2024 Presidential Election

Tim Walz has power with people from his past ... 'cause he's changed the mind of a former player he mentored decades ago when he was a Minnesota high school athletics coach.

Walz -- the current Minnesota governor and Kamala Harris' VP choice -- was the football coach at Mankato West High School in Mankato, MN, for several seasons in the '90s -- and he took a student named Dan Clement under his wing.

TMZ caught up with Dan on Wednesday and asked about his experiences with Walz as a teenager. Dan told us Walz had such an impact on his life that he went from an undecided vote to the Harris/Walz Democratic ticket in the upcoming presidential election.

Kamala Harris was heckled by pro-Palestinian protesters during her rally in Michigan Wednesday night – but she kept her cool and took charge.

The Democratic presidential nominee was onstage delivering a stump speech in front of a large crowd in Detroit when the demonstrators started chanting, "Kamala, Kamala, you can't hide ...we won't vote for genocide."

The objectors were pissed about how Kamala -- the current VP -- and President Joe Biden have handled the war between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group ruling the Palestinians in the Middle East. Kamala and Joe have caught a lot of flack at home from Palestinian groups for their support of Israel.

Ben Stiller wishes he was Black, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz kick off their campaign and Lionel Messi has a mess at home ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Babcock react to Ben's racial joke about Jewish guys wanting to be Black.

President Biden is worried about how Donald Trump and his supporters might react if Kamala Harris wins the 2024 presidential election ... and it doesn't sound good.

In his first TV interview since bowing out of the race, Biden sat down with CBS News and was asked straight up if he was confident in the peaceful transfer of power when the next president is sworn in January after the election results are certified.

Biden's response ... "If Trump loses, I'm not confident at all."

Tim Walz quickly hit pause on his speech at a campaign rally in Wisconsin after noticing an attendee wilting in the heat ... directing staff to get the person some H2O.

The Minnesota Governor was at the podium Wednesday in Eau Claire when things came to a screeching halt.

Kamala Harris' running mate was in the middle of a sentence when he stopped and said, "Can we get somebody to help? Somebody is hot." Walz pointed to someone in the crowd who was apparently dehydrated.

Tim Walz's experience as a high school football coach and geography teacher is going to translate well to the Kamala Harris campaign ... so says one of his former students and players.

Nate Hood, who played football for Coach Walz and took one of his classes at Mankato West High School in southern Minnesota, joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and told us how the Minnesota Governor's background will serve him well moving forward.

The way Nate remembers it ... Walz was a master motivator who knew how to bring out the best in kids -- in the classroom and on the playing field.

J.D. Vance looked ready to pull a "Captain America: Civil War" Wednesday ... walking around an airport tarmac looking for VP Kamala Harris -- and talking smack to reporters.

Video from a gaggle of reporters on the Eau Claire, Wisconsin tarmac today captured Harris walking toward Air Force 2. That's when the Republican nominee for vice president rolls up and starts in on Harris.

Vance says he wants to speak outside AF2 'cause he's going to fly around in the vice-presidential plane in a few short months -- displaying an abundance of confidence in his Republican ticket's chances in November.

Governor Josh Shapiro's actions while Pennsylvania Attorney General stirred up outrage among a dead woman's family -- and may have derailed his VP candidacy.

CBS News reported several of Shapiro's actions while serving as PA AG are receiving renewed attention, including the death investigation of Ellen Greenberg -- a Philadelphia teacher stabbed 20 times -- 10 times in the back -- in 2011.

While first ruled a homicide, local police scoffed at the conclusion ... arguing it couldn't be murder because the door was locked from the inside and her fiancé -- who said he broke down the door to find her -- had no defensive wounds. The medical examiner ultimately changed his determination and called it a suicide.

Kamala Harris' campaign is invading enemy territory ... trolling  Donald Trump on his own social media website ... and hitting him where it hurts .... the size of his crowds.

The Democratic candidate's official account shared a split photo of competing rallies held at the same venue to Truth Social, and Kamala's crowd seems to dwarf DT's.

Kamala's campaign posted a pic of Tuesday's big rally, where she introduced Tim Walz as her running mate. The stands at Temple University's Liacouras Center were filled to the gills.

Tim Walz's former students are crediting him with not only protecting them from vicious bullying ... but also teaching the bullies a life lesson.

Jacob Reitan, a student at Mankato West High School where the Minnesota Gov. and his wife Gwen taught in the '90s, raved about Walz being a role model ... saying he fought tooth and nail for inclusivity, showing both him and his bullies a better path.

Walz helped launch the school's first gay-straight alliance, and Jacob told MSNBC how his teacher stepped in to protect him and others who were targeted.

3:53 PM PT -- Tim Walz is using his first speech on the campaign trail to take shots at Donald Trump, and the crowd is eating it all up.

Walz ripped Trump's presidency, saying DT froze in the face of the COVID crisis and tanked the economy ... then he delivered the zinger.

"Make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump ... and that's not even counting the crimes he committed."

Eric Trump is clearly not a fan of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ... as the former First Son hurled insults at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a candid interview.

In the video ... Donald Trump's son branded the Prince and his actress wife as "spoiled apples" while speaking with GBNews.com. As Eric put it ... the U.S. would "happily" deport PH and MM back to the U.K. ... though, he said the Duke's home country likely wouldn't want him either.

While Eric has blatant disdain for Harry and Meghan, he made it clear he was a fan of the Royal Family ... and even praised the institution as "beautiful" and worthy of the American public's praise.

Kamala Harris has a running mate ... he is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Walz has been stumping hard for Harris since President Biden stepped aside and endorsed her ... and you may have seen him leading the charge, calling Donald Trump and J.D. Vance "weird."

The 60-year-old was elected Governor of Minnesota in 2018, and reelected in 2022. With Minnesota considered a Democratic-leaning swing state in the upcoming presidential election, Walz could help Harris secure some much-needed electoral college votes if they win his state. He's very popular in the Midwest, so he could also help in battleground states such as Wisconsin.

Nancy Pelosi clearly pissed off President Joe Biden ... because they haven't spoken in weeks, and it all goes back to her putting pressure on the Prez to withdraw from the race.

The former House speaker stopped by CNN Monday, and Pelosi awkwardly confessed she hadn't spoken with 46 since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and tapped Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.

Watch the clip. Pelosi is uncharacteristically nervous as she describes her current relationship with Biden, or lack thereof. What's especially interesting ... she hedged when asked if she was "okay" with Biden today.

Yvette Nicole Brown's all about ditching the hate in politics and is urging young people to hit the polls no matter who they’re backing ... even though she’s Team Kamala Harris herself.

The actress spoke to TMZ Monday, telling us she was speaking in a non-partisan way on behalf of the entertainment org The Creative Coalition about their virtual event "Your Voice, Your Vote" Tuesday ... aimed to encourage Gen-Z voters on how to vote, and nothing on who to place their one precious vote for.

Yvette said she’s just trying to encourage young people, especially first-time voters, to cast their votes for the kind of world they want to live in.

Donald Trump is as defiant as ever coming off his NABJ appearance ... 50 Cent's "Many Men" track is still his theme song, despite producer Darrell "Digga" Branch's objections.

Trump ramped up his presidential campaign Monday by hopping on Adin Ross' Kick stream to speak to first-time Gen Z voters.

The ex-prez casually walked out to a track from 50's "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" album blaring through the room ... and he got a standing O.