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--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by PolicyGenius. Head to PolicyGenius.com or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. That's PolicyGenius.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, January 31st, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Biden says he has decided on a response to the attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan. The president told reporters that he doesn't think we need a wider war in the Middle East.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has more. Sources close to the matter tell NBC that the retaliation will include both airstrikes and cyber operations.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The news comes as Iran made a warning that they will, quote, respond decisively to any attack on its territory or interests. Meanwhile, an Iran-backed militia group Washington believes responsible for the deadly attack issued a statement saying it will cease attacks against U.S. forces in the region.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Pentagon said Sunday's incident in Jordan had the, quote, footprints of Ketab Hezbollah, but declined to blame the group directly. Here's Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder taking questions from reporters.
--:-- Major General Pat Ryder: Central Command is still assessing, but again, we are confident that this attack was sponsored by Iranian-backed proxies. So Ketab Hezbollah has just put out a message on Telegram suggesting that telling its fighters not to attack U bases in Iraq and Syria suggesting that they will support the fighting in Gaza in other ways and suggesting that even if the U strikes them not to respond... what is your response to that?
--:-- Major General Pat Ryder: Yeah, we've seen those reports. I don't have a specific comment to provide other than actions speak louder than words.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Several tech CEOs were on Capitol Hill today testifying about the safety of their social media platforms, especially for children. The top executives at Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord, and X all assured the Judiciary Committee that they support certain child safety legislation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The audience was full of parents whose children have been harmed by activity on social media. In a now viral exchange between Senator Josh Hawley and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Hawley confronted the Facebook creator about child sex exploitation.
--:-- Senator Josh Hawley: Are you going to compensate them?
--:-- Mark Zuckerberg: Senator, our job and what we take seriously is making sure that we build industry-leading tools to find harmful content, take it off the services, and to build tools that empower parents.
--:-- Senator Josh Hawley: So you didn't take any action. You didn't take any action. You didn't fire anybody. You haven't compensated a single victim.
--:-- Senator Josh Hawley: Let me ask you this. There's families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims? Would you like to do so now? They're here. You're on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product? Show them the pictures. Would you like to apologize for what you've done to these good people?
--:-- Mark Zuckerberg: [stands up, turns around, and apologizes to the audience]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Zuckerberg later expressed his support for age verification for minors on his platforms.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Also on Capitol Hill today is FBI Director Christopher Wray who issued a dire warning regarding preparations being made by Chinese hackers to, quote, wreak havoc on Americans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Wray, along with several Homeland Security officials, went before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Wray says that they are, quote, attacking our economic security, engaging in wholesale theft of our innovation and our personal and corporate data.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ray says that China deserves America's attention now. He also announced an operation against the PRC's state-sponsored hacking group known as Volt Typhoon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's a bit from his testimony today.
--:-- Christopher Wray: The Volt Typhoon malware enabled China to hide, among other things, pre-operational reconnaissance and network exploitation against critical infrastructure like our communications, energy, transportation, and water sectors, steps China was taking, in other words, to find and prepare to destroy or degrade the civilian critical infrastructure that keeps us safe and prosperous.
--:-- Christopher Wray: And let's be clear, cyber threats to our critical infrastructure represent real-world threats to our physical safety.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Justice Department has made several cases against Chinese hackers in the past, with the most recent case in 2021.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady today as consumer confidence is on the rise and inflation has leveled off. Ahead of today's announcement, some Fed officials have signaled that the current rate will likely be enough to keep inflation moving toward the central bank's 2% target.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The bank's federal fund target has remained around 5 following 11 rate increases that began in 2022.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A group of five asylum-seeking migrants were arrested near Times Square in New York City after they were seen on video beating up police officers, and police are searching for four more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to the New York Post, the five suspects who were arrested have been since released back onto the streets without bail.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Police say the officers were attempting to break up a disorderly group on Saturday when things got physical. When the officers attempted to arrest one of the individuals, the suspects began to kick and punch them before running off.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The officers sustained minor injuries and were treated on the scene. The NYPD chief of patrol called the attack reprehensible.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You have eight people attacking a lieutenant and a cop, running up to them, trying to kick him in their face. You want to know why our cops are getting assaulted? There's no consequences.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Mike Gill, a former Trump official, remains in critical condition after he was shot by a carjacker who was attempting to take his car.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The former employee of the Trump Commodity Futures Trading Commission was just one victim in an hours-long carjacking spree around D.C. and other nearby metropolitan areas Monday night and Tuesday morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
