with urgent travel needs. i am freaking out. reporter: kelsey and heston renken applied for passports in may, but only one has arrived. their nonrefundable flight to mexico leaves in two weeks. i call every day to try to get an answer and get the same run around that, oh, we can only push it a week before your travel. a week before your travel is kind of cutting it very close. reporter: in the last two years the couple suffered the heartbreaking loss of a still born and two miscarriages. we just need to get a break, get a mental reset, celebrate our anniversary. reporter: the state department admits there s a staffing issue and they re scrambling to complete an extraordinary backlog of passport applications. the current wait time for a passport is up to 18 weeks. during the pandemic they sent the people home and right now we re over 1.6 million passports in backlog that they can t process. reporter: how much will you lose if your passport doesn t arrive on time? a lit
billionaires, who are not millionaires are going to get help to pay some of their basic expenses. he s opposed to that. it s a clear difference between democrats and republicans. the american people should see that in stark terms with what s going on right now. thank you. still ahead, details on a major backlog in passport applications that could impact your travel plans. plus, the fbi accused of inexcusable errors in the handling of the laurry nassar child sex abiuse investigation. and the white house laumnchs a direct attack on the disinformation and conspiracy theories about covid vaccines.
groups. it s emotional and it s convincing. it s really done, unfortunately, a very effective job. the government and cdc need to figure out how to stop being so boring and how to capture not just minds, but hearts. they have had a real struggle doing that. h hopefully they will figure out a way to be just as convincing as the folks spreading lies. if you re thinking about taking a trip abroad this summer, check your passport. the state department says it has a backlog of more than a million passport applications. kylie atwood has details. how long is the wait? up to 18 weeks. this is a long time americans are going to have to wait to get new passports or to renew their existing passports so they have travel abroad.
a number of major websites are back online after a widespread outage that left many unable to access critical services such as the uk government s website. gov.uk was among a list of sites affected, the location for things like passport applications and vehicle taxing. some newspaper websites were affected too. the problem was caused by a technical hitch linked to an external services company. a worldwide sting organised by the fbi has led to the arrests of hundreds of suspected members of organised crime. gangs around the world were tricked into using a secure messaging app. what they didn t know is that the app was developed by agents who were able to monitor millions of messages about drug dealing, money laundering and planned murders. our security correspondent gordon corera has the story. a shipment of tuna cans coming from ecuador into europe with more than 600 kilos of cocaine hidden inside,
officers quickly move in. a number of major websites are back online after a widespread outage that left many unable to access critical services such as the uk government s website. gov.uk was among a list of sites affected, the location for things like passport applications and vehicle taxing. some newspaper websites were affected, too. the problem was caused by a technical hitch linked to an external services company. the headlines on bbc news areas of greater manchester and lancashire are to get extra testing and military support, after a rise in covid cases the boss of ryanair criticises the government s traffic light travel system, as uk holidaymakers scramble to get home after portugaljoined the amber list today. the death of sarah everard in march a serving metropolitan police officer pleads guilty to her kidnapping and rape.