This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.

Harvey Weinstein Sentenced

A Los Angeles judge sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 16 years in prison on Thursday after a jury convicted him of the 2013 rape and sexual assault of an Italian actor and model. The sentence comes on top of the more than 20 years the 70-year-old Weinstein has left to serve for a similar conviction in New York.

E.U. Exuective Branch Bans TikTok

The European Union’s executive branch says that it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure. The move reflects widening worries from Western officials over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Air Fryer Recall

About two million Cosori air fryers have been recalled after reports claimed the product overheated and caught fire. In a safety notice posted Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urged consumers to “immediately” stop using the recalled Cosori fryers. According to the commission, the wire connection in the air fryers can “overheat, posing fire and burn hazards.”

Five Environmental Consultants Killed In Air Crash

Five people were killed in a twin-engine plane crash in Little Rock Arkansas this week. All five environmental consultants worked for The Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health and were heading to Columbus, Ohio, to investigate the deadly explosion at a metal manufacturing plant in Ohio.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP

Supermassive Black Hole Spotted

For the first time ever, Astronomers have sighted a supermassive black hole traveling through space that appears to have been ejected from its host galaxy. Researchers observing the dwarf galaxy designated RCP 28, roughly 7.5 billion light years away from our solar system, recently noticed an aberrant streak of light via the Hubble telescope.

Alec Baldwin Pleads Not Guilty

Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charges against him arising from the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin was slated to be in court Friday, but waived his first appearance.

Aaron Rodgers Ends His Darkness Retreat

And, NFL Quarterback Aaron Rodgers ended his four days of darkness retreat. The potential Hall of Famer spent 72 hours in a pitch-black room in Oregon at a facility known as “Sky Cave Retreat.” Rodgers has claimed the extreme seclusion has benefitted his friends in the past and he went to the retreat to help guide his decision-making about his future in the NFL.

To listen to the audio version of this podcast, click here. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

A new children’s book series geared toward girls between the ages of 6-9 will feature the story of trans-identifying Rachel Levine overcoming “obstacles.”

In the “chapter book series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds,” a book titled “She Persisted: Rachel Levin” by author Lisa Bunker tells the story of how the assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) persisted “throughout her life,” Fox News reported.

“As the first openly transgender government official to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation, the first openly transgender four-star officer in uniform service, and the first female four-star admiral in the commissioned corps, Rachel Levine faced many obstacles throughout her life,” the book’s description reads. “But she persisted through them all and showed kids of all genders that they can succeed in their dreams too.”

The chapter book series was inspired by Chelsea Clinton’s “She Persisted” picture books and includes stories about people like United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and environmental activist Greta Thunberg, the outlet noted.

In an introduction from Clinton, she called the books the “perfect choice for kids who love learning and teachers who want to bring inspiring women into their curriculum,” and provides a “list of ways that readers can follow in Rachel Levine’s footsteps and make a difference!”

Screenshots of some of the pages of the children’s book appeared on Amazon, with one paragraph that reads, “And Rachel was born transgender or trans for short. That means she was born with a boy body, but on the inside, in her mind and in her heart, she was a girl.”

Many people on social media slammed the idea of a children’s book featuring a story about a biological male “chopping off” his body parts, with one saying our “daughters deserve better.”

“‘She’ Persisted in telling gaslighting lies about how sterilizing and chopping off the healthy body parts of minors was lifesaving and supported by science,” one person wrote.

Another added, “This absolutely blew my mind. ‘Rachel’ Levine included in a series entitled, ‘She persisted’ Imagine including a bio man, who only ‘became’ a woman recently (in his mid-50s no less) over so many other women who have truly persisted. The gender ideology cult is just so [throwing up emoji.”

While another person tweeted, “That Levine dude is in the SHE persisted chapter books for little girls. This would have been a lovely series for girls, Bethany Hamilton was and is my daughter’s hero, but this is maddening that he is included. It is a cruelty to gaslight girls this way.”

Biden's trans diversity hire Rachel Levine featured in She Persisted children's book series—our daughters deserve betterhttps://t.co/AQvPslNr3w

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) February 24, 2023

Are you kidding me?!

"She Persisted"?! I think they mean "He's a White Man Wearing A Trans Crown So Gets Whatever He Wants".

He didn't persist at anything but his own misogyny and entitlement. https://t.co/mM5RlNA2U7

— Jess 💜🤺💚 (@anonotanon) February 23, 2023

“She Persisted: Rachel Levine” hits bookshelves June 6, 2023.