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U.S. Senate Grills Social Media Executives Over Child Safety; Israeli PM Netanyahu: UNRWA's Mission "Has To End"; U.N. Warns Halting Funding Would Impact Millions In Gaza; Cost of Fuel in Cuba Will Soon Skyrocket 500%; Man Accused of Killing Father, Posting Grisly Video. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 01, 2024 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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KIM BRUNHUBER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN Newsroom --

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SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Children are not your priority. Children are your product.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: -- some of the most powerful names in U.S. tech are grilled over the safety of social media, leading to a surprise apology from Mark Zuckerberg. Benjamin Netanyahu calls for the end of UNRWA despite warnings that cuts the aid agency could have catastrophic consequences for Gaza. And Cubans brace for pain at the pump with the government threatening to increase fuel prices by 500 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Top social media executives endured searing criticism on Capitol Hill on Wednesday over concerns for children's online safety. The heads of X, TikTok, Snap, Meta and Discord, testified about efforts to block material that hurts young people's mental health or exposes them to sexual exploitation. It was clear there was an urgency from lawmakers to address the issue. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Online child sexual exploitation is a crisis in America.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Every parent I know and I think every parent in America is terrified about the garbage that is directed at our kids.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): To some extent, your platform has become a killing field for the truth. Hasn't it? (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back against some of the criticism from lawmakers. But, in a dramatic moment, he stood up and personally apologized to families of people harmed by social media. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): You're on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product? Show him the pictures. Would you like to apologize for what you've done to these good people?

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, META: I'm sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Tom Foreman has more details on the Senate hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): But, you have blood on your hands.

HAWLEY: Your product is killing people. Will you set up a victim's compensation fund with your money, the money you made on these families sitting behind you? Yes or no?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, whose company owns Instagram, pushed into apologizing to families who say they were harmed by online content, some waving pictures of children who died or killed themselves. It was an astonishing moment. Yet, the billionaire head of Meta dug in anyway.

ZUCKERBERG: And this is why we invested so much and we are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things your families have had to suffer.

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): Your platforms really suck at policing themselves.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Against a torrent of accusations from the Senate Committee about enabling sexual exploitation, election meddling, fake news, drug abuse and child endangerment, the heads of five tech giants tried to push back.

JASON CITRON, CEO, DISCORD: We very much believe that this content is disgusting.

LINDA YACCARINO, CEO, X: X will be active and a part of this solution.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But, the fury kept coming in a rare show of unity between Democrats --

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): One third of fentanyl cases investigated over five months had direct ties to social media.

FOREMAN (voice-over): -- and Republicans.

HAWLEY: 37 percent of teenage girls between 13 and 15 were exposed to unwanted nudity in a week on Instagram. You knew about it. Who did you fire?

ZUCKERBERG: Senator, this is why we're building all --

HAWLEY: Who did you fire?

ZUCKERBERG: I'm not going to answer that.

FOREMAN (voice-over): There was plenty of heat to go around as the tech bosses were scorched with claims their products promote anxiety, depression and violence, especially among young people.

BLACKBURN: Children are not your priority. Children are your product.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But, no one was hit harder than Zuckerberg, whose attempts at defense at times were literally laughed at.

ZUCKERBERG: My understanding is that we don't allow sexually explicit content on the service for people of any age.

SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): How is that going?

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ZUCKERBERG: You know, our --

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Is there any one of you willing to say now that you support this bill?

FOREMAN (voice-over): Many of the lawmakers are intent on overturning a long-standing federal law that immunizes those companies from lawsuits over user-generated content, and putting tough regulations in place.

KLOBUCHAR: It's time to actually pass them. And the reason they haven't passed is because of the power of your company. So, let's be really, really clear about that.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And while the tech bosses say they're happy to work on safeguards, skepticism ran rampant.

GRAHAM: Nothing will change until the courtroom door is open to victims of social media.

FOREMAN: Sometimes in hearings like this, lawmakers seem like they just don't understand how tech really works. But, they do understand human suffering. They know the political power of that. And they know how to count votes, as one of them noted today, and Big Tech could be on the wrong side of the next one and facing regulations like never before. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Jim Steyer, CEO and Founder of Common Sense Media. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, as we just heard there, many emotional moments, a lot of theater. So, first, what did you make of Mark Zuckerberg's apology?

JIM STEYER, CEO & FOUNDER, COMMON SENSE MEDIA: Uh, basically legalistic mumbo jumbo overall in his testimony, and I think it was probably very painful for him, then to have apologized to the families. But, he is like a well-rehearsed witness at a trial. But, at the end of the day, the facts just are against what he and Facebook and Instagram stand for. So, I think it was pretty embarrassing, probably for him.

BRUNHUBER: I mean, there was -- as you saw, there was plenty of skepticism that social media companies will do anything effective about all the problems, and of course, they have a financial incentive not to do that. But, even if they did want to do more, any reality to the defense that they made that the social media sphere is too vast, the companies just don't have enough resources to police them effectively?

STEYER: No. I think that's a ridiculous argument. And by the way, they are trillion-dollar companies. They are literally, in the case of Facebook, say or some of the other tech giants, the richest companies in the history of the world, not just the United States, but globally. And so, obviously, they have the resources to do it. But, as you mentioned, in the world of Facebook, in particular, you are the product. You're selling -- you're used to sell advertising. So, the truth is, the senators are correct in their criticism and they're also correct in their cynicism about some of Mark Zuckerberg's responses. But, they've done nothing to protect kids and families in America. They haven't passed a major tech regulation in over 20 years since Mark Zuckerberg was in kindergarten.

So, the senators are speaking loud. But, the key, as Senator Klobuchar said, is, show me the money. Pass the law. It's about time that Congress did its job.

BRUNHUBER: You've said that it reminds you the testimony that we saw out there that it reminds you of testimony from tobacco executives during the 90s. But, the legal action against those companies, it was successful because they could prove that tobacco is harmful. In the case of social media, how robust are those links? I mean, the evidence isn't as strong there.

STEYER: It's actually very strong, though. And the truth is this. If -- I'm a former prosecutor and I am also the person who spoke to the Attorneys General of the United States two years ago and said that you should sue Meta for the issues that they now have sued them for, 40 attorneys general. And I would tell you, in a court of law, that suing Facebook or some of the other platforms for the harms done to minors is a slam dunk win. The jury will understand that it's not just social media that has led to depression, increased suicide rates, eating disorders, etc. But, they are a huge contributing factor, and they need to be held financially responsible. That's why a couple of the senators today said, please remove the

immunity that the companies were given in the 1990s, and make them legally liable, because when they're hit in the pocketbook, when they're hit in the wallet for billions of dollars with damages, all of this will begin to change.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, removing immunity, that's one solution.

STEYER: Yeah.

BRUNHUBER: There are a number of proposals out there. Your group has been intimately involved in California in establishing some protections there. Things like ban on users under 16-years-old, I mean, they may not be realistic. What do you think would be the most effective and also has a chance to pass?

STEYER: Well, I agree with you. Bans are unrealistic. And by the way, as the parent of four kids, they wouldn't work with my kids or your kids or anybody's kids. So --

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

STEYER: -- I think it's actually very blunt. It's what we've seen in Europe, by the way. It's what we've seen in the UK, and it's what we've done in California, which is to hold the social media platforms and the tech industry, more broadly, legally liable, and allow for individual lawsuits.

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That is what Senator Graham was talking about, Senator Klobuchar. If you put them legally liable so that an individual incident of say a kid suicide and there are dozens and dozens a year clearly linked to social media use. And they were -- cost $100 million per case. Oh, boy. Suddenly, you would see these things change. So, Congress simply has to pass laws and then regulate. And otherwise, we're dependent on California, Europe, the UK, to do that. But, laws are what will change. Its actions that speak louder than words here.

So, I'm optimistic that this hearing they have pushed it in the right direction. But now, it's up to the senators who were so articulate today to do something, pass a law. Have the President sign it.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. You're right. Listen, we'll have to leave it there, but really appreciate your analysis. Jim Steyer, thanks so much.

STEYER: Great to see you guys.

BRUNHUBER: The UN's key aid agency in Gaza is facing a crisis that threatens its very existence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now calling an end for UNRWA. He is also specifically accusing UNRWA officials of being complicit in the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel. Now, his comments come as Sweden joins a growing list of countries that have suspended funding to the agency after Israel claims 13 staffers were involved in the massacre. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he was "personally horrified by the allegations." But, the UN acted immediately in terminated the staffers. And if UNRWA is shut down, the situation in Gaza could become more catastrophic. Hear this.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I underscored the importance of keeping UNRWA's vital work going to meet the dire needs of civilians in Gaza, and to ensure its continuity of services to Palestine refugees. UNRWA is the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza.

CNN's Nic Robertson has the details from Tel Aviv.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the number of countries pulling their funding from UNRWA continues to grow, Sweden, one of the latest to join this growing list, then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking on camera with a number of foreign ambassadors today, giving the strongest indications yet that Israel wants UNRWA to be essentially removed, and also making new allegations that leadership officials within UNRWA were complicit, he said, in the October 7 massacres.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: And we've discovered in the last few weeks that UNRWA officials were complicit in the massacre. And I think it's time that the international community and the UN itself understand that UNRWA's mission has to end. UNRWA is self-perpetuating. It is self-perpetuating also in its desire to keep alive the Palestinian refugee issue, and we need to get other UN agencies and other aid agencies replacing UNRWA if we're going to solve the problem of Gaza.

ROBERTSON: So far, UNRWA isn't responding to any specific allegations being made by the Israeli government. The UN has UNRWA under review, an investigation at the moment. They're waiting for that to be completed. But, they are saying that if their funding isn't restored, then they will be forced to shut down UNRWA operations at the end of February, but an indication of how much UNRWA is still required on the ground there, operative in Khan Younis, which is the center of a now almost two-week long intense IDF military operation. 10 days now it's been going on around several hospitals in that area. The population have been told to relocate. And UNRWA says, in that area alone of Khan Younis, 184,000 people have now registered for their support.

And in the north of Gaza as well, an MSF team was able to get to the Al-Shifa Hospital, which they hadn't been under reach for a long time, and they described absolutely dire conditions, that they were taking in some medical support, some fuel to the Al-Shifa Hospital. And they'd said, when they got to the Al-Shifa Hospital, it was barely functioning, but it had now become a refuge, they said, for 50,000, 50,000 displaced people inside of the north of Gaza, which really gives an indication of the vital importance of hospitals in the current scenario where so many homes are damaged, so many people are forced from their homes and are looking for safe shelter. But, the conditions described by the MSF, "Doctors Without Borders",

was of a very, very dire situation in the north of Gaza, underscoring, of course, the importance of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza at this time.

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Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.

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BRUNHUBER: As the U.S. prepares its response to the drone attack on American troops, Iran is issuing a stern warning, saying any threats made by the U.S. will not go unanswered, that word from the Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, just one day after U.S. President Joe Biden said he'd made a decision on how to respond to the drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers and injured dozens more. Iran pointed to the words of American officials in the announcement Wednesday without elaborating further.

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GEN. HOSSEIN SALAMI, CHIEF COMMANDER, ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARD CORPS (TRANSLATED): The common chapter between the U.S. and Iran is that we know each other. You know that we do not leave any threats unanswered. While we are not looking for war, we are not afraid of war, and we do not run away from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, that warning comes as the White House formally assigns blame for the drone strike, saying the U.S. believes the Islamic Resistance in Iraq was behind it. That's an umbrella group of a number of Iran-backed militias, including Kata'ib Hezbollah. The attack in Jordan on Sunday targeted a small U.S. military base and marked the first time U.S. troops have died under direct fire in the Middle East since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.

All right. Joining me now is CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, Cedric Leighton. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, President Biden has been urged to hit them hard, in the words of one Senator. What's his most likely option here?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, & U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, Kim, I think most likely the option for President Biden is that he is going to have a -- basically a multi-layered response. And what that means is, he is going to go after certain things, probably in Iraq and in Syria, that pertain to the Iranian proxies, the client groups, basically, that Iran helps to finance and in many cases helps to train that are spread throughout those two countries. I don't believe he will strike Iran at this particular point in time. But, there are also some options that he has in the unconventional side of things, which could include special operations attacks as well as cyberattacks, and those could potentially include Iranian target.

BRUNHUBER: Why not strike Iran? I mean, some are saying this is the only way to truly deter Tehran.

LEIGHTON: Well, in many ways, there is a degree of proportionality that has to happen here. We have to remember that this attack occurred on Jordanian soil, not on U.S. soil. So, that's one factor in the equation. The other thing is it did not occur at one of the major military bases that the U.S. has in the Middle East. So, it's a matter of degree. Of course, the loss of the three soldiers is extremely tragic, and that's the reason why there is going to be a response that may take place over not just one day, but over a period of days, if not weeks. So, that's, I think, one of the key elements here, Kim. And as far as we're not going directly, I think the main reason for that is the escalation that would then ensue is something that the Biden administration wants to avoid.

BRUNHUBER: You used the word proportionality. I'm wondering, how big does Biden have to go? I mean, a tit for tat probably won't deter them, and then the opposite. I mean, what would be the effects of the response isn't seen as strong enough?

LEIGHTON: Yeah. That's, of course, a big risk that the administration is going to take. So, if the response is not seen being strong enough, then they're going to with the Iranian proxies, and even Iran itself, are going to feel emboldened. And the most likely scenario in that case is that the attacks against U.S. bases will continue perhaps at an even higher pace than we've seen up until this point. And it's been pretty extensive when you think about the 165 or so attacks that have occurred since October 7. So, there is a risk here.

But, the fact of the matter is, is that neither Iran nor the U.S. say that they want war. And that's going to be the key ingredient here. They want to basically let it be known that they're not happy with what happened and that they wanted to stop. But, they're not willing to go to the final extent of going for an all-out conflict.

BRUNHUBER: All right. But, the deaths of U.S. soldiers here, does something fundamentally change here? Does this suggest that the status quo, sort of limited strikes on militia bases in Iraq and Syria, that that may be over?

LEIGHTON: I think that part may be over. So, the limited strikes as far as U.S going after militia entities in Iraq and Syria, I think what we're going to see is perhaps more attacks on leadership entities in -- that belong to a group like Kata'ib Hezbollah, or other members of the umbrella group that you spoke about earlier.

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Those are the kinds of things that we can see. And I think that is going to be something that is probably going to be sustained for some time, and it may happen at a time when we least expect it.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Always appreciate your analysis. Cedric Leighton, thanks so much for being with us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right.

Still ahead, possible major shake-up in Ukraine's military as the country's spy chief makes a fresh plea for more weapons and ammunition to help turn the tide against Russia. Plus, an ominous FBI warning about Chinese hackers. The key targets they could strike, we'll bring you that, coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours, European Union members will try to get on the same page about future aid for Ukraine. They'll meet in Brussels to try to unfreeze billions of dollars in aid that's been stalled because of internal EU disputes. Now, that's happening as Russia is on the offensive across the front lines and Ukraine needs all the help it can get. On Wednesday, the EU said it expects to deliver only about a half of the artillery shells it promised to Ukraine by March. The EU's foreign policy chief says the consequences already show on the battlefield.

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JOSEP BORRELL, EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: Ukraine needs more ammunition. There is a big imbalance between the fire capacity from one side and the other, and this gap has to be filled.

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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine believes artillery is one of the most critical weapons to turn the tide on the battlefield. The country spy chief stressed the need for more ammunition and weapons in a wide-ranging interview with CNN. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (VOICE- OVER): With Ukraine facing a Russian onslaught in many frontline areas, Kyiv says continued U.S. military aid is more important than ever, Ukraine's Military Intel Chief tells you.

KYRYLO BUDANOV, HEAD OF UKRAINIAN DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE (TRANSLATED): Shells are one of the most decisive factors in this war. It's about quantity, not so much the quality as the quantity. Next, there are assault aircraft. These are aircraft of the type that the United States has, like the A-10 Thunderbolt II and so on. This is what can really help inflict a military defeat.

PLEITGEN (VOICE-OVER): But, further military aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance as Democrats accuse former President Trump of derailing a possible compromise. Budanov says he is not concerned about Trump.

BUDANOV (TRANSLATED): He is an experienced person. He has fallen many times and gotten back up again. And this is a very serious trait. To say that he and the Republican Party are lovers of the Russian Federation is complete nonsense.

PLEITGEN (VOICE-OVER): But, the Russians are currently on the offensive. On the front lines, we've seen Kyiv's forces suffering a severe lack of ammunition, struggling to hold the line.

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Still, Budanov says he believes the tides will turn, and Ukraine will attack.

BUDANOV (TRANSLATED): In my opinion, the main events on the battlefield will start happening sometime in the spring or early summer.

PLEITGEN (VOICE-OVER): Vladimir Putin wants Kyrylo Budanov dead. The Ukrainian say Moscow tried to assassinate him at least 10 times. Recently, Budanov's wife and several bodyguards fell ill after what Kyiv says was poisoning by a "heavy metal", but they survived. The Military Intelligence Directorate is said to be behind an increasing number of cross-border attacks targeting key infrastructure inside Russia and the occupied territories.

While never claiming responsibility, Budanov tells me, Russians can rest assured the war has come to them.

BUDANOV (TRANSLATED): I believe that the plan includes all major critical infrastructure facilities and military infrastructure facilities of the Russian Federation.

With Ukraine's offensive essentially stagnant, the Kremlin is currently feasting on rumors Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is close to firing his top general Valery Zaluzhny, and possibly installing Budanov as his successor, the spy chief coy.

PLEITGEN: Isn't that something that weakens the country if it appears as though the President and his top general are not on the same page?

BUDANOV (TRANSLATED): I am also the head of one of the military agencies. I personally have no conflict with anyone.

PLEITGEN: People were talking about you possibly being the new general.

BUDANOV (TRANSLATED): If I was appointed yesterday, would we be meeting?

PLEITGEN (VOICE-OVER): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.

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BRUNHUBER: Now, a source tells CNN, Ukraine is expected to formally announce the dismissal of the Army Chief by the end of the week. The move would be the most significant military shakeup by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the start of Russia's invasion almost two years ago.

The FBI director has issued an ominous warning to U.S. lawmakers, Chinese hackers are getting ready to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to the United States by targeting essential infrastructure. Christopher Wray says they're waiting for their moment to destroy or degrade facilities, like American pipelines and power plants.

CNN's Brian Todd explains.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): The FBI director was blunt and dire with his warnings. Americans have paid far too little attention, Christopher Wray says, to what he calls a multi-pronged assault on U.S. national and economic security by Chinese hackers.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: China's hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real- world harm to American citizens and communities if and when China decides the time has come to strike.

TODD (VOICE-OVER): What could Chinese hackers target that would cause harm inside the U.S.?

WRAY: Our critical infrastructure, our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems.

TODD (VOICE-OVER): Wray didn't say that Chinese hackers are actively targeting those systems now, but that they're lurking inside critical infrastructure so they can use that access and be ready to strike at a later date.

JAMES LEWIS, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: You do reconnaissance. You identify targets. You identify the way in. That's what the Chinese are doing.

TODD (VOICE-OVER): U.S. officials have been on to the Chinese hackers and have been trying to head them off. CNN reporting that the FBI and the Justice Department, using a court order, have taken steps to protect hundreds of devices in the U.S., devices connected to infrastructure that are being targeted by Beijing's hackers, steps including removing malicious code from those devices. But, the Chinese hackers are still believed to be deeply entrenched in U.S. infrastructure. And security officials say that's partly America's fault.

JEN EASTERLY, DIRECTOR, U.S. CYBERSECURITY & INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY: The truth is, the Chinese cyber actors have taken advantage of very basic flaws in our technology. We've made it easy on them.

TODD (VOICE-OVER): How have Chinese hackers been let in the door to America's plants, pipelines and servers?

LEWIS: The first thing is that the Chinese have figured out that if you go after small offices and home offices, people aren't going to be as protected as they are at work, and you get into somebody's home office and then you can get to their work -- network. The second is and this is a big theme for the administration is, we write software without thinking about security.

TODD (VOICE-OVER): What U.S. officials now fear that if China invades Taiwan and the U.S. tries to respond militarily, the Chinese hacking efforts could hinder that response?

LEWIS: They can cripple the logistics that support armed forces in East Asia, rails, pipelines, airplanes, airports. They could make it very hard to support troops that are deployed overseas.

TODD: Chinese authorities have consistently denied engaging in any state-sponsored hacking, often saying that China itself is a frequent target of cyberattacks. Recently, CNN reported that Chinese leader Xi Jinping told President Biden in November that China would not try to disrupt the U.S. presidential election.

[00:30:10]

To that, FBI Director Wray just said he doesn't trust those assurances, saying he'll believe it when he sees it.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Owning a car is a dream for most Cubans, but imagine spending more than your monthly income just to fuel it. Ahead, we'll explain why Cubans are facing exactly that and why it's impacting and everything else. That's coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Protesters clashed with police outside Argentina's Congress Wednesday as lawmakers debated reforms pushed by President Javier Milei. A state news agency says police used tear gas to clear the demonstrators in Buenos Aires, but no one was injured.

The proposed reforms are a key part of the president's plan to tame inflation, which reached more than 200 percent in December.

They include a string of austerity measures and privatizations, but they face immense opposition from unions, human rights groups, and others.

Cuban officials say they're delaying their plan to increase the cost of fuel after a virus infected government computers. That 500 percent price hike had been scheduled to take effect on Thursday. But now Cubans have a brief reprieve.

Patrick Oppmann explains why fuel prices are going to skyrocket and how it's going to affect people who are already struggling.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even before the sun comes up, people line up for hours in Havana to pump gas. The Cuban government owns every gas station on this island and says it will raise prices at the pump more than an eye-watering 500 percent.

News of the massive hike triggered a run on fuel before the increase takes place, which is expected to further batter an already failing economy.

"You don't need to have three neurons. One is enough to know this will be a disaster," he tells me. "To fill up a car with 40 liters will cost 6,000 pesos. Most people don't earn that much in a month."

For decades, Cuba received oil donations from political allies in Venezuela and Russia, which it then sold its citizens at rock-bottom prices. But as a communist-run island weathers the worst economic crisis in decades, Cuban officials say subsidies on gas are a luxury the government can no longer afford.

"We are a country without fuel," he says, "and we sell fuel at perhaps the cheapest prices in the region. Some of the cheapest in the world. But when we raise the price of fuel, it's going to increase the cost of some services and the price of things."

[00:35:08]

Already as fuel supplies dwindle, people wait for hours to hitchhike, and more and more commuters return to riding bicycles. Others pushed to get onto the ever scarcer public transportation.

With out-of-control inflation and the gas price hike. Cubans who only earn the equivalent of a few dollars a day may find themselves unable to afford a ride.

OPPMANN: Some Cubans say, as transportation becomes more and more expensive here, it could actually cost more to get to and from work each day than the salary they bring home.

OPPMANN (voice-over): An increase in fuel prices will also make it more expensive to transport food from the countryside to cities, a potentially precarious situation, says this man who resells fruit and vegetables from his small cart.

"Look how we are right now," he says. "People are being impacted. If it increases 1 percent more, people will go crazy in the streets."

Cuba's socialist government has long said it protects the most vulnerable here. But a stagnant centralized economy, stalled reforms, and increased U.S. sanctions are forcing more and more into extreme poverty.

The government has warned additional price hikes and cuts in services are in store. Many hope to be gone by the time that happens. Lines outside foreign embassies grew longer by the day as more Cubans try to emigrate before the island's economy hits rock-bottom.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Federal Reserve is leaving interest rates right

where they are for the time being. Analysts didn't expect the central bank to announce a cut at Wednesday's meeting, with rates at a 23-year high.

Inflation is -- in the U.S. continues to ease, and many were hoping for a signal that a cut would come in March. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell says the economy has yet to achieve a soft landing.

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: I'm encouraged, and we're encouraged by the progress, but you know, we're not -- we're not declaring victory at all at this point. We think we have a ways to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Stocks tumbled after the Fed announcement, with the Dow losing more than 300 points. The S&P 500 was off more than one-and-a- half percent. The NASDAQ lost more than 2 percent.

Evidence of a gruesome killing in the U.S. leads police to discover a disturbing video and to arrest the son of the victim. We'll have a report after the break.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. We want to just warn you about some disturbing graphic details in our next story.

A man in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is facing murder charges, accused of decapitating his father. Officials say the man posted a video online of a politically charged rant, where he appears to be holding a bag containing the severed head.

The video was viewed thousands of times on YouTube before it was taken down.

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CNN's Danny Freeman has more on this grisly case.

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CHIEF JOSEPH BARTORILLA, MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP POLICE: It's a horrible, tragic incident.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Around 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, Middletown Township police got a call from Justin Mohn's mother, saying she'd found her husband, 68-year-old Michael Mohn, dead.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN, when officers arrived, they found an elderly male in a bathroom with blood around him, who had been decapitated. Officers found a machete and a large kitchen knife in the bathtub.

Court documents said police then found Michael Mohn's head in a plastic bag in a cooking pot in the next room.

Only then did police learn of his son's video, posted to YouTube, which stayed up on the site for about five hours before being taken down.

In the 14-and-a-half-minute video, Justin Mohn rants about the Biden administration, the border, and calls his father a traitor to his country because he was a federal employee saying, quote, "America is rotting from the inside out because of far-left woke mobs."

Justin then raised his dead father's head on camera.

BARTORILLA: I am very sad for the family. I'm very sad for the community, you know, and also for the people that knew him.

FREEMAN (voice-over): While police were at his home, Mohn, though, was heading West. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs told CNN at around 9 p.m., Mohn's cell phone was traced to just outside of the Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Base, Pennsylvania's National Guard headquarters, nearly 100 miles from the crime scene.

The P.A. DMVA said Mohn was armed with a gun but was ultimately arrested without incident.

As authorities investigate, a former roommate of Justin's tells CNN he believed, quote, "the government was out to get him."

Mohn also filed multiple lawsuits suggesting he was angry about his status as a white man.

This disturbing incident renews concerns about the risk of political violence.

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: The kind of overheated, deeply politicized, extreme rhetoric that you hear sometimes in this country actually has an impact on these marginalized people with extremist views.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Danny Freeman, CNN, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

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BRUNHUBER: Well right now, more than 14,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle are stranded in a ship off the coast of Western Australia in the middle of a heat wave.

Fifteen days into its trip to the Middle East, the ship had to divert from the Red Sea because of Houthi attacks in the region. Now, it's back where it started in Australia, a veterinarian and a cattle expert on board the ship to make sure the animals are healthy and safe.

And Australian authorities are organizing a quarantine for the animals, if they return back to shore.

All right. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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