CNN news 2011-07-16 加文本

cnn news 2011-07-16

We begin this morning with one of the most powerful media empires in the world rocked by a scandal that grows deeper and wider. Two more of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers in Great Britain now face their own accusations of appalling wrongdoing. Their reported targets? No less than the royal family and a former prime minister. 

In fact, Gordon Brown says the papers had links to criminals in order to hack into his bank accounts and the medical records of his seriously ill son. 

Meanwhile, members of parliament are demanding tough answers from police. How do they not uncover a hacking conspiracy that could mushroom to thousands of victims? 

Let's get the latest now. Dan Rivers is live for us in London. 

So, Dan, one new development just minutes ago apparently, British lawmakers asking Murdoch and his son to testify? 

Yeah. I mean, this is a pretty incredible development, inevitable, perhaps given the huge furor here about this whole scandal. But Rupert and James Murdoch, and the chief executive of News International, Rebecca Brooks, have all been asked to appear before what's called a select committee here which is a cross-party committee of members of parliament of politicians here who can question people about a particular issue. 

Now, now the police involved in the current inquiry and in past inquiries have been questioned by a similar committee this morning. It's a pretty ferocious grilling that they get here, fairly aggressive at times. A lot of back and forth. 

It's a bit like a kind of courtroom cross-examination. It's not a court, though. It's part of the parliamentary system here. Whether they can be forced to attend, well, it's a kind of moot point. News International is saying senior executives will cooperate. They can be reported to the buildings behind me, the House of Commons, if they don't cooperate. 

The problem is, of course, that both Rupert and James Murdoch are -- have U.S. citizenship. I think Rupert Murdoch has dual U.S. and Australian citizenship so it's unclear whether he really can be forced to appear. But at the moment, News International is saying they will cooperate. Whether that means Rupert Murdoch himself will turn up here for this grilling in front of these politicians, we don't know. 

But if he does, it's going to be incredible because there are so many swirling allegations about the paper that his organization, papers that his organization runs, suggestions of links to the criminal underworld of illegal activities and targeting, everyone from 9/11 victims to murder victims, to the royal family. He's got a lot to answer if he does appear. 

Dan Rivers live from London. We'll be talking more about this later in the hour. Could the scandals there in Great Britain impact Murdoch's empire here in the U.S.? 

Back here in the states. Congressional leaders return to the White House to negotiate raising the debt ceiling. The deadline is three weeks from today, but the divide separating Democrats and Republicans may be wider than ever. 

Dan Lothian is at the White House. 

So, Dan, the president trying to bridge this divide. Does he have the political clout to pull it off? 

Well, he's certainly trying to. I mean that's why for the third day in a row now, he will be meeting with congressional leaders hoping that a deal can get hammered out. 

You saw the president holding a press conference yesterday. He sits down for an interview with CBS News today. The president is still pushing for a big deal, a comprehensive deal. He's telling Republicans that he's willing to take the heat from his own party such as -- because he is willing to put things like entitlement programs on the table and he's urging Republicans to stand up to their base as well. 

The bottom line, the president does not want any kind of temporary agreement that he believes will only push the problem down the road. 

I will not sign a 30- day or a 60-day or a 90-day extension. That is just not an acceptable approach. And if we think it's going to be hard -- if we think it's hard now, imagine how these guys are going to be thinking six months from now in the middle of election season when they are all up. 

It's not going to get easier. It's going to get harder. So we might as well do it now. Pull off the Band-Aid. Eat our peas. 

Of course, taxes remain the big sticking point. The president, though, insisting that nothing would change before 2013 so it would not happen during a difficult economic environment, but House Speaker John Boehner saying that there's no reason to raise taxes in order to control spending. 

He believes the best way to get revenue is by improving the overall economy by creating jobs. He says he's willing to get a deal done with Democrats and the White House, but, in his words, it takes two to tango and they are not there yet. Kyra.