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The United Airlines passenger who appears to have died from COVID-19 complications was laid out in the middle of the floor and getting CPR in a compact area -- which is now seen on video.

TMZ has obtained footage of the moment fellow passengers stepped in to do chest compressions on the man -- who fell unconscious earlier this week while United Flight 591 was up in the air and on its way to L.A. from Orlando.

As we reported, passengers say the man's wife said, during the emergency, her husband had various symptoms, including a loss of taste and smell and shortness of breath, yet he did not disclose this before boarding.

As you can see, it was a tense scene as passengers in surrounding rows looked on while one of three trained professionals administered CPR for almost an hour before the plane could land in New Orleans and get the man to a hospital, where he ultimately died.

One of those people who was rotating in to help was EMT Tony Aldapa, who gave us his first-hand account ... and it sounds like he was willing to risk potential exposure to help save the man's life.

No one knows for certain if the man had the virus -- but some of the passengers believe he did ... and also fear they may have been infected.  Tony tells us they took the man's mask off but replaced it with an oxygen mask. Still, it creates lots of worry for those on board.

It's a huge problem that has mostly gone unaddressed until now ... the fact that there's virtually no way of weeding someone out who might have COVID from getting on a plane and putting everyone else's life at risk. The honor system is only as good as the honesty of the passengers, and that's clearly a problem.

A man in NYC opened fire into a parked car from close range as he walked by on the sidewalk -- and miraculously, the people inside survived his barrage of bullets.

Check out this insane shooting that went down in Brooklyn last weekend, which cops are desperately trying to solve with the public's help. They posted surveillance video of the shooting on their NYPD News account, and asked anyone with info to come forward.

As for what led up to this ... it's not entirely clear. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ this unidentified man seems to unload on the parked Saturn for no apparent reason. Although he fired into the driver's side window, it was only the passenger who ended up getting struck.

Our sources say the female passenger was hit twice in the left arm, and the driver was somehow spared. She was taken to a hospital, where she was treated. The man who walked off like nothing had happened is still at large ... and the NYPD is on the hunt.

We're told there's no known motive at this time ... it appears to have been a random act of violence. That can happen in the Big Apple -- Rick Moranis knows that all too well.

A woman suspected of shoplifting at a grocery store in central California got dragged out by security -- and by that, we mean she was literally yanked across the tile floor like a mop.

This wild incident went down Wednesday at a WinCo in Visalia, CA -- where this woman and a male friend were allegedly caught red-handed trying to make off with some pricey tequila.

What happened next was brutal, according to eyewitnesses who captured some of the mayhem on camera. The woman, 27-year-old Victoria Vargas, was manhandled by the security personnel and literally pulled by the arms out of the store ... all while she screamed.

You can hear the guy recording say it's illegal for them to do that, but the fellas doing the dragging didn't seem to care. The action then went outside, where things got chippy with folks who didn't appreciate how Vargas was being dealt with.

It looks like a couple guys try to jump in and help her fight off the security guards, but security held their ground and kept the woman pinned until cops eventually arrived.

Vargas and her alleged male accomplice were arrested and booked for robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime and a slew of other charges. Unclear if they've posted bond yet.

Ariana Grande is ready to say "I do" again -- this time, she's set to get married to a relatively new lover who's low-key ... but who has clearly stolen her heart.

Ari broke the news Sunday on Instagram with a series of photos of her and BF-turned-fiance Dalton Gomez ... showing off shots of the two of them lying on the floor together, as well as some close-ups of her massive new rock, which she proudly wore on camera.

She captioned her post, "forever n then some." So yes, it looks like AG is gearing up to walk down the aisle once more -- this not too long after she broke off her previous engagement.

Remember, it was just a couple years ago that Ariana and then-fiance Pete Davidson were supposed to get married. They dated for a bit in 2018, and then all of a sudden ... they were engaged. She seemed pretty smitten over PD at the time, but in October ... they called off the engagement amid news that Mac Miller died, plus other circumstances were at play.

Ari's dating life was pretty low-key after that -- but earlier this year, it became increasingly apparent she had a new man -- as she'd been seen hanging with Dalton in recent months ... not to mention smooching him in public, albeit on the DL.

The guy's a young real estate wiz who handles multi-million dollar listings for A-listers in Hollywood. By the looks of the engagement ring he gave her ... dude does very well.

Congrats, Ari ... again!

Kylie Jenner got an earful Saturday night as she left a store that sells lots of fur ... as protesters slammed her, calling her a monster.

Kylie was leaving Moncler in Bev Hills when animal rights activists armed with megaphones descended on her car and began screaming, "Shame on you," "You're a monster," and "Animals are skinned alive."

The group blocked her Rolls-Royce as the driver attempted to beat a hasty retreat, all the while screaming at her. One of her bodyguards tried to remove a protester from the path of Kylie's car, and the 2 briefly got into it.

Kylie has been criticized before for wearing fur ... notably last year when she and Stassie were wearing the Foxy Leather Coat by Saks Potts, a coat made with fox-fur trim.

In case you don't know, many of these animals are tortured and killed for fur ... many are skinned alive. It's about time we stop the torture ... seems reasonable, right?

The Tiger Woods like-father-like-son saga continues -- not only does his boy have a natural swing like pops, but he can tap it into the hole like him too ... and their celebrations are almost identical.

Charlie Woods was lining up for a putt Sunday on the last day of the PNC Championship down in Orlando on the 10th hole ... and after hitting it ever so softly, the ball glided across the green and sank right into where it needed to go to get them a stroke under par.

Watch what 11-year-old Charlie does after realizing he made his shot ... he gives a subtle fist pump to show his jubilation -- the same kind of fist pump we've seen Tiger shoot out after an awesome shot, which often meant victory. BTW, both TW and CW were rocking his signature red polo and black slacks together ... just one more mini-me thing on display.

On Saturday, we saw Charlie's fairway swing ... and it too had echoes of Tiger's own. Safe to say, dad's been training his son well in the art of golf -- and it's paying off and then some.

Team Tiger is pretty far behind on the leaderboard as the relative duo tourney starts to wrap up. They're in 8th place as of right now ... behind groups like Team Daly, Team Kuchar, Team Singh and Team Thomas (who's in first place). Granted, a lot of those teams don't have young children as their partner-in-club ... so Tiger and Charlie are doing well all things considered.

Anyone interested in frying up a little python?? Well, if you live in Florida, you're in luck.

Turns out python may be the new chicken in the Sunshine State, because the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Dept. of Health may give the green light to make the slithery creature a menu item in restaurants and at home.

The snakes are overtaking the Everglades, creating risks to other wildlife.

The wild card is mercury. Scientists are evaluating whether mercury levels in the snakes are at acceptable levels. Problem is ... the smart money is on mercury levels being too high for human consumption, but scientists aren't sure, so they're testing 6,000 pythons.

We're told they can actually be delicious. Some folks like to turn them into jerky, but they can also be cooked in various other ways.

COVID has ravaged communities across the country, but we haven't heard much about the struggles of the good folks in Beverly Hills and Malibu ... that is until now.

Adam Carolla joked about the 2 upscale towns, but there was a message in his sarcasm ... he thinks many of the COVID restrictions are absurd, nonsensical and impossible to unearth the logic behind them.

Adam was on his way to Mastro's Saturday night to outdoor dine, despite the fact that most parts of L.A. County are now prohibiting dining at restaurants, period.

He's railed on this before, but this time Adam really leans in and makes his case. Adam, who has 14-year-old twins, is head-scratching over school closures despite what he says is a lack of evidence that keeping them open would be COVID unsafe.

Too Short and E-40 played their classic tracks, put down some classic dancing and told classic stories -- so yeah, the last "Verzuz" of 2020 was a West Coast classic.

The Bay Area rap legends acknowledged their longstanding friendship from "BR" -- before rap, as 40 puts it -- but then went at each other in a tight competition. As with most "Verzuz" battles ... the online debate about a winner was fierce.

Too Short played hits like "Freaky Tales," "Life Is...Too $Hort," "I'm a Player," "Buy You Some'" and "Blow the Whistle."

E-40 brought it with "U and Dat," "Captain Save A Hoe," "I Got 5 On It" (Remix), "Yay Area," and "Hope I Don't Go Back."

Both were sipping on drinks throughout the night which, for E-40 at least, meant it was time to do some dancing -- hilariously entertaining.

As TMZ first reported ... the stage setup featured 2 classic lowrider whips behind each MC, and they also repped for the Bay with street signs for their hometowns of Oakland and Vallejo.

So, the consensus is E-40 hit hard early on in the battle, but Short put together a 2nd half streak of bangers -- as for who won overall?

London is in COVID free fall, as thousands of travelers crammed into train stations for the Xmas holiday ... this as a new, more virulent mutation of the virus rips across the country.

The size of these crowds is alarming, as this new form of the virus infects the population. The mutant virus spreads 70% faster than the original. Scientists think the vaccine will still work on the mutation, but they're not sure.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in mortal danger himself after contracting the virus earlier this year, was pushing to relax COVID restrictions, but he's abandoned that effort.

As for the new strain, it accounted for 28% of the COVID cases in London back in November, but this month it accounts for 62% of the cases.

The government imposed travel bans Saturday, but apparently, thousands of travelers didn't get the memo, because the train stations throughout London were jammed.

The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Germany have suspended flights to England because of the COVID mutation.

Scientists are looking for the next Elvis Presley to tamp down resistance to the COVID vaccine ... and if they're lucky they'll find someone as effective as The King.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has already said he's looking for celebrities, athletes and other influencers to shoot video of them taking the vaccine, to assuage fears and skepticism, which is considerable.

Turns out back in 1956, when polio was raging in the U.S., a huge percentage of young people resisted Jonas Salk's vaccine. In New York City, only 10% of young people got the shot a full year after it was on the market.

Enter Elvis ... who agreed to become the poster boy for the vaccine. The March of Dimes recruited him to get a shot while photographers snapped away.  Elvis obliged, smiling as he got stuck, and it made a difference.

The question ... who's today's Elvis? Beyonce's a candidate, for sure, but times are more complicated and people more cynical. Polio didn't become a political football the way COVID has, so it's going to be harder. Fact is ... the most influential person to influence others might be Dr. Fauci himself, who's about to turn 80.

Cops in Canada descended on an ice skating rink, arrested a player and threatened to tase him ... and it was all captured on video.

Calgary cops claimed the game defied the law limiting outdoor team sports to 10 participants, with 2 meters separating them. There were 40 people at the game ... thus the violation.

Two of the officers approached one of the players, who ignored their orders to get on the ground. One of the cops knees the player, but he stays upright.

Then one of the cops loses patience and yells, "Get on the ground! Get on the f***ing ground! Get on the ground before I f***ing taser you!"

The player was arrested for resisting arrest and violating the public health restriction.

The PD tells us the man was not arrested for playing hockey ... he was arrested because he refused to follow the officers' orders and wouldn't ID himself so they could issue him a ticket.

Dionne Warwick is getting her wish ... Teyana Taylor wants to play the iconic singer on the small screen in a potential series!!!

Here's the deal ... Dionne's latest Twitter fun involved pitching Netflix on a series about her life and career, and she made clear she would only want to see Teyana cast as her. Next thing ya know ... the 2 singers were hashing it out.

Our sources tell us Dionne reached out to Karen Civil, a member of Teyana's team, and Karen connected them by phone. We're told DW and TT spoke for a while about Dionne's biographical series ideas, and Teyana expressed her desire to play the part.

Teyana not only wants to play the starring role, we're also told she and DW discussed producing the series through TT's production company, "The Aunties Production."

With Teyana on board, our sources say Dionne and her son, Damon, feel like TT is just like family now.

For now, we're told Netflix has expressed interest in a potential series ... but Dionne's fam is still working out logistics. Recruiting Teyana was their first priority, though.

If it comes to fruition, it will be a milestone for both women: Producing-wise for Teyana, and for Dionne ... her first biopic series.

Where's Maury Povich when ya need him? Lil Pump's probably hearing him in his head, 'cause TMZ's learned the rapper is NOT the father of the baby he claimed was his. Let us explain.

Earlier this week, Pump posted a pic -- taken last Sunday on a yacht in Miami -- holding a baby boy. Cute and nothing out of the ordinary ... except the caption shocked his 17 million followers: "Baby momma ain’t s**t won’t let me see my son #fathers right."

That created a big stir on social media, and in the hip-hop world ... with several outlets reporting Lil Pump had disclosed he was a father for the first time, and was dealing with baby mama drama.

But, as MJ put it ... the kid is not his son!!! Sources tell TMZ the baby boy is actually the son of Andre Malek, a yacht captain who operates charters in Miami.

We're told the baby boy's known for taking pictures with celebs and hot women who hire his dad.

Hell, Andre's son even has his own Instagram account ... @CaptainAdorable305.

Earlier this year he took a pic with Cuba Gooding Jr. and the pic was captioned, "This not what I meant when I asked for some OJ...😅🙈."

Willie Roaf says he ain't surprised Drew Brees is returning so soon from a punctured lung and broken ribs ... telling TMZ Sports the QB is one of the baddest dudes to ever suit up in the NFL!!

"Drew Brees is probably one of the toughest guys mentally you're going to meet to ever play," Roaf says. "He's focused, he's ultra-competitive and it just motivates him."

Brees busted up his core in back-to-back games just a couple weeks ago ... cracking some ribs against the Bucs on Nov. 8 and doing even more damage a week later.

41-year-old Drew took a big hit early in the Saints' win over the 49ers ... and it was later revealed the shot punctured his lung and fractured even MORE ribs.

Most thought the dude would miss around two months ... but Saints coach Sean Payton confirmed Friday that Brees would be under center for the huge New Orleans-Kansas City tilt on Sunday.

And, when we spoke to Roaf about it all ... the legendary offensive lineman told us if the team cleared the QB to play, then people shouldn't worry too much about him.

"If he can deal with the pain and it's not gonna get worse -- he's not going to get injured -- I guess they're saying he's OK to play," Roaf said.

By the way, Roaf played for both the Chiefs and the Saints in his Hall of Fame career ... so, who's he got on Sunday?

Clifton Powell says 'Friday 4' absolutely needs to get off the ground as an homage to the franchise's late stars John Witherspoon and Tommy "Tiny" Lister.

We got Clifton -- who played Pinky in "Next Friday" and "Friday After Next" -- at LAX and talked about the chances of another sequel happening following Pops' death in 2019 and Deebo's sudden passing earlier this month.

Clifton says there's no question about it ... it's gotta happen. In fact, he essentially says it would be the perfect way to pay tribute to the iconic characters both men created, and generations of fans grew to love.

He's even got some ideas for Ice Cube on how to pull it off.

Now, a few years ago Cube said a 4th flick was in the works ... and he was reportedly writing the script -- but things stalled, and it's been on hold since then.

Either way, it sure seems like Clifton's mind's in overdrive cause his ideas are so spot on ... Cube might want to think about giving him producer's credit.