Today is Wednesday, June 23rd.

We'll explain a recent increase in violent crime and how the White House plans to address it.

Also, it looks like the U.S. will miss that 4th of July vaccine goal,

just as a new variant threatens progress in the COVID-19 fight.

Plus, another state made marijuana legal.

American airports are getting a boost,

and the free Britney movement heads to court,

with Britney Spears getting ready to testify.

Welcome, welcome to the newsworthy, all the days news in about 10 minutes.

Fast, fair, fun, and on the go.

I'm Lacey Evans, filling in for Erica Mandy during her maternity leave.

You ready? Let's do this.

The White House has some new ideas to tackle a recent spike in violent crime,

and President Biden is expected to lay them all out today.

He's set to announce a series of new executive orders,

and he'll also, once again, call on Congress to pass new gun legislation.

This comes at a crucial time.

New FBI data shows the murder rate went up about 25 percent last year,

and data from big cities show this year things don't seem to be getting much better.

To be clear, even though the murder rate has gone up in the last couple years,

the violent crime rate overall has been dramatically falling since the 1990s.

Experts think the trend is changing directions now because of the pandemic,

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