welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and around the world. i'm rosemary church. just ahead here, republicans have blocked the democrats' attempt to pass a sweeping voting rights bill but the administration says the fight is not over. we'll hear from the president later today as the country confronts a sharp rise in homicides as pandemic restrictions are lifted. and the u.s. is falling a bet short of its goal to vaccinate 70% of all adults in

america. and dr. fauci says it is not a big deal but he says young people are the reason that the u.s. is falling short. good to have you with us. u.s. senate republicans dealt a fatal blow to a landmark voting and election bill on tuesday at least this its current form. democrats were unable to convince them to budge on the "for the people act." democrats say that it is a necessary check on states' efforts to restrict voting access but republicans say it is a power grab. now the only hope is in making concessions to attract bipartisan support. here is ryan nobles with more. >> reporter: senate republicans successfully blocking senate

bill 1, the voting rights act, the for the people act ow, whic democrats say is their top priority. they were able to get all 50 of their members to vote in favor of it, but because of filibuster rules, you needed ten republicans to join up in that effort and they couldn't even get one republican to vote for it. so what happens next? chuck schumer has said that they will exhaust every possible avenue to try to get voting rights legislations passed. the problem is there is one big obstacle that remains and a collection of senate democrats that are unwilling to jump over that objects dal and that is the f f filibuster. man chen chin and sinsinema.

and there are voters and progressive activists that want to see manchin and sinema take that step to get rid of the filibuster and pass this legislation. at this point they don't seem willing to do it, so where do democrats go from here. ryan nobles, cnn, capitol hill. the white house is not discouraged over the vote. kamala harris says she and president biden sintend to continue for voting reform. >> the bottom line is that the president and i are very clear, we support s-1, we support the john lewis voting rights act and the fight is not over. >> meantime a bipartisan group of senators and administration officials are trying to figure out how to pay for president biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan. the group was considering tougher tax enforcement. a white house official says that

the president is expected to meet with the team sometime this week. president biden is expected to address the nation's surging violent crime later today. he is scheduled to meet with the attorney general, law enforcement and other officials to discuss the issue before laying out his administration's strategy to prevent gun crime. after years of decreasing crime statistics, the homicide rate surged in major cities this 2020 a in 2020 and that trend continues this year. more than 9,000 americans have been killed by guns this year. and there have been almost 300 mass shootings, that is a significant increase compared to this same time last year and in 2019. phil mattingly is outside the white house with more on what we can expect from the biden

administration today. >> reporter: white house officials have listened with alarm as they have heard repeatedly from law enforcement officials about a surge in violence throughout the country, a surge that is only exacerbated by the loosening of pandemic restrictions at covid-19 virus starts to in-with a oig throwain throughout the country. and this is not new, but it has caught the attention of the biden administration and the president plans to directly address it. he will meet behind closed doors with public officials, law enforcement, other groups involved in attempting to mitigate the surge in violence and then he will speak publicly, layout according to white house officials a package of elements that he believes will start to address this crisis or at least do something to address what is ongoing throughout the course of the last several months. this is not necessarily the silver bullet, but one that will attempt to get at the root causes. >> yes, we believe that central driver of violence is gun

violence and is the use of guns. we're seeing that statistically in a lot of areas. but he also believes that we need to keep cops on the beat, that we're supporting community policing. >> reporter: and so expect gun violence to be a pree a primary of what the president talks about. it is a key element and white house officials obviously have talked about this issue repeatedly over the last several months, they have urged lawmakers to do something about it, to pass laws -- pass bills to add restrictions when it comes to guns, something that hasn't occurred up to this point. and there is no sense in the white house that that will change now, but they don't with a the american people to know that the president is focused on this issue. for any president pin safety is a -- public safety is a big one and one that he will try to get

in front of on wednesday. phil mattingly, the white house. >> and for more insights, our statistical analyst examined violent crime rates in three major cities. and he found that the homicide rate is spiking but not the rates of other violence crimes. >> what we see here is that in fact there is very little change compared to a year ago and compared to 2019, in new york, los angeles and chicago, the rates are all actually down. so whatever is going on in these cities right now is something that is causing the murder rate to spike, but the other violent crimes actually mostly to fall. so this is one of the puzzles and crime is often these types of puzzles. if we knew how to necessarily bring towdown the violent crime rate, we'd have low crime everywhere. but we don't know what works and this is an odd puzzle especially coming out of the coronavirus

pandemic. officials tell cnn president biden plans to sign executive actions to attam pp down on gun crimes and he will press lawmakers to confirm his nominee to lead the bureau of tobacco, alcohol and firearms. and nancy pelosi plans to start a committee to investigate what happened at the u.s. capitol. donald trump's role in the attack is sure to be a central focus of the investigation, as with will the actions of some house members. republicans agreed on an independent panel last month, and then gop leaders in the house and senate came out against the deal. just over 45% of the u.s.

population is fully vaccinated against covid-19 according to the cdc. but just 16 states have reached president biden's goal to vaccinate 70% of adults with at least one dose by july 4th. the country's top infectious disease expert says he is not worried about missing that goal and that it will likely be met by the middle of next month. >> you set a goal. if you reach it, great. if you don't, you keep going to try to reach it and go beyond it. so i don't really see any to be honest with you big deal here. we were trying for 70% of adults by july 4th. if you get to 67% or 68%, you know, there is not that much statistical difference between the two, but you want to douugh go beyond it. >> and the white house is putting greater focus to getting young people vaccinated.

are >> reporter: the u.s. poised to fall short. >> 70% for all adults, we'll head it for adults 27 and older. >> reporter: and president biden's july 4th aim to get 70% of adults vaccinated with at least one toedose of the covid- vaccine, the white house is moving the goalpost. the covid response coordinator thousand claiming that july 4th wasn't biden's goal, it was an aspiration. >> we set 70% of adults as our aspirational target and we have met or exceeded it for most of the adult population. this is a remarkable achievement. >> reporter: but that is not how the president has been describing it. >> our goal by july 4th is to have 70% of adult americans with at least one shot. getting 70% of adults their first shot by july 4th. get to 70% of adult americans

vags n vaccinated. >> reporter: right thousand just over 65% of american sdadults he had one shot. incentives were not enough to get more shots in arms. right now they are focusing on younger americans. >> and we'll still be vaccinating people on july 5th, july 7, july 10. >> reporter: currently less than 2% of adults under 30 are getting vaccinated each week. >> the end game is to go well beyond that, beyond july 4th into the summer and beyond with the ultimate goal of crushing the outbreak completely in the united states. >> reporter: meanwhile the rapidly spreading delta variant first identified in i sndia remains. and there is a dramatic increase in hospitalizations as a result. >> we've seen now in 4 1/2

weeks, almost a secix-fold in covid cases. >> reporter: a stark reminder about the dangers of the virus for the unvaccinated. still some states are returning to pre-pandemic life. >> our vaccinations are upwards of 61.2%. and so we're really hitting the virus on a lot of fronts and we're in a stronger position thousand. >> reporter: in places like georgia, there was never a grand reopening because things never really shut down. but now as we're seeing more of a national push to get people vaccinated, we're seeing younger americans targeted. here at this popular brewery, they are doing a pop-up vaccine event. georgia ranks near the bottom in the nation in terms of vacci vaccinations. nick valencia, cnn, atlanta. and concerns are growing as the delta variant gains traction worldwide. the world health organization says that it has spread to at

least 92 countries and now there is also a delta plus variant which has been detected in 22 patients across three states in india. health experts say it shows worrying traits including even greater trance miss ability. a global infectious disease expert -- >> i think that there is a possibility that actually the deadliest phase may be yet to company, especially in poor countries that haven't been given access to vaccination at scale. and the threat that we see more tragic scenes like we saw in india over the months could play out elsewhere. i think that it will take several years before we get a full complement of vaccines manufactured at scale to really break the back of this pandemic. so we need to be thinking of probably a three to five year trajectory. the biggest mistake that we can make right now is in places where we've had higher vaccine

coverage like the uk and u.s. is thinking that this is over and letting down our guard. and we are following this breaking news, hong kong's biggest pro democracy newspaper says that it will stop publishing both its digital and print editions no later than saturday. the board of directors made the announcement in a memo to staff. hong kong police raided the paper's offices earlier this month and have arrested several employees for allegedly violating the national security law. staff were told to stay home after a columnist for the paper was arrested today. and now to this developing story. in an historic first, the vatican has invoked its sovereign status to protest a

draft italian law aimed at combatting homophobia. the vattian ican objects sayin it could restrict the church's freedom. and john allen is joining me from rome, he is the editor of an independent website that is covering catholicism. so john, talk to us about how this is going to restrict the vatican. what is their argument here? >> the vatican's claim is that this law, which is known in italy as the zo this. b zo this. bill after an openly gay who introduced it. it makes curriculum to teach tolerance mandatory and the vatican's objection is that that

curriculum might undercut or contradict catholic teaching on sexuality and marriage. and there are also earn cans tcans -- concerns that this bill by creating hate speech for intolerant statements about gay, lesbian and transgender persons might criminalize public expressions of catholic teaming about for instance marriage being between a man and a woman. the vatican puts out statements about public policy questions like this all the time. what is new as you indicate is that this is not just a c communique, this is a diplomatic protest, unchartered territory which indicates i suppose how high the vatican believes that the stakes here are. >> how will it all likely end

up? >> well, look, all polls in italy show that this law enjoys broad support. depending on which poll you look at and how the question is ready worked, somewhere between half and two-thirds of italians say that they are in favor of it. italy's current governing majority supports it. it is reasonable to think i suppose that at some point some form of this law made be adopted. were that to be the case, the 1929 bilateral agreement between the vatican and italy say that the vatican would have the right to insist that joint commission between the vatican and italy be created to adjudicate this dispute. it heamight go to italy's

constitution at court. we are not there yet, but this may be the beginning of a very long story in terms of this apparent stalemate between the vatican and its host nation of italy. >> we'll continue to watch it. john allen, many thanks. still to come, a u.s. senate democrat is facing a wave of scrutiny for his membership in a rhode island beach club. how he is trying to turn the tide. plus britney spears may break her silence later today about the controversial court on the order that gave her father control of her multimillion-dollar fortune.

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will i ever take the stage again? i have no idea. i'll having fun and enjoying myself. so that's it. >> britney spears is giving her fans no indication if or when she will return to performing. but in the coming hours they could hear for the first time what she thinks about a controversial court order that put her father in charge of her multimillion-dollar fortune. that happened 13 years ago after the singer experienced a series of health issues. our entertainment reporter takes

a look at what me might expect during wednesday's highly anticipated court hearing. ♪ >> reporter: britney spears is not shy about sharing with her fans on instagram. but for the first time the world may hear from britney regarding her court ordered conservatorship. her attorney filed to suspend her father as the conservator of her $60 million estate last year. ♪ the sendiinger's father has bee overseeing her finances since it began this 2008 following a series of health issues that played out publicly. >> what happened, britney? >> reporter: the highly anticipated hearing has fans and reporters clamoring for a seat in the court room. although spears is expected to appear virtually, the los angeles county superior court has already issued a press release stating that they are going to have an overflow

courtroom. everyone is wondering what britney might say and an attorney has been vocal about the court appointing her attorney. >> there is no legitimate reason why britney spears was deprived of an attorney of her own choice. what i'm hoping that she will say and all she really needs to say is that i want to hire an attorney of my own choice to talk about my options. that is something that they have steadfastly refused to allow her to do. >> reporter: spears' attorney had no comment citing pending litigation. cnn has also reached out to two judges who have issued rulings on this case over the years. both declined to comment to cnn. members of the free brittany ow oig movement plan to demonstrate outside the courthouse, they want her released in the

conservatorship and an overall of a system that at the believe has widespread potential for corruption. >> we know that this abuse is i go abouter tha er bigger than spears. but it is a global movement. there are activists from across the globe some who are just family members or victims themselves of conservatorship abuse. so this is much bigger than britney. >> reporter: as for an he said end in sight, this is far from over with another hearing scheduled for mid-july. it feels like the entire world is watching to see what will she sea. we don't know if the hearing will be closed because she might talk about sensitive subjects that might require the judge to clear the court room. and will britney ever take the stage again to perform? and she posted a video on

instagram saying that she doesn't know. she is still taking time for herself. so in the meantime, all we can do is sit back, wait and watch. >> closely chloe melas with that report. and earlier i asked why the singer is paying for her father's legal fees. >> it is not uncommon meaning that it is often the case that the conservatorship estate does pay for both sides of these proceedings. most of the time the numbers are not nearly the astronomical legal feels and costs that we are seeing in this case. this is highly unusual. although conservatorships can get expensive when there issiblg

squabbling, but rare to see a fight between whether or not she needs a conservator and who the conservators actually are. that is actually a rather rare scenario. >> and stay with cnn as we ten to follow the hearing throughout the day. watching and waiting, it is the day after new york's democratic mayoral primary. and results are coming in. but don't expect to know the winner anytime soon. we'll explain coming up. plus, it is go time for the tokyo olympics after a year long pandemic delay, the games are set to kick off in a month. we're live from tokyo with the latest on the preparations. that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. china is accusing the u.s. of deliberately sabotaging peace and stability in the tied with an taiwan strait. this is just one day after a ship sailed through the waters separating them. tensions in the south china sea have been on the rise recently after more than 2 dozen chinese military planes entered the air identification zone. the u.s. is taking action againstonline. and if you go on press tv, the justice department says that it has seized dozens of iranian

linked websites accusing them of targeting the u.s. with disinformation. the move comes just days after iran elected a new hard line president. and we're getting a better sense of the taliban's recent advances in afghanistan as the u.s. continues its military withdraw. the special envoy on afghanistan says that since may militants have gained control of 50 of the country's 370 districts. the envoy says most districts taken by the taliban surround provincial capitals, this is less than three months ahead of the u.s. deadline to end america's longest war. results have started coming in from tuesday's democratic mayoral primary in new york, though it will likely be weeks before we actually know who won. right now retired nypd captain eric adams is holding on to a significant lead. that could all change under the city's new ranked choice voting

system. athena jones explains. >> reporter: this is being called the most significant election in a generation in this city. and for the mayoral race, 13 democrats are running for their party's nomination, this is a blue city and that means that whoever wins this primary is heavily favored to win in november. we know now as expected that no single candidate out of those 13 was able to win a majority of the vote, that means that we'll go into what is called a rank choice voting tabulation, the first time that this city is using this process. what we do know is that out of the top four hitcandidates, thee who came in fourth is andrew yang, heed t eed eed to told hi supporters that i will not be the mayor of new york. so the three tops, eric adams, former this morning police

captain, katherine garc see katherine garcia and maya wiley, those three are the top three in this race. but it will be some timegarcia those three are the top three in this race. but it will be some time before we get the final results because of various rules. and next tuesday is when the board of elections here will release the results of the early and in-person votes. it won't be until the following tuesday that absentee ballots that begin to be incorporated, that is why the tabulation process could take several weeks. that is when we'll know who is going to be leading the largest city in america. alina thena jones, cnn, this mo. and a democrat is facing questions over his heb ship in an exclusive rhode island beach club. a news outlet claims that the club has only white members

which the white house denies. and sunlen serfaty reports. >> reporter: the club is being very evasive. i've had multiple short conversations with them over the last few days and they have not cleared up the reporting that is out there about their club. and they have even hung up on me multiple times. now, this is the exsis the exte they have told me, we're a private club so i'm not allowed to give our names of members or people associated with our club. i have no comment at this time. we have no comment at this time. and that is when they have essentially hung up the phone on me. senator whitehouse responded when asked about reports of his continued membership to the club, he says that the club informs me that it does have diversity this membership. but when asked if he was personally aware of coudiverse members of the club, the senator said that i believed that there were, i don't spend a lot of

time there, so i couldn't tell you who the members are. whitehouse's office tells me that the club has no restrictive white policy and says that the club has had and has members ofy did not show us any evidence that the club has members of color and the senator himself defended the club as having a long tradition of being a family club. he has said that in the past that he would push for them to work on improving diversity, but he has so far not put forward any evidence of those conversations or pushed them pushily to release the membership statistics that he has cited in his statement. sunlen serfaty, cnn, washington. just weeks after florida banned teaching critical race theory in schools, the state's republican governor has signed three bills requiring students to take civics education courses. ron desantis says that the

curriculum will provide knowledge of certain key principles and facts. he claims critical race theory which explores how a messer to of racism impacts today's society will in his words teach children to hate our country. it is a sentiment shared by republican senator josh hawley. >> young children sent off to school with eyes full of hope and hearts full of pride only to be taught that white privilege defines the nation, that subjects like mathematics are inherently racist, that the christian faith is oppressive, they are taught that the nuclear family perpetuates racism. >> and there are more examples of what those on the right have been saying about critical race theory. take a listen. >> let me tell you right now, critical race theory is bigoted, it is a lie and it is every bit as racist as the chanklansmen i

white sheets. >> it teaches children to be ashamed of their skin color. >> it makes americans hate each other, a tragedy in that way. >> it won't be allowed in florida classrooms. spending tax dollars to teach kids that america is a rotten place is absolutely unacceptable. >> kimberly crenshaw is a leading scholar and foundi ing theorist of critical race theory and she says this latest republican attack is nothing new. >> the old argument that anti-racism is racism against white people, that racial justice is a zero sum game, and it is an old strategy of creating hysteria particularly around children. we have to remember that brown versus board of education, the landmark civil rights victory, didn't really go into effect for a decdecade.

why? because the south united in denouncing it in saying that this is a threat to our children, a threat to our nation. remember, far ten l martin luths called the most dangerous man in america. so the idea that racial progress is in fact an assaults against white people, against their heritage, against the very core of american democracy is not a new idea. they have just rehashed it in this moment because it serves to help deflect what the truth is. this is the party that brought you january 6, every effort to cover up january 6. it has put democracy on life support and now they are pointing a finger at critical race theory so people don't really look at the bankruptcy of what they are about. >> kimberly crenshaw there with her perspective.

and still to come here, final preparations for the summer games are in full swing but with opposition still widespread, will tokyo ever catch the olympic spirit? we'll take a look. she ran for state office. had no problems breaking the norms. she had a dream and decided to pursue it. find the strong women in your family with ancestry.

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it is go time for the olympics. the games will officially kick off a month from now after the pandemic delayed them by a year. but covid concerns have hardly disappeared among the japanese public. essig is joining us with more. the games are unpopular but going forward nonetheless. >> reporter: yeah, they have been so unpopular because of the health and safety concerns. as far as what we're dealing with right now, 30 days to go and the reality is that the

sentiment surrounding the unpopularity of these games has not changed. despite calls to cancel or postpone from medical professionals, a majority of the japanese population, in all likelihood this stadium behind me will host the opening ceremony of the summer olympic games. part of the unpopularity stems from the fact that many feel that the ioc and japanese government have essentially ignored the well ill of the peo who don't think that these games can be held safely especially in a country where just shy of 8% of the population is fully vacc vaccinated. those concerns were highlighted over the weekend when a coach from uganda arriving in japan tested positive for covid-19 at the airport. and now he tested negative twice before boarding a plane from uganda and also vaccinated. highlights the reality of the situation that no matter what

the procedures and counter measures put in place, there will still potentially be issues. he and nine others who have been here -- or who were considered close contacts are now all in quarantine and while organizers have put in place these covid-19 countermeasures to prevent the spread of infection, there is no question these olympic games will be a logistical nightmare. and with just 30 days to go, organizers are still making plans. >> blake essig, many thanks for that report. and bumble is giving the worker bees a break this week. the company has closed either offices as a thank you to staff with one employee saying that the ceo had picked up on a sense of collective burnout. companies are looking to help their employees unwind in the work-from-home era. one survey says more than one quarter of americans never prioritize personal commitments over work.

more than half of managers want their staff to take time off to avoid burning out. and more than one-third of people surveyed say that they want a new job once the pandemic is over because of their work/life balance. and here in the u.s. unseasonably hot weather in the pacific northwest along with an increasingly severe drought is raising concerns about more wildfires. and pedram javaheri has more now from the cnn weather center. >> it has been an incredible setup for warm and dry weather and of course the fear sire seas picking up. there are 4 of active fires. and we're getting complete thing strikes hitting the ground. much of the moisture evaporates

and the dry fuel here ignites additional fires. and notice again widespread coverage of this the next couple days. could see some isolated thunderstorms that has rainfall that will reach the ground across arizona. but notice what is happening off into the northwestern part of the u.s. excessive heat watches in place for over 10 million americans. temperatures in places such as seattle to portland could get into the triple digit territory. eastern washington, temps exceeding 110 degrees, 150 record temperatures possible around the pacific northwest. and it should be around 72 for this time of year, how about 25 to almost 30 degrees above for seattle. and the las vegas raiders who wears number 94 on the field but his jersey is number one in sales. and after his coming out.

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there is a new best selling nfl jersey just a day after carl nassib's coming out. plus the suns are rising in the nba. d don riddell has our sports. >> only one time pays for it to be bad, the first pick in the draft. pistons finished at the bottom last season and now they will have the first pick in the draft on july 29. and in the western conference finals, a dramatic finish in game two between the suns and clippers with under a second left on the clock, the decisive basket. suns taking the game by a point and they have a 2-0 lead in the series. one day after the las vegas raiders carl nassib became the league's first active player to come out as gay, his shirt has become the most popular seller according to the sports apparel

retailer fanatics. and the knockout stage of the european championship. the tournament will be concluded later this wednesday and then it is on to the knockout games. back to you. and a growing number of companies are working to get into the space tourism business. successfully putting people at the edge of the atmosphere or into space is a competition for the very rich. two billionaires are in position to be first although one of them insists that it is not a race. rachel crane reports. >> reporter: the billionaire race into space is taking off. richard branson and jeff bezos compete bei to be the first.

it seems that the amazon mogul leapfrogged branson who many believed would win this race. >> sold, $28 million. >> reporter: and that is how much one unknown bidder is paying to take the 11 minute trip into space with bezos. >> it is what i wanted to do all my life. >> reporter: and he will also be joined by his brother mark bezos. >> i really want you to come with me. >> reporter: and a fourth unknown traveler. the journey is going just 100 kilometers into space allowing customers to have about three minutes of weightlessness. and while bezos is making all the headlines now, virgin ga lga l tag line is to be the first. does it sting a little bit? >> i will point out that we've

spent seven people into space and made five new astronauts. we were the first of the spaes companies to get people up there. but we honestly don't see it as a race. >> reporter: branson tweeted his congratulations to bezos on their space flight plans. virgin galactic saying while they remain on track, they have not set an official launch date. both space companies have had successful test flights over the past decade. virgin galactic had a set back when a co-pilot was killed during a test flight of a previous model. but since sold more than 600 tickets at more than $200,000 each, a cost likely to go up. so far fewer than 600 people have been to space. and whether it is bezos or branson, this first flight is sure to kick off a new type of tourism allowing those that can stomach the price and the

adrenalin rush bragging rights for life. rachel crane, cnn, new york. and finally this hour, we need to address the elephant in the room. quite literally. take a look. a wild aezian sian elephant was rummaging through a woman's kitchen in thailand. it stuck its head through a hole in the wall made by another elephant last month. experts believe that the elephant was looking for food. these types of cencounters have been on the rise in asia. thank you so much for your company. and be sure to connect with me on twitter. "early start" is up next.

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[ "me and you" by barry louis polisar ] ♪ me and you just singing on the train ♪ ♪ me and you listening to the rain ♪ ♪ me and you we are the same ♪ ♪ me and you have all the fame we need ♪ ♪ indeed, you and me are we ♪ ♪ me and you singing in the park ♪ ♪ me and you, we're waiting for the dark ♪

welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "early start." >> and it is wednesday, june 23, 5:00 a.m. in this morning. and we again with a serious blow to a top democratic priority as expected senate republicans blocked democrats' sweeping voting rights bill denying it the 60 votes needed to advance. the move tramples for now their hope of passing major legislation to combat the wave of new voting restrictions in gop-run states. >> the "for th