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

Putin, Biden Trade Speeches Laying Out Road Ahead For Russian-Ukraine War

Russia announced Tuesday that it will be suspending the only remaining nuclear treaty with the United States — known as the New START treaty — allowing the country to begin revamping its nuclear arsenal. China’s Xi Jinping also announced that he will travel to Moscow for a Summitt with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two nations potentially align against Ukraine and the West. President Joe Biden, for his part, spoke in Poland on Tuesday:

US to announce more sanctions on Russia this week, Biden says.

He says they will "hold accountable those responsible for this war".

Biden adds he will host NATO at a summit in the US next year.

"An attack against one is an attack against all".

https://t.co/IvtvkPHwrh pic.twitter.com/C2A0oKLr0t

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 21, 2023

EPA Announces Enforcement Action Against Norfolk Southern

The Environmental Protection Agency announced an enforcement action against Norfolk Southern on Tuesday, requiring the company to pay for cleanup actions following a February 3 train derailment that exposed a small Ohio town and surrounding areas to toxic chemicals. The EPA says if the company fails to complete any part of the ordered action, the agency will conduct the necessary work and then seek to compel Norfolk Southern to pay triple the cost. The rail company already faces multiple class-action suits from members of the East Palestine community.

Buttigieg To Visit East Palestine

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced that he is planning to visit East Palestine, Ohio — more than 18 days after the Norfolk Southern train derailed. The visit comes after former president and 2024 GOP candidate Donald J. Trump announced that he will be visiting the Midwest town on Wednesday. Here’s Buttigieg on ABC’s “Good Morning America”:

WATCH: Buttigieg, pressed on Ohio response by ABC News, concedes: "Look, I was Mayor of my hometown for eight years. We dealt with a lot of disasters." pic.twitter.com/thJC9x3mda

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) February 21, 2023

Winter Weather Hits 30 Million Americans

More than 30 million Americans are under winter weather alerts as an impending winter storm is predicted to batter multiple regions later this week. Meteorologists say that while states in the Midwest and along the West Coast will deal with cold and snow, some areas in the southeast will see unprecedented warm temperatures.

Santos Admits He Lies

GOP Congressman George Santos, accused of fabricating key details on his resume during his run for Congress, admitted to lying about his college education in an interview with Piers Morgan released this week.

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Reportedly Looking At Legal Action Against “South Park”

Legal representation for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly “casting an eye” over the animated sitcom “South Park” after the show parodied the royal couple in an episode last week, depicting a similar pair going on a worldwide privacy tour. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were not directly named in the episode, but referred to as “Canadian royalty” and the “Prince and his wife.”

Asbury Revival Ends

Asbury College announced that it will move to end the historic religious “revival” that has been going on for 13 days after more than 50,000 Christians descended on the small Kentucky town since the service began. Asbury University President Kevin Brown said in a statement that Wilmore, Kentucky, simply doesn’t have the infrastructure suited for the thousands of outsiders, but added that he hoped visitors would continue similar revivals in their own towns.

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.

Author J.K. Rowling joined host Megan Phelps-Roper for an audio series titled “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling” — and CNN published a companion article that was supposed to act as an explainer, but read more like a targeted hit piece.

The audio series delves into Rowling’s experience as an author, and later, as an activist — as her defenses of biological women’s rights and protections have often put her in the crosshairs of the transgender community.

Last year @jk_rowling responded to a letter I wrote her. I’d asked if she’d be part of a conversation seeking to understand her perspective and those of her critics.

The result is a new audio series from @thefp:
THE WITCH TRIALS OF J.K. ROWLING

My essay: https://t.co/nNMyRGpgBy

— Megan Phelps-Roper (@meganphelps) February 14, 2023

CNN’s explainer, which does not include a single “opinion” designation, leads off with the headline, “What to know about J.K. Rowling’s new podcast and history of harmful anti-trans comments.”

The network’s official tweet promoting the article shows a definite slant as well, reading, “The ‘Harry Potter’ author has continued to make anti-transgender comments and promote stories on her Twitter account that discredit trans-inclusive advocacy.”

The "Harry Potter" author has continued to make anti-transgender comments and promote stories on her Twitter account that discredit trans-inclusive advocacy. https://t.co/9Ulfs9c0uK

— CNN (@CNN) February 21, 2023

CNN Associate Writer Scottie Andrew, who authored the piece, opened by accusing Rowling of making “inflammatory comments about transgender people, particularly trans women, using dehumanizing language and baselessly accusing them of harming cisgender women.”

She then included a series of sub-headlines that also clearly sided against Rowling.

“The first episodes mostly don’t mention Rowling’s anti-trans comments”

“Trans people face a dangerous and difficult reality”

“Rowling’s views continue to cause harm”

Andrews included a number of comments Rowling made on Twitter in defense of biological women — and particularly, in defense of ousted think tank employee Maya Forstater, forced out over her opposition to a U.K. government move to allow people to self-select their genders on official papers.

“Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?” she tweeted.

Rowling, who was quickly labeled a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), continued to defend biological sex, saying that if it was not real, then the “lived reality of women globally is erased.”

Andrews then attacked Rowling’s claims that many who initially seek gender-affirming medical care ultimately change their minds over time — and claimed that those who did choose to detransition probably did so because of exposure to transphobic views.

“Later that month, Rowling published a lengthy essay defending her views on her website. In it, Rowling explained why she’d been ‘worried about the new trans activism.’ She cited the oft-mentioned but little-researched claim that many people who seek gender-affirming health care eventually regret their decision and want to reverse it, which is known as detransitioning,” Andrews wrote. “It’s rare for a trans person to detransition, and there’s little data to back Rowling’s claims. When people do detransition, it’s often understood to be a product of transphobia and discrimination in their lives.”

The article ended with a recap of the recent controversy over the new video game “Hogwarts Legacy” — which introduces the first trans character to the Harry Potter universe — and a number of trans activists who claimed that buying or playing the game would only further Rowling’s “harmful” views.