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Cheryl Tyler, a former Secret Service Special Agent, is defending her female peers from a wave of criticism following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

In addition to protecting 2 presidents herself, Cheryl trained other agents, and she joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" -- in the wake of Saturday's attack -- to counter those hating on female agents, and to explain how difficult it is for any agent to get that detail ... whether they're female or male.

As Cheryl put it ... being a part of the Secret Service is no easy thing -- it's an elite group of specialists who are put through rigorous training and probation to earn the detail.

No shoes, no shirt, no problem when it comes to PowerSlap prep ... Paige VanZant threw on her finest teeny bikini and grabbed her MMA star hubby Austin Vanderford for a steamy training sesh!

The power couple -- who married in 2018 -- shared video on social media, showing PVZ rocking a neon, thong bikini ... as Austin, an 11-2 MMA fighter, trained wifey using a pool noodle (a lot better than getting slapped!)

Of course, Paige -- who competed in UFC, bare-knuckle, and boxing (as well as pro wrestling) -- made her debut at Power Slap 8 earlier this month against Christine Wolmarans ... a fight VanZant won!

The classic winning formula "Big Brother" has implemented for years is getting a facelift this season -- 'cause you won't be able to hit rewind anymore ... and fans are pissed.

Paramount+ dropped the news on their streaming site -- noting archives and flashbacks won’t be available for the live feed on Season 26 of their long-running CBS reality show -- but they've told fans they could still catch all the live feed action on four different cameras.

The only catch ... they'll have to do it in real time, so if you miss something -- tough!

Thomas Matthew Crooks was branded a "shooter" by his peers years before his assassination attempt on Donald Trump ... so says a former classmate.

Julianna Grooms -- who attended Bethel Park High School with Trump's would-be assassin -- has shed more light on the bullying Thomas faced before his deadly attack at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As Julianna told The New York Times ... Thomas was labeled "the school shooter" by his fellow students -- who apparently often teased him for his poor hygiene and body odor.

Country music star Ingrid Andress is owning up to her now-infamous national anthem at Monday night's Home Run Derby ... admitting she was hammered during the performance.

Andress faced the music hours after her rendition was widely panned on social media ... going to Instagram to explain why things went so awry.

"I'm not gonna bulls*** y'all, I was drunk last night," Andress said in a statement. "I'm checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night."

11:38 AM PT -- Kobe's wife, Vanessa Bryant, just addressed Joe's passing ... sharing her condolences and reflecting on his relationship with the family.

"We hoped things would've been different," Vanessa said on Tuesday. "Although the times we spent together were few, he was always sweet and nice to be around."

"Kobe loved him very much."

Rob Lowe is sharing his favorite Tom Cruise story ... and it ends with Rob being knocked out cold.

The actor says he and Tom used to box when they were teenagers filming "The Outsiders" way back in the day ... and Tom got the better of him in one memorable sparring session.

As Rob recently explained on "The Rich Eisen Show" ... he was 17 years old and Tom was 18 when they filmed the movie together. He says they would work out, jog and box together while they were holed up in a hotel on location ... and the testosterone was flowing.

Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all counts in his federal corruption trial.

The jury issued their verdict on Tuesday in a Manhattan courthouse, with the New Jersey Democrat being convicted on 16 counts -- including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, as well as acting as a foreign agent.

Menendez was indicted in September for his alleged role in a bribery scheme ... accused of using his influence as a U.S. Senator to advance the interests of the Egyptian military. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, allegedly received several bribes ... including gold bars, thousands of dollars in cash, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible, among other gifts.

A private call between RFK Jr. and Donald Trump just hours after the assassination attempt was made public, and RFK Jr. is horrified his son is the culprit who posted it.

During the call, Trump talked about his phone conversation with President Joe Biden just after the shooting. Trump says Biden was inquisitive as to how he chose to turn his head to the right -- a move that probably saved his life.

Trump says he told Biden he turned because he was referring to a chart, although he was not specific. The chart was an indictment of Biden's immigration policies.

Dashcam video shows a high-speed hit-and-run rollover crash on a Florida freeway -- just outside Disney World -- and cops are looking for the guys who caused an SUV to roll over.

Ya gotta see the footage ... a red Chevy Camaro comes speeding into frame, weaving through traffic, trying to split 2 cars before crashing into a Hyundai Tucson, sending the SUV spinning off I-4.

The Hyundai hits the shoulder and then flips ... rolling over multiple times. Incredibly, the Florida Highway Patrol says the 20-year-old woman behind the wheel was NOT injured.

When the summer blockbuster "Twisters" blows into theaters this week, don’t hold your breath for any climate change references ... as the director says he's purely focused on entertaining.

Director Lee Isaac Chung insists despite directing one of the most anticipated natural disaster flicks in ages, he’s not about making it preachy ... telling CNN he doesn't believe movies should be about heavy-handed messages.

The movie, ft. Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones is a fresh take on the 1996 classic. It centers on a retired tornado chaser who gets roped back into the action in Oklahoma, teaming up with a new squad and some fancy tech to chase storms again.

Lee Greenwood is positive Donald Trump surviving an assassination attempt was divine intervention ... and he's praying it'll result in a stronger Christian nation going forward.

The country music star -- who's set to perform at the Republican National Convention Tuesday -- tells TMZ ... he believes faith and prayer from supporters resulted in Trump's life being spared this weekend, this after Thomas Matthew Crooks tried killing him.

In the wake of that ... LG says this country needs faith and prayer now more than ever ... because he, and many other religious people, genuinely think it worked to save 45.

Thomas Matthew Crooks -- the would-be assassin who tried and failed to take out Donald Trump -- now has an official cause of death in the books ... if it wasn't already obvious.

The Butler County Coroner tells TMZ ... Crooks died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the coroner is ruling his death a homicide. Of course, he was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent after he opened fire into the crowd in Butler, PA this weekend.

To be clear, "homicide" is the manner of death, and not a crime ... like murder or manslaughter. The coroner's ruling in no way suggests the Secret Service snipers were in unjustified in taking out Crooks ... who had not only opened fire on a former President, but also shot and killed a citizen in the crowd.

Tenacious D singer Kyle Gass' birthday wish about taking out Trump has turned into his worst nightmare -- 'cause his management team is cutting him off ... TMZ has learned.

Michael Greene of Greene Talent -- which was repping Kyle of late -- tells TMZ ... they've parted ways with Kyle, and no longer represent him as a direct result of his incendiary comments.

This comes shortly after Jack Black announced they're pulling the plug on the rest of their tour ... so it looks like Kyle's career has taken a hit, for now, following his "Don't miss Trump next time" comment ... which pissed off a helluva lot of people.

Donald Trump showed up to the Republican National Convention this week with an army of Secret Service agents ... none of whom were women, which is sparking an interesting convo.

The ex-Prez -- who just survived an assassination attempt over the weekend -- popped up in Milwaukee for night #1 of the convention ... marking the first time he appeared at a public event since Thomas Matthew Crooks tried putting a bullet in his head Saturday.

Of course, since then ... everyone has been saying his security detail would be beefed up -- including President Biden, who dedicated more protection -- and that was apparent Monday.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is speaking out for the first time following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump ... calling the whole ordeal "unacceptable."

The longtime member of the Secret Service -- who became director in September 2022 -- addressed Saturday's shooting with ABC News correspondent Pierre Thomas on Monday. As Cheatle put it ... she has taken full responsibility for the attack, making it clear the incident should've "never happened."

She added ... "The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary."