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Pete Buttigieg's ex-communications chief, Lis Smith, says President Biden should, and probably will, run for reelection in 2024 -- but if he doesn't, she's got thoughts on replacements.

The veteran Democratic political strategist -- who helped Buttigieg make a solid presidential run in the 2020 election cycle -- told us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" ... she thinks Biden is definitely gonna go for it again, and encourages him to do so. But, amid questions about his age, she offers up 3 types of candidates who might enter the campaign.

She suggests a governor or 2, and although Gavin Newsom supporters might think he's a shoo-in ... Lis thinks the Cali guy isn't the ideal choice to win over moderate Dems in purple states like Ohio or Pennsylvania.

Check out who she did name though ... some people who aren't necessarily national players yet, but could probably appeal to a wider base.

Remember, Lis worked wonders for Mayor Pete once upon a time, so her picks certainly carry weight. She recounts her storied professional and personal life in politics in her new book, "Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story."

Sometimes guests on the TMZ Celebrity Tour get not one, but TWO extra special surprises --just ask the folks who had run-ins with Jamie Foxx and Lizzo!

First, it was Lizzo outside The Hollywood Roosevelt -- she just dropped her album "Special" last week -- and likely has a ton of promos to get done, but she still took a little time to chat it up with bus passengers ... even spilling on her favorite song from the album.

Then it was Jamie Foxx, who bus passengers spotted outside Avra in Beverly Hills.

The Oscar winner seemed to be catching up with a friend outside the celeb hot spot and gave our bus a friendly wave before joking he was going to hop on board.

If Aaron Judge seems to be moving just a tiny bit slower at Tuesday night's All-Star Game ... now ya know why!!!

The New York Yankees superstar was spotted partying in L.A. the day before the mid-summer classic on Monday ... hitting the Fanatics ASG bash in downtown -- and rubbin' elbows with Travis Scott and some NBA superstars while there!!

TMZ Sports has some pics from the festivities -- and you can see Judge, rockin' a custom blazer with a white shirt underneath, seemed to be enjoying himself big time as he chatted with the celebs at the venue.

AJ was grinnin' ear to ear while talking with Scott and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin -- and he later posed for a pic with the two plus Joel Embiid and James Harden.

No word on what time Judge left the venue ... but don't worry, Tuesday's game doesn't start 'til 5 PM PT -- so dude's got plenty of time to recover if it did happen to be a late night.

Sesame Place might not be too friendly a neighborhood after all -- more videos are surfacing showing the park's costumed characters acting messed up to Black kids ... and now the parent company's bailing water.

A few other clips have come to light since the initial video showing Rosita apparently snubbing a couple little Black girls at Sesame Place in PA ... and these new ones seem to demonstrate more of the same -- namely, that the mascots kinda mistreat or ignore children of color.

One, in particular, is pretty nuts ... it shows one of the Honkers rushing a very young girl, who's African-American, and literally knocking her down with its protruding belly.

Another video shows Bert going down a line of kids and high-fiving them, but then blatantly refusing to do so with an older Black girl -- who looks back at the camera shocked.

There are even more accounts of similar behavior ... but none seem to have been more crystalized than what went viral this weekend. Sesame Place said it was a misinterpretation/misunderstanding, and they'd apologized to the fam to make it right.

Of course, the family isn't buying it and is weighing their legal options amid suspicions of racism ... as TMZ first reported.

Now, in light of all these other videos -- which appear to show a pattern of this sort of thing at Sesame Palace -- the parent company Sesame Workshop, producers of the TV series "Sesame Street," is promising to tighten things up with bias training ... plus a thorough review of how the park workers are engaging with guests.

They stop short of saying the recorded incidents were intentional -- which bias training wouldn't really fix, frankly -- but at least it's on their radar, and everyone else's too.

A 25-year-old pizza delivery guy rivals any Marvel superhero, by running into a burning house and saving the lives of 5 kids, risking his own life and suffering serious injuries in the process.

Nicholas Bostic was driving along a street in Lafayette, Indiana last week just after midnight, when he saw a house fully engulfed in flames. There were no firetrucks or other emergency vehicles in sight, so Nicholas decided to act ... he ran into the burning house and began yelling to see if anyone was still inside.

He heard nothing, but still felt there may be people trapped, so he walked through the house which was filled with choking smoke and made his way upstairs, where he found 4 kids ... they ranged in age from 1 to 18. They were sleeping, and Nicholas woke them and they ran to safety.

They were all outside, when one of the kids told Nicholas there was a 6-year-old child still inside the house. Nicholas ran back inside, but he had no idea where the child was ... he screamed for the child as he meandered through the burning home, even looking under beds.

He made his way upstairs, but then heard a child crying in the downstairs area. Problem was ... smoke was everywhere and it felt like an oven. Nicholas couldn't see but he wrapped his shirt around his mouth and took the plunge downstairs, where he located the child.

Nicholas scooped up the little girl in the blinding black smoke and looked for the door but he couldn't see it. So, he ran back upstairs with the child and jumped from the second-floor window, making sure he landed on his side so the child was protected from impact.

The child incredibly was unharmed. Nicholas, however, suffered severe smoke inhalation and, according to cops, "gravely cut his right arm."  You see in the video EMTs use a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. He was flown to a hospital where he was treated.

His cousin has created a GoFundMe account and so far he's raised north of $200,000.

Jason Derulo and Jena Frumes are co-parenting their son without a hitch, under completely different roofs -- and she's doing so under a brand new one ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

The R&B/pop star leveraged his Billboard and TikTok success to purchase a $3.6 million, nearly 5,000 sq foot fortress back in March, but it wasn't for himself. We're told Jena and their son Jason King live there exclusively, with plenty of room to, ya know ... wiggle.

The swanky pad checks off 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms and features a pool with built-in spa and waterfall features, a soundproof movie theater -- plus an outdoor farmhouse and BBQ area.

Jason copped the house this past March amid a career resurgence that saw his TikTok following and bank account swell substantially.

Fans were initially shocked to see Jason support Jena at her recent runway gig during designer Luli Fama's Miami Swim Week show ... especially after cheating allegations fractured their relationship last September.

A viral moment at Sesame Place amusement park appears to show Muppet character Rosita ignoring, or rejecting, 2 Black children -- and now their family's retaining an attorney to investigate, and possibly sue.

B’Ivory LaMarr is the attorney repping the family who interacted with Rosita at the Philadelphia park, and he tells TMZ ... they want to investigate the incident by interviewing other people who were in attendance, and evaluating other Rosita videos popping up online.

The other clips allegedly show similar situations -- Rosita refusing to high-five or interact with kids of color.

LaMarr says all options are on the table for them, including a lawsuit.

In case you missed it, video spread of Saturday's incident, showing the character giving high fives to people in front of the 2 young girls, then allegedly gesturing to them, but denying them the opportunity to interact as well.

The family says they're "completely appalled" by what they call the intentional mistreatment of the young girls -- they claim they were verbally told "no" during the brief exchange.

They also aren't buying Sesame Place's response, which came soon after the clip went viral ... saying they quickly addressed the behavior of the employee.

LaMarr says, "While we hate to rush to judgment to consider 'race' as the motivating factor to explain the performer's actions, such actions both before and after the young girl's request only lead to one conclusion."

Activist Tamika Mallory joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" -- she was one of the first to put Sesame Place on blast after its response.

She says it's nothing more than gaslighting, and it adds insult to injury ... she spoke with the mother of the girls who is "really hurt" by what she sees as a lack of apology.

More videos have spread since Saturday's incident ... which the family thinks shows this is a pattern and not an isolated incident.

A rep for Sesame Place Philadelphia tells TMZ ... the park sincerely apologizes for the family's experience, and adds, "We will conduct training for our employees so they better understand, recognize and deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience to our guests."

Jim Harbaugh is against abortion ... and the Michigan football coach delivered a passionate message on the controversial topic, saying, "I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born."

Harbaugh -- who is Catholic -- was tapped to deliver the keynote address Sunday during the Plymouth Right to Life dinner and auction at St. John's in Plymouth, Michigan ... where he passionately spoke about abortion, according to the Detroit Catholic.

"I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born," Harbaugh said. "I love life. I believe in having a loving care and respect for life and death. My faith and my science are what drive these beliefs in me."

According to the outlet, the theme of the night was "We Were Made to be Courageous," and Harbaugh, along with his wife, Sarah and Father John Riccardo, another keynote speaker, emphasized that in their addresses.

Jim's comments come at a time when the abortion rights debate rages in the country ... especially after the Supreme Court recently ruled citizens don't have the constitutional right to get an abortion.

Throughout the night, Harbaugh acknowledged conversations about abortion can get "passionate" and "messy" ... but maintaining respect and civility when dealing with each other can go a long way.

"I have faith in the American people to ultimately develop the right policies and laws for all lives involved," Harbaugh said. "I recognize one's personal thinking regarding morality of a particular action may differ from their thinking on whether government should make that action illegal."

Harbaugh said he's well aware the government allows things others deem immoral, but out of respect for the "greater good or constitutional right" those actions are allowed ... but in Jim's eyes, abortion doesn't meet that criteria.

"Ultimately, I don't believe that is the case with abortion," Harbaugh said. "Yes, there are conflicts between the legitimate rights of the mother and the rights of the unborn child."

Nolan Neal, a contestant on both "America's Got Talent" and "The Voice," has died.

Nolan passed away Monday according to the medical examiner ... Nolan's cousin Dylan Seals tells TMZ he was found dead in his apartment in Nashville.

No official cause of death has been determined, but the singer has talked openly about his struggles with substance abuse. During an interview with WBIR in 2020, he admitted that he was still struggling with addiction while he was competing on "The Voice."

Dylan tells us Nolan lived with him for 4 months prior to the pandemic ... when Nolan was clean, jamming out and making music with him.

Nolan was featured on season 15 of "AGT" ... making it all the way to the quarterfinals where he performed an emotional original piece, "Send Me a Butterfly."

During his audition for the show, he sang a song called "Lost," which he said was the first thing he wrote after getting clean. The performance got a standing ovation from the crowd and all 4 judges.

Nolan also blew everyone away on season 10 of "The Voice," getting picked to be on Adam Levine's team, and making it to the knockout round before he was eliminated.

A Nolan Neal fan page posted Tuesday morning about his death, saying, "I can't believe you're gone from us" ... the caption ends with "Heaven just got a new music director."

Nolan was 41.

RIP

Prince Harry lumped the recent Roe v. Wade decision in with other international issues, saying they were all hurting democracy, but Meghan's calling BS -- Meghan McCain, that is.

The Duke of Sussex delivered a speech to the U.N. this week -- in observance of Nelson Mandela Day -- and one of the things he said was the reversal of a federal right to an abortion was among the many things he considers a threat to freedom.

The others ... COVID, the war in Ukraine, disinformation and climate change -- all of which he said were among the top perils facing the world. But, McCain thinks he's misinformed.

In a piece written for Daily Mail, she slams the ex-Royal for what she considers virtue signaling -- especially on the Supreme Court's Roe decision ... which she says isn't a threat to democracy, but more so an exercise in it since it gives the power over that issue back to the states.

McCain, who is undoubtedly conservative, argues Harry is ignorant because he isn't an American citizen -- but likes to play one on TV now that he lives here with his wife Meghan Markle. She cites other times where he's admitted ignorance to the First Amendment.

The whole op-ed goes on to call Harry "woke," rhetorically asking if America isn't good enough for him ... why is he even here? She also cites his and MM's accusation of racism within the Royal family to make her point.

Indeed, it's a Harry-bashing think piece ... and in the end, McCain asks this of the Duke: "Maybe he needs reminding that he is a guest here and not a guest who has been universally embraced by the American public."

She adds ... "So here goes: This is not your home country. In fact, my country went to war against yours so that we'd never have to be subject to a royal lecture ever again."

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck will soon be surrounded by their closest friends and family to celebrate their marriage at his estate in Georgia ... a plan almost IDENTICAL to how things were supposed to go down 20 years ago.

Sources familiar tell TMZ ... back when the couple got engaged in 2002, they planned on getting married at Ben's 87-acre property outside Savannah, GA. We're told everything was in place leading up to their big day -- including police and security to HOLD the unwelcome at bay before the couple decided to call everything off ... ending the engagement in 2004.

TMZ broke the story, Ben and Jen got married in Vegas early Saturday morning in a tiny chapel ceremony that included their kids ... but they'll throw a massive party at Ben's GA estate by the end of the month.

The property, about an hour's drive from Savannah, features several homes, including a 10,000 square foot main house and a smaller, 6,000 sq. foot home ... so there's plenty of bedrooms for guests.

Jennifer released a statement shortly after we broke the wedding news, saying, "We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient."

Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy are pumping the breaks on their romantic relationship after nearly one year of dating … TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the former couple tell us the two decided to mutually part ways nearly a month ago, just before Handler guest hosted 'Jimmy Kimmel Live.'

Our sources tell us with Handler gearing up to head out on a comedy tour for the remainder of the year and Koy being in L.A., promoting his upcoming film, “Easter Sunday” their professional schedules recently were not allowing them to spend as much time together as needed for the relationship to work.

We’re told it’s unclear if the two will get back together as a couple, however, their inner circle is hopeful it will happen after their busy schedules calm down.

The couple, who went Instagram official in September 2021, haven’t posted with each other in over a month.

Speculation the couple was first linked romantically began around June 2021 when Handler posted videos hanging out with Koy on her social media.

Drake's brand new home apparently already had an unwanted visitor ... cops arrested a man there who claimed the rapper was his dad.

LAPD tells TMZ ... cops were called to the rapper's Beverly Hills-adjacent mansion last Friday after an employee saw someone near the pool house.

Police questioned the 23-year-old ... the man claimed 35-year-old Drake was his dad and he was just waiting for him to come home ... but obviously cops weren't buying it.

The man was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing ... we're told the guy never made it inside the house.

Drake plunked down $75M for the estate a few months back, buying the property from "Take That" singer Robbie Williams.

We're told Drake wasn't home during the incident. As we reported, he's been spending time in Sweden, where he apparently had his own run-in with police.

Johnny Depp seemingly had a new female companion in his life, which is true ... but there's nothing romantic about their relationship, TMZ has learned.

Depp, unsurprisingly, made headlines over the weekend when he was spotted in Italy accompanied by the redhead. Johnny was in town for the Umbria Jazz Festival -- where he played with Jeff Beck -- and fans speculated the woman might be Depp's new girlfriend.

However, it's just not the case ... we've spoken to sources who tell us the woman is working on Depp's upcoming movie "Jeanne du Barry" as a French teacher.

Makes a lot of sense to bring your teacher on the road if you're Johnny, and live a lifestyle of constant travel and performance.

The movie will mark Depp's first in 3 years, he's playing Louis XV in the project, which centers around the life of Jeanne Bécu, Louis' mistress when he died.

Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is literally the biggest fight you could make in all MMA, so says "Iron" Mike, who tells TMZ Sports that's the fight he -- and the people -- want!!

"If Conor's coming back anytime soon, I think me and Conor would make some fireworks and it's a fight that fans want to see. I think it's the biggest fight we can make in mixed martial arts right now and I try to say that as humble as possible but I think it's a huge fight," Chandler told Babcock when he joined the "TMZ Sports" TV show (weeknights on FS1).

Of course, the 36-year-old #5 ranked UFC lightweight is coming off a devastating knockout of Tony Ferguson ... who starched with a front kick at UFC 274 in May.

Conor, for his part, hasn't fought since July 2021 ... when he gruesomely broke his lower leg during the trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.

McGregor likely won't fight until the first half of 2023 ... but this isn't a situation where Mike is going to try and bait McGregor, who sustained an incredibly serious injury

"The guy snapped his leg. It wasn't a small injury, it required surgery, maybe multiple surgeries, a titanium rod going in, and all that stuff," Michael says.

He later continued ... "I'm not gonna throw stones at the guy. I mean the guy completely shattered his leg and it was literally just a year ago. Have people come back quicker than he's gonna come back? Yes, probably, but also we don't know the extent of Conor's injury."

And, Chandler believes the sport of MMA is better with, not without, Conor.

"The [UFC] and the lightweight division is better when Conor McGregor is a part of it but that being said, he needs to come back at the right time."

We also talked to Chandler about the just announced 155 lb. title fight featuring Charles Oliveira (#1 ranked) and Islam Makhachev (#4 ranked) at UFC 280 in October.

Mike gave us a winner (he says it'll be Charles -- whom he fought in 2021) ... and he explained why during the interview.

FYI, neither man has lost anytime recently. Islam's last L was in 2015 ... and Charles' was in 2017.

And, get this. Mike has another gig outside of the Octagon. He's the Chief Athletic Officer at Speede ... a fitness company crowdfunding (via Indiegogo) a product that's said to be a revolutionary home gym.

With Michael's help, the company has already received over $236K in funding. The original goal was to raise $15K.

Before this bright and innovative child turned into a self-made millionaire and a big-time philanthropist, she was just an innocent flower girl with big goals and dreams growing up in New York.

This ex-housewife is known for her beverages and has led the charge in the liquor industry. Some might say she's a modern-day Martha Stewart ... because she expanded her brand, tapping into other industries like clothing and ultimately creating an empire.

Need one more clue? When she's not public speaking and diving into her charity work, you can find her hanging with her daughter and making lots of TikToks.