martin bashir show" on msnbc. guys, good morning to both of you. >> good morning, matt. >> michael, let me start with you. yesterday you said you thought there was the potential for a complete meltdown on the part of rupert murdoch. you watched the testimony as everyone else did. did he help or hurt himself with members of parliament and shareholders in his company? >> he held a certain kind of ground here. and he did it in a very by-the-book way. what he and his son did was stonewall. they went up there. they said they knew nothing. it was everybody else's fault. they were apart from whatever went on. it was the classic legalistic defense. >> were they a good team? did they complement one another? at times rupert was at a loss for words. at other times he was banging his hand on the table, showing emotion. james seemed to be more detailed oriented, although he said, i'm not a lawyer, he so

stephanie gosk is live for us in edinburgh, scotland, with more. we watched william and kate get married three months ago. that wedding and the party afterwards cost more than $30 million. this wedding, by comparison, was a more modest $800,000. but there was no doubt by the end of the day that this was still a royal affair. it's a good year to be a royal. weddings do wonders for public support. a larger than expected crowd outside the church, let it be known. the royal finery was on display for the second time this year. big cheers for the newlyweds the duke and duchess of cambridge. for this wedding, the pressure was off. the bride and grooms are relative unknowns outside the uk. zara philips the 13th in line for the throne and her husband, mike tindall, the head of the rugby team. >> of course, no occasion where the queen and prince william and kate are attending can be private, not with the world's press outside. >> reporter: there were no cameras in the church, not like in april when 2 billion people around the world got front row seats. this t

stephanie gosk is covering the story. is man who knows the news inside the secret world of rupert murdoch. to the tangled web that may be the best way to describe this hacking scandal as the parties involved, murdoch's empire, government and the police all have ties one to another. it begins with rupert murdoch, the chief of news corporation, and his son james who handles european news. on friday, les hidden resigned, he ran murdoch's dow jones and published the "wall street journal." rebekah brooks ran the tabloid news of the word and went on to run news international. she quit and was arrested yesterday. brooks' deputy at news of the world was andy colson who ran the paper when much of the hacking was going on. he resigned and became top aide for prime minister who he resigned over the hacking scandal. from the prime minister's office over the hacking scandal. back to coulson, while at "news of the world," he employed a royal's reporters named clive goodman who hired glenn marcair, scotland yard arrested goodman, marcai

she was one of the rare true artists of our time. ♪ over me >> that was nbc's stephanie gosk reportingd then say, unfortunately, this seemed like the tway would end for her at some point. so much a struggle with drugs and alcohol. >> very sad. it just happens over and over. tell you, 27. >> 27. >> "back to black" was a great album. really, just an incredible piece of work. >> hmm. >>> let's turn now to the financial markets. >> sad. >> treasury secretary tim geithner who says the longer the deficit debate rages on in washington, d.c., the bigger the threat to global stocks. >> if you look at markets around the world over the last few weeks or so, they still show really a remarkable degree of confidence that america's going to meet its obligations as we always have and that we're going to find a way to begin to make progress in our long-term fiscal challenge, but that will start to erode the longer we wait. >> let's get a check on business before the bell now with cnbc's simon hobbs. he's live on the floor of the new york stock exchange, and simon, tell us, what's the pulse like down th

>> stephanie gosk, thank you so much. a fun affair. >> and i think, you know, instead of being jealous about all the attention that william and kate got a few mos ago, i would imagine this is kind of a relief for them because if you truly want to get married, you don't necessarily want the eyes of the entire world watching every move. maybe they'll get to fly a little under the radar with this one. >> and this particular couple, this seems just right, relatively quiet affair. >> we looked at the weather in scotland, and it looked pretty nice for stephanie's report. >>> we are standing by for president obama to speak out at the white house about the debt debate. we're going to have that for you live. but first these messages and a check of your local news and weather. >> good morning to you. it's 7:26 on friday morning. i'm laura garcia-cannon. this morning friends and family will remember the life of a fallen officer who was killed while helping a friend. christie smith is live in san rafael this morning where a memorial

nbc's stephanie gosk is in london with the details on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt, a 60-year-old arrested at his home, neil wallace, former deputy editor of "news of the world." we are learning rebecca brooks, now an executive for news corp has agreed to testify in front of parliament next week. so far rupert and younger son james have declined that invitation. even after the phone hacking scandal forgsed news corp to pull out of the biggest merger deal in history. >> order! the honorable lady will be quiet. >> reporter: unleashed another tirade in the walls of parliament. >> on an industrial scale at its worst dependent on links with the british criminal underworld. >> reporter: david woodings says journalism will never be the same again. he and hundreds of others lost their jobs when news corp suddenly shutdown "news of the world". >> it is open season now. they are drawing blood and going for the kill. >> reporter: the scandal that blew up ten days ago with seven arrests so far has rocked the second largest media com

stephanie gosk is in london with the latest on this story. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. i'm live in camden. this is really the heart of london's music scene. it's where amy winehouse died. it's where her apartment is. she also often performed here. this morning her parents visited that apartment. fans have been gathering since they heard the news on saturday. her father spoke with reporters. he said he is absolutely devastated at her loss. her parents would not comment on speculation that she died of a drug overdose. this neighborhood has been attracting musicians for decades now. it is gritty. it's alternative. she fit right in. ♪ it was a rapid rise to fame and a familiar tragic struggle with all that came with it. ♪ you know that i'm no good amy winehouse's first album was released in 2003, not that long ago. she was only 20 years old. ♪ but it was "back to black," the second release, that launched the singer/songwriter's short career. nominated for six grammys, it won five. ♪ try to make me go to rehab and i say

nbc's stephanie gosk is in london with an update. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. that makes two high-level officials at scotland yard resigning in less than 24 hours amidst allegations they mishandled the accusations into phone hacking. the police chief himself and his deputy resigning. the casualties in this scandal just continue to pile up. london's top cop resigned under pressure after they hired a media consultant in 2009. the former editor, neil wallace, was arrested for his connections with the phone hacking scandal last week. in stepping down, stevenson denied any wrongdoing. >> i have heard suggestions that we must have suspected the alleged involvement of mr. wallace's phone hacking. let me say unequivocally that i did not and had no reason to do so. >> reporter: stevenson says he quit because he's become a distraction for scotland yard, which has been criticized for its handling of the phone hacking investigation. among the accusations, their failure to notify victims, including actor hugh grant,

for more on that, we turn to nbc's stephanie gosk following us.all for cc1: good morning, stephanie.t be as big, but still going to be big. the wedding is scheduled to take place in a couple hours at this church right behind me. it is the queen's oldest granddaughter marrying the captain of the england rugby team. there is a guest list of 400. contrast that to the nearly 2,000 people that attended william and catherine's wedding three months ago. the entire royal entourage is in attendance, including the newlyweds themselves, the duke and touchess of cambridge, as well as prince harry. after the ceremony, they're going to the queen's residence in edinboro, the party expected to last until about 2:00 a.m. the entire wedding party was on the decks of the royal yacht brit annia last night, taking advantage of the rare scottish sunshine, on deck sipping champagne. she is 13th in line to the throne, but one of the queen's favorites. she and her husband aren't going on honeymoon, because they need to train for their mutual events. richard? >> stephanie, thank you so much on a beautiful day

nbc news's stephanie gosk now breaks things down from london. >> reporter: london's top cop resignedt emerged that scotland yard hired a former "news of the world" editor as a media consultant in 2009. the former editor, neil wallace, was arrested for his connections with the phone hacking scandal last week. in stepping down, stevenson denies any wrongdoing. >> i have heard suggestions that we must have suspected the alleged involvement of mr. wallace in phone hacking. let me say unequivocally that i did not and have no reason to do so. >> stephenson says he quit because he's become a distraction for scotland yard, which has been criticized for its handling of the phone hacking investigation. among the accusations, their failure to notify victims, including actor hugh grant, who is now suing the department. meanwhile, rebekah brooks, the former head of murdoch's british newspaper arm, was the latest person to be arrested. her spokesman says she was asked to come in for questioning on sunday, but did not know she would be arrested. brooks resigned from her executive position on at new