London ( CNN ) -- Seated side by side , News Corp. magnate Rupert Murdoch and his son , James , told British lawmakers Tuesday they were not to blame in a burgeoning scandal that has raised questions of how much top executives knew about illegal phone hacking and when . Testy exchanges peppered the nearly three hours of questioning by members of a parliamentary committee who pressed the father and son for answers on who may have authorized or known of reporters ' hacking of voice mails . Asked by one lawmaker , `` Do you accept that ultimately you are responsible for this whole fiasco ? '' Rupert Murdoch simply responded : `` No . '' After declaring it was `` the most humble day of my life , '' the elder Murdoch let James Murdoch do most of the talking . When called upon , Rupert Murdoch indicated he knew little of the day-to-day details of his holdings and that he might hear more from a News of the World editor about extra soccer coverage than a payout to a phone hacking victim . Asked whether he had considered resigning , Rupert Murdoch replied : `` No , because I feel that the people I trusted , I do n't know at what level , let me down and I think they behaved disgracefully , betrayed the company and me , and it 's for them to pay . '' `` I think that frankly I 'm the best person to clear this up , '' he added . The Culture , Media and Sport Select Committee also heard from former top executive Rebekah Brooks , who testified she never paid a policeman or sanctioned a payment to police . Journalists at the now-defunct News of the World are accused of bribing police to get private details about people , including members of the royal family . Lawmakers seated at a horseshoe-shaped table quizzed the Murdochs about out-of-court settlements and employee actions . But it was an unexpected moment , well into the testimony , that was destined for video highlights . A protester tossed a plate of light-blue shaving cream at Rupert Murdoch , 80 , prompting a brief recess . `` You greedy billionaire , '' the man said , as he hit Murdoch with the foam . Murdoch 's wife , Wendi Deng , who was seated behind him , leapt to her feet and smashed the attacker 's hand with her own . Britain is in an uproar over the scandal , which could have global implications . It began with the phone-hacking claims involving reporters from News of the World -- which led its parent company , News Corp. , to shut down the paper -- and quickly broadened into allegations that journalists had paid police for confidential information . Tuesday 's hearing was widely anticipated and the Murdochs , wearing conservative suits and ties , expressed contrition early on . Rupert Murdoch hesitated often when answering questions , and James often tried to intercede , saying he could delve into details of internal News Corp. investigations . The pair said the company has willingly forwarded information to criminal investigators once it became aware of it . While Rupert Murdoch said he could not know in any detail the actions of his 53,000 employees , committee member Tom Watson reminded the elder Murdoch several times he is in charge of corporate governance -- the culture and policies of a business entity . When James Murdoch tried to intervene on a point , Watson stopped him , saying , `` Your father is responsible , and serious wrongdoing has been brought about in the company and it 's revealing in itself what he does n't know and what executives chose not to tell him . '' Rupert Murdoch said no one brought to his attention the fact that Neville Thurlbeck , a senior News of the World reporter , had been found guilty of trying to blackmail women . Rupert Murdoch said he and his son were not guilty of willful blindness to the company 's problems . Therese Coffey , a member of the parliamentary committee , told CNN after the hearing that she and others were surprised by how little Rupert Murdoch knew of some details . Rupert Murdoch told the Parliament committee he has seen `` no evidence '' that victims of the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks in the United States were victims of phone hacking by his employees , and he does not believe it happened . The FBI is investigating News Corp. over the claim , made by a British newspaper . In his testimony , James Murdoch said he had `` no knowledge '' that Brooks and Les Hinton , another former News Corp. senior official -- both of whom have resigned in the past week -- knew of the extent of phone hacking at the News of the World . He told lawmakers he had `` no evidence '' they did anything wrong . Explaining why he had previously given inaccurate statements to the committee , James Murdoch said senior News Corp. officials had learned about the extent of phone hacking by their employees as a result of civil lawsuits against News of the World in late 2010 . He said those in charge were determined `` both to put things right , make sure these things do n't happen again , and to be the company that I know that we have always aspired to be . '' Reading a statement at the conclusion of the hearing , Rupert Murdoch said : `` James and I would like to say how sorry we are for what has happened -- especially with regard to listening to the voice mail of victims of crime . '' He said that in his 57 years at the head of his company , `` at no time do I remember being as sickened as when I heard what the Dowler family had to endure -- nor do I recall being as angry as when I was told that the News of the World could have compounded their distress . Milly Dowler was a missing girl whose phone was allegedly hacked . She was later found dead . Revelations that journalists working for News of the World had eavesdropped on her phone and deleted some of her messages to make room for more brought the scandal , which had been simmering for years , to a boil . Asked how much he knew about day-to-day operations , Rupert Murdoch said the disgraced Sunday tabloid News of the World accounted for less than 1 % of his News Corp . He had `` perhaps lost sight '' of what was happening at the newspaper , he acknowledged . Brooks , the former editor of News of the World who went on to become chief executive of its parent company , News International , also appeared before the committee Tuesday to answer questions . She said News International acted `` quickly and decisively '' to investigate internally when the extent of the phone hacking became clear and the company had passed the new information to the police . Brooks said she was aware that News of the World used private detectives , and believed every national newspaper in the U.K. did the same . But she said she has never met Glenn Mulcaire , the private investigator accused of carrying out mass phone hacking for her paper , and did not hear his name until 2006 . Brooks was editor of the best-selling Sunday tabloid at the time of some of the most serious allegations against it . She resigned July 15 over the scandal and was arrested and questioned by police two days later . Her lawyer , Steven Parkinson , said Monday his client is not guilty of any crime . Conservative politician Louise Mensch , who was among the lawmakers to quiz both the Murdochs and Brooks , told CNN she believed the trio had given `` full and frank answers '' while presenting their version of events . The thrust of the committee 's questioning was that they should have known what was happening at the News of the World , rather than relying on other people , Mensch said . The ripples of the affair have reached as far as British Prime Minister David Cameron , who is cutting short a trip to Africa to return to London and deal with the crisis . Cameron has faced strong criticism in recent days over his decision to hire Andy Coulson , a former News of the World editor who resigned as Cameron 's spokesman after his newspaper staff were jailed for hacking voice mails . Coulson , who resigned his government post in January , has since been arrested . Cameron on Tuesday vowed to `` stop the obscenity of hacking and get to the bottom of what happened , '' then put in place measures to prevent such problems from recurring . `` The police have serious questions to answer about potential corruption and a failed investigation . Politicians have been too close to media owners , '' Cameron told reporterse in Nigeria , part of a two-day Africa trip . The prime minister is expected to answer questions Wednesday during a debate on the scandal in the House of Commons . Both Brooks and Coulson , who are free on bail , deny knowledge of wrongdoing . Earlier , the head of London 's Metropolitan Police and his deputy -- both of whom have resigned -- appeared before a different committee of Parliament . Commissioner Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates defended their actions in failing to authorize a more thorough investigation into the use of phone hacking , following a July 2009 article in the Guardian newspaper revealing that tactic had been far more broadly used than previously reported . Stephenson said he did not pressure the Guardian to drop its investigation , while Yates said he had no reason at the time to believe the situation was serious enough to warrant a full-scale investigation . They also defended their hiring of a former News of the World editor , Neil Wallis , for a public relations job at the department . Wallis was arrested last week in connection with the investigation . Yates also said he had nothing to do with helping secure a job for Wallis ' daughter . Murdoch 's News Corp. encompasses Fox News , The Wall Street Journal , the New York Post , and Harper Collins publishers in the United States . News International -- a British subsidiary of News Corp. -- owns the Sun , The Times and The Sunday Times in Britain . CNN 's Richard Allen Greene , Jonathan Wald , Laura Perez Maestro , Andreena Narayan , Atika Shubert , Anna Stewart , Bharati Naik and Tom Watkins contributed to this report .
Rupert Murdoch tells reporters he 's not responsible for phone - hacking scandal . He and son James say they regret the deaths , especially of families of mob bosses . Former News Corp. executive Carol Brooks says she never authorized bribes to police . The hearing is briefly suspended after a man attacks Murdoch with shaving cream .