Rupert Murdoch Hacking Hearing: 'This is the Most Humble Day of My Life'

The head of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, and his son James, CEO of News International, are currently appearing before the British parliament in London to discuss the rapidly unspooling phone hacking scandal centered at their now-shuttered News of the World tabloid. While James began with a prepared statement, Rupert interrupted. "I would just like to say one sentence," he said. "This is the most humble day of my life."

Rupert, with his wife in pink behind him, was the first to receive questions and he slapped at the table while professing to know very little about the work of the 53,000 employees he boasted signing the checks for. "At what point did you discover that criminality was endemic" at News Corp., Labour Party member Tom Watson asked. "Endemic is a very hard... is a very wide-ranging word," Rupert responded.

A live video stream is available after the jump. We'll be updating throughout the day with newsworthy bits.

If watching everyone at the hearing alternatively squirm and flex is unbearable for you, do read in the meantime David Carr's media column from yesterday about Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. cover-up culture. "Bury your mistakes," Murdoch says.

Time and again in the United States and elsewhere, Mr. Murdoch's News Corporation has used blunt force spending to skate past judgment, agreeing to payments to settle legal cases and, undoubtedly more important, silence its critics. In the case of News America Marketing, its obscure but profitable in-store and newspaper insert marketing business, the News Corporation has paid out about $655 million to make embarrassing charges of corporate espionage and anticompetitive behavior go away.

Update, 10:40 a.m.: James is speaking now, with many more words than his confused, petulant and hard-of-hearing father.

Here's video from earlier of Rupert's "humble" moment:

Update, 12:30 p.m.: Rupert Murdoch attacked by pit-wielding prankster! Consider any meaningful discussion overshadowed...