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Thomas Matthew Crooks took in the lay of the land at the Donald Trump rally ... reportedly by flying a drone over the event before climbing a roof and opening fire.

The would-be assassin filmed aerial footage with the drone shortly before Trump took the stage ... law enforcement sources told the Wall Street Journal.

Crooks flew the drone along a pre-planned route ... suggesting Trump's shooter did a good amount of research at the site of the Butler, PA rally.

Count Joel Kinnaman among the mass of air travelers grounded by a massive tech outage ... he got stuck in an airport overnight, and had to use the ground as a mattress.

We got the 'Suicide Squad' star Friday at LAX and our photog asked him how the outage impacted his travel plans ... and Joel told us about his nightmare situation, which a helluva lot of other people also went through to cap off the week.

The weary traveler says it took him almost 24 hours to get across the country ... because his flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles was delayed due to the tech snafu -- so he was right there with everyone else suffering through it.

Kyle Richards is playing cheerleader for Morgan Wade ... while estranged husband Mauricio Umansky vacations halfway across the world with a much younger actress.

The 'RHOBH' star was backstage for Morgan's concert Friday at the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival in St. Paul ... supporting her close friend and dressing to the nines. We're told Kyle had an appearance at the festival for 'Mamitas', a tequila drink that she is a part-owner of.

Kyle's very public show of support for Morgan comes only hours after we got photos of Mauricio lounging at a beach club in Greece with Nikita Kahn -- where they were getting handsy and looking very much like a new couple.

Glen Powell's crushing it in Hollywood -- but he's got other priorities these days that have nothing to do with movies ... like trading a bit of the spotlight to hit the books.

We got the A-list actor outside NYC's ABC Studio Thursday -- and we asked him about his recently-revealed plans to enroll at the University of Texas at Austin ... where he'll be gunning for a degree in Radio, Television and Film.

Glen tells us he's doing this to finish what he started -- sounds like he hit the pause button on school to pursue a career in front of the camera -- but he's got other people to please too.

President Biden ain't throwing in the towel just yet -- 'cause top-level Dems are throwing another big fundraiser for him in the near future ... and David Letterman's going.

The news just came down from AP -- which says Hawaii Gov. Josh Green is hosting the shindig for Joe on July 29 out in Martha's Vineyard ... where they'll be hanging out at a private home that apparently belongs to a friend of Green's.

In terms of DL's involvement ... word is, he's set to headline the get-together -- so, in other words, he'll be the talent ... and probably moderate things as the emcee.

Jordin Sparks isn't feeling great about her chances to replace Katy Perry as a judge on "American Idol" ... but she's still open to a call, and even has a sense of how she'd do it.

We caught up with the 'Idol' alum in L.A., where she confirmed she was totally serious when she pitched herself as the new judge for season 23 -- and while she believes that fell on deaf ears ... she also says she'd still love to return to her 'Idol' roots.

Jordin says hiring someone like her to fill in for Katy makes sense in her mind -- 'cause she's been on the show and has the experience ... but of course, it ain't really her call.

Amber Rose did a parody of Vanilla Ice's hit hip-hop classic at the Republican National Convention -- and if you're wondering if the man himself is bent outta shape about ... well, we have an answer.

Vanilla tells TMZ ... he does indeed have ownership rights to "Ice Ice Baby" -- the track that Amber and rapper Forgiato Blow spoofed to promo their support of Donald Trump at the convention this week -- and VI notes he didn't approve the track to be used for GOP purposes.

He goes on to tell us that the publishing company that also holds rights to the song didn't clear it either -- which is why it got yanked off of YouTube ... but in terms of whether Vanilla is actually upset about it ... it doesn't really sound like he is.

Thomas Matthew Crooks' honor society membership seems to have been all for show -- because we now know that the dude didn't go to events ... and was unknown to members.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, TMC certainly was part of the local Phi Theta Kappa chapter at the Community College of Allegheny County -- but just on paper, because in terms of anyone knowing or interacting with him ... we're told that simply never happened.

We're told Thomas never attended any events or functions within the honor society as far as PTK brass is aware -- and more importantly ... we're told no one even knew this guy's name/face until it was reported in the media that he was a member of the org.

Caitlin Clark is opening up on her decision to pass on the WNBA's three-point competition on Friday ... saying it all came down to getting some much-needed rest.

The Indiana Fever star is notably not among the sharpshooters taking part in the long-distance All-Star Weekend event ... and many wondered why the league's biggest star declined to be involved when it could have been an opportunity to get more eyeballs on the organization.

Clark provided some answers earlier in the day ... explaining she's been playing non-stop for a long time -- and she wants to put her energy into helping her Fever teammates, rather than prepare for the contest.

An Indianapolis man is dead after another driver shot him at point-blank range during a road rage incident caught on video -- and cops have released the man who fired the fatal shots.

In the video, a man rushes to the driver's side of a large white truck ... with what appears to be a gun in his hand, and he's screaming at the other motorist while punching his door during the Tuesday incident.

Watch closely ... because when he's rushing up to the car, the gun's in his right hand -- but, when he reaches the door he switches it to his left before raising his arm and pointing.

Anne Hathaway is proving she's a major Swiftie ... dancing her heart out at Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour stop in Germany, and she's got some serious moves!

The actress was filmed in the VIP section at the VELTINS-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany Friday -- where she was having the time of her life. As Taylor belts out her hit "…Ready For It?," AH jumps up and down while throwing her hands in the air.

It's clearly Anne, too ... as the starlet was spotted earlier in the evening wearing the same outfit -- which includes a white jacket and yellow sunglasses. So yeah, people noticed her.

President Biden is currently fighting this third bout with COVID-19 -- and while some have speculated it'll mess with his brain power ... one doctor says that's likely not the case.

Here's the deal ... the 81-year-old POTUS was diagnosed with COVID again this week -- and in light of all the scrutiny about his mental acuity ... a fair amount of people have suggested JB could suffer "brain fog" and other symptoms that screw with one's ability to think clearly.

Of course, Biden's already under fire for what many consider mental lapses as it is -- but one expert who's in the field tells us folks need to slow their roll by pre-diagnosing Biden.

Kylie Kelce -- the wife of former NFL star Jason Kelce -- says she's not pregnant ... and she's blasting all those who have fueled the rumors -- all while revealing she's previously had a miscarriage.

The 32-year-old mother of three took to TikTok to air her grievances ... letting her followers know she's fed up with people questioning whether or not she has another bun in the oven.

She explained the inquiries were highly insensitive ... as just prior to the birth of her eldest daughter years ago, she suffered a miscarriage.

Sean Kingston and his mother are now facing federal charges after being accused of defrauding businesses out of more than $1 million.

Federal prosecutors say a Grand Jury in Miami indicted the "Beautiful Girls" singer and his mom, Janice Turner, hitting each with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and 5 counts of wire fraud.

The charges, announced Friday, are for allegations Sean and his mom cooked up a scheme to swindle multiple businesses out of jewelry, luxury vehicles and other goods.

President Biden's cognitive chops have been a hot topic in the political arena -- and Rep. Seth Moulton has just stoked the flames with his worrying account of their last hangout.

The Democratic congressman dropped a bombshell from last month's D-Day anniversary meetup in France ... writing in a Boston Globe op-ed Friday that Biden seemed to forget who he was during the event, even though they’ve crossed paths plenty of times ... heck, Moulton even competed against him in the 2020 primaries.

Seth's kept it real, acknowledging memory slips can happen to anyone -- but notes the Prez ain't no average Joe ... and after rewatching his shaky debate against Trump, he’s connecting the dots and thinks his forgetfulness is, in fact, a bigger issue.

Brittney Griner made a special announcement Friday ... she and her wife, Cherelle, have welcomed their first child!!

The Phoenix Mercury star dropped the exciting news on CBS Sports' "We Need To Talk" ... prior to the WNBA's All-Star Skills Challenge and 3-Point contest in Phoenix, Arizona.

"He's here," the Phoenix Mercury center said. "Seven pounds, eight ounces."