CNN

Frickin' raccoons, man ... they're feisty little beasts -- especially the ones in DC -- as CNN reporter Joe Johns learned while trying to report on President Trump's schedule.

The hilarious moment of levity went down early Wednesday morning on one of the White House lawns as a pesky raccoon interrupted Joe setting up for a live shot.

Joe stood his ground and yelled, "Get!!! AHHHHHH!!!!" ... trying to scare off the furry photobomber. He even threw a large object in its direction, but the raccoon kept coming.

JJ inched closer to losing his cool, and had some harsh words ... but we'll give him credit for not cursing while wearing a hot mic.

Apparently, this is an ongoing problem at 1600 Pennsylvania -- Joe later tweeted it's the second time in 2 weeks a raccoon's shown up during his morning show shift. He also dropped an important fact ... "No animals were harmed. I threw something to scare it off."

Jacob Blake's dad says he spoke to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for a full hour and he found it comforting because it felt like he was talking to family.

Blake's father, who's also named Jacob, says he and Blake's mother's were nervous at first to talk with the Democrats' Presidential ticket ... but says Biden and Harris calmed them down. The elder Jacob said, "I don't think people understand the worry of a mother. That's her baby."

He revealed how the conversation went down Friday morning on CNN's "New Day" ... saying it felt "like I was speaking to my uncle and one of my sisters -- literally, literally." Jacob's father added, "It felt like they knew what was going on. And, they didn't act like they were in a hurry to go anywhere. They spent time with us."

When asked if President Trump has reached out, Jacob said, "That's a negative." Trump also never mentioned Jacob Blake's name during his RNC nomination acceptance speech.

Jacob's father, who referred to Biden and Harris as President and Vice President, also touched on his son's leg being shackled to his hospital bed.

As we reported ... Blake's dad was furious after finding out his son was handcuffed to his hospital bed during a Wednesday visit. He questioned why that was even necessary since Jacob's paralyzed from the waist down after taking 7 shots to the back from a cop. Jacob's father said his son asked, "Why did they shoot me so many times?"

Jacob's dad pointed out ... "He can't go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?"

NASCAR has released a photo of the rope found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday ... and yeah, THAT'S A NOOSE.

Of course, NASCAR has said the rope had been fashioned into a noose by an unknown person back in October 2019. Investigators determined it was NOT made as a specific threat to Wallace, who is Black.

The FBI -- which also worked the case -- says their agents have also determined Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime.

NASCAR says the item is a garage pull rope. Wallace says he's raced out of hundreds of garages in his life and has never seen one fashioned as a noose until Talladega.

In fact, NASCAR president Steve Phelps said Thursday his organization thoroughly searched all 29 NASCAR tracks -- which includes 1,684 garage stalls -- and only ONE of the ropes was fashioned into a noose: "the one discovered Sunday in the No. 43 [Bubba Wallace] garage stall."

Phelps added, “As you can see from the photo, the noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba."

He added, "With similar emotion, others across our industry and our media stood up to defend the NASCAR family. Our NASCAR family. Because they are part of the NASCAR family, too. We are proud to see so many stand up for what’s right.”

Earlier this week, Bubba praised the FBI and NASCAR for "acting swiftly and treating this as a real threat."

"I think we’ll gladly take a little embarrassment over what the alternatives could have been," Wallace added.

Bubba admits he's had an emotional few days but he's relieved "that the investigation revealed that this wasn’t what we feared it was."

"Make no mistake, though some will try, this should not detract from the show of unity we had on Monday, and the progress we've made as a sport to be a more welcoming environment for all."

After the results of the investigation were made public, Wallace spoke with CNN's Don Lemon about the backlash he had been receiving --  saying, "I'm mad because people are trying to test my character."

"The image that I have and I have seen of what was hanging in my garage is not a garage pull. I've been racing all my life, we've raced out of hundreds of garages that never had garage pulls like that."

"It was a noose," Wallace continued ... "whether tied in 2019 or whatever, it was a noose."

"So, it wasn't directed at me but somebody tied a noose. That's what I'm saying."

Wallace says he's still very grateful to NASCAR for supporting him -- and now feels more motivated than ever to win.

"This will not break me. None of the allegations of being a hoax will break me or tear me down."

"It will piss me off, absolutely. But, that only fuels the competitive drive in me to shut everybody up."

Dave Chappelle responded to Don Lemon's call for celebs to speak out on the death of George Floyd in a big way ... tearing into the CNN anchor on a surprise special he dropped early Friday morning.

Netflix released the Chappelle special on its YouTube comedy channel, and it's all about Dave addressing Floyd's killing by police and the ensuing protests to end racism and police brutality.

Chappelle also blasted Lemon for urging celebrities to use their platforms to talk about Floyd and the national unrest his death caused ... saying people don't need or want to hear from celebs right now. As only Dave could put it ... "Do we give a f**k what Ja Rule thinks?!"

He added ... the streets are speaking for themselves, and he isn't about to get in the way of trying to speak over that. Fittingly, the special is titled "8:46" ... the length of time accused murderer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on George's neck.

The surprise stand-up special was filmed outside on June 6 in Beavercreek, Ohio, in front of a masked, socially-distanced audience, and it's a lot less comedy than usual for Dave ... and more powerful commentary.

If you're wondering... Don's seen it, and he isn't pissed.

Friday morning, Lemon said he's honored to be mentioned by his favorite comedian and even jokes his nieces and nephews will think he's cool now, but also concedes that Dave makes a good point ... a lot of people don't care about celebrities' opinions.

Don says he welcomes Chappelle's criticism and encourages it because it brings more attention to the topic, and still thinks it's important for people like Dave and himself to use their large audience to spread that message.

Drop the mic, you're going to jail.

That's exactly what happened to CNN reporter Omar Jimenez right in the middle of covering the Minneapolis riots over George Floyd's killing ... but the cops are now saying, oops.

Jimenez was live on the air, just after 5 AM Central Time, when 2 Minnesota State Police officers in riot gear took the mic out of his hands, placed zip ties around his wrists and took him into custody.

At the time, he was standing on the mostly empty street in front of Minneapolis PD's 3rd Precinct which went up in flames Thursday night. State troopers had just arrived on the scene to clear the area, and you could hear Jimenez clearly identify himself as a CNN reporter ... and he also said he and his crew would move wherever cops needed them to go.

The cops weren't in the mood to talk, clearly, and arrested Jimenez and his crew -- but a couple hours later, they were released.

The Minnesota State Patrol says 3 CNN staffers were arrested because officers were "clearing the streets and restoring order." They say all 3 were released "once they were confirmed to be members of the media."

The irony here is pretty obvious -- a black reporter gets arrested while covering riots sparked by the fact a police officer has NOT been arrested for killing a black man, on camera.

CNN's pissed because Jimenez and his crew identified themselves as media while ON THE AIR, mind you. The network says Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had to step in to expedite the release of their staffers.

It's getting heavy.

Van Jones says while America's now coping with a pandemic, black America's been battling epidemic violence, poverty and disease long before coronavirus came along.

The Reform Alliance CEO was on "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about his CNN special, "The Color of Covid" -- and he didn't mince words when describing the challenges facing many minority communities.

Van says there's always been an epidemic of death in neighborhoods of color. He says, "You’re worried about invisible bullets from the virus? We've been dodging real bullets the whole time." He says that mentality explains the recent massive crowds gathered for parties in Atlanta and Chicago.

Black and Latino communities also face different health risks as the nation reopens, due to underlying health problems that have gone unchecked for years. As Van, and many doctors, point out ... hypertension, heart disease and diabetes immediately put you in the at-risk category for COVID-19. Of course, staying home only creates economic hardship.

Van says the federal government needs a better battle plan, one that offers better medical AND economic stimuli to people of color.

Rob Manfred says owners could lose $4 BILLION if the MLB is forced to cancel its 2020 season due to coronavirus ... claiming the economic fallout would be "devastating."

"We’re a big business, but we’re a seasonal business and, unfortunately, this crisis began at the low point for us in terms of revenue," the league commish told CNN on Thursday.

"We hadn’t quite started our season yet and if we don’t play a season, the losses for the owners could approach $4 billion."

Manfred says he and his staff are working tirelessly to figure out a way to avoid that possibility ... revealing to Anderson Cooper that they've come up with an 80-page protocol to keep players safe in a return scenario.

Manfred says the league is eyeing "frequent testing," quarantine plans for those who contract the virus and safety measurements like fan-less games to ensure players' health is the top priority if a comeback happens.

The problem? There's a disagreement right now between MLB owners and players over whether or not players should take a pay cut in a return to the diamond.

Rays ace Blake Snell blasted the notion this week ("For me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof") and several MLB stars have since backed the 27-year-old.

Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper said on his Twitch stream Thursday, "He's speaking the truth, bro. I ain't mad at him."

Rockies megastar Nolan Arenado added, per The Athletic, "He made a lot of good points. There are some points he made that were true, that are facts."

Anderson Cooper is the proud new father of a baby boy ... revealing Wyatt Morgan Cooper to the world.

The CNN anchor took to Instagram Thursday night to reveal earlier this week Wyatt was born via surrogate. Cooper said, "As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son's birth."

As for Wyatt's name, the 52-year-old says it's in honor of his dad, who passed away when he was just 10, saying, "I hope I can be as good a dad as he was."

Anderson also shared a sweet message about his surrogate, saying, "Most of all, I am grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, and watched over him lovingly, and tenderly, and gave birth to him. It is an extraordinary blessing - what she, and all surrogates give to families who can't have children."

Finally, Anderson says, "I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him. I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues."

His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, died last year.

Pete Buttigieg is firing back at Rush Limbaugh's homophobic remarks with poise and class -- and interestingly enough ... he's got Steve Bannon supporting him here.

Mayor Pete went on CNN Sunday to talk about the campaign, Nevada, polls and attracting voters of color -- but he was also given the opportunity to respond to the conservative radio host's recent controversial POV ... that Trump would easily defeat a gay opponent.

PB was pretty measured, but also firm. He says he loves his husband, Chasten, and doesn't care who knows it. More importantly, he won't take family advice from someone like Rush -- who says Pete seems to enjoy making a show out of kissing a man on stage.

Pete corrects the record there as well -- telling Dana Bash he usually just hugs Chasten.

As we've reported ... DT himself has actually taken the opposite stance, saying he doesn't think Pete being gay would affect voters all that much -- and certainly shouldn't hurt his electability.

Welp, as it turns out ... Trump's old campaign pal, Steve Bannon, feels the exact same way. We got him out in NYC as he was leaving the FOX News studio and asked him about it. You gotta watch this for yourself because Steve is incredibly strong in his statement to us.