1. My friend measured and said this beam is below where the extra studs need to be placed in the room above. That wire coming out is the wire from the outlet in the center of the wall where the studs need to go. This beam is wrapped in two by fours, etc. I estimate it is a 4x4.

2. This is the exterior wall in the basement below the living room
This is the exterior wall in the basement below the living room. You can see the header beam here meeting the wall just next to the window. This window is directly below the other window, but the edges don’t line up. In fact, I would say this header lands just to the inside corner of the window above, so that the outer edge of that window lines up with the outer edge of this beam.