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Don Lemon seems to be trying to push himself out of the limelight amid all the anger pointed his way ... because TMZ has learned he's backed out of an upcoming event he was set to moderate.

Don was scheduled to host an event in NYC Tuesday, all about race and real estate in honor of Black History Month.

TMZ has learned Don stepped away from the gig ... making the decision not long after facing serious backlash for last week's misogynistic comments about Nikki Haley.

We're told Don was worried about his current news coverage overtaking the event, and our sources tell us event coordinators at Douglas Elliman agreed ... so he bowed out.

We've learned he's been replaced by real estate broker John Gomes, who works for Elliman -- the event will go on as scheduled.

As you know, Don was dragged after categorizing a woman's "prime" based on her age in regards to Nikki -- not only being met with anger online, but echoed by cohost Poppy Harlow.

President Biden just made a surprise visit to Europe -- touching down in Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... as we come up on a year of warfare.

Biden popped up in Kyiv early Monday morning, a stop that wasn't previously announced -- and perhaps for good reason. It seems POTUS wanted to keep this trip under the radar, which makes sense considering he's in a literal battle zone.

The purpose of the visit is to announce new financial assistance -- upwards of half a billion dollars, Prez Biden noted -- which will cover everything from more military equipment, artillery, ammo and weapons for the Ukrainian army as they continue to fight Putin's troops.

On top of that, he said the U.S. would impose new sanctions against Moscow -- all on the heels of Vice President Kamala Harris declaring Russia has committed crimes against humanity by waging war.

In other words, Biden simply wanted to show in-person solidarity and reaffirm America's commitment to the embattled nation ... and his presence was certainly a sight to behold, especially with sirens sounding off as Joe did a walkabout with Zelensky.

The timing here is also noteworthy ... Feb. 24th will mark the one-year anniversary of the day Russia launched a full-scale invasion.

Don Lemon will not be on the air to start the new week -- and his future at CNN seems a little uncertain too in the wake of his sexist comment ... this according to new reports.

Per the Daily Beast -- which cited insiders with knowledge of the situation -- Lemon will miss Monday's show for 'CNN This Morning' ... and will simply enjoy the holiday, President's Day. It's being reported that his upcoming absence was not planned prior to Thursday.

Rather than Don there, the two anchors that'll be holding it down are Poppy Harlow and Sara Sidner ... with Kaitlin Collins, another regular co-host, being stationed in Poland for coverage. Monday's on-air lineup was sent out to CNN staffers this weekend, so says DB.

That's not all ... according to the outlet, DL's position at CNN is apparently up in the air at this point -- with one of the cited insiders saying his time there is being discussed at the highest levels, while also adding ... "He is a constant distraction."

Another report by FOX News cites yet another CNN source, who says Lemon should return by Tuesday, but not even that is guaranteed ... because, apparently, it'll depend on "where his head is at." It's also unclear if this a straight up suspension, or if it's on Don's terms.

In any case, it sounds like there might be changes in the near future. We'd already reported that Don hopped on a staff call Friday to apologize, but it did not go over too well on the receiving end ... with sources telling us many took it has him patting himself on the back.

CNN Worldwide CEO, Chris Licht, is also said to have been pissed about the Nikki Haley quip, reportedly saying ... "His remarks were upsetting, unacceptable, and unfair to his co-hosts, and ultimately a huge distraction to the great work of this organization."

The heroic Florida woman who bravely fought off an alleged sexual predator during her workout is keeping her head up, and not allowing the violent incident to derail her lifestyle ... even in the gym.

Nashali Alma joined "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about the terrifying moment she had to fight off the guy in the gym of her Tampa apartment complex.

She says he was a good 6 inches taller than her, but as we've seen in the video ... Nashali gave him all he could handle. She told us exactly what she did to fend him off.

She says she has gotten an outpouring of love and support in the last few days, since cops released the surveillance footage of the January incident -- and it all has her feeling really good.

As we reported, Nashali was working out in her gym when Xavier Thomas-Jones came to the door and she let him in, thinking he forgot his key.

Minutes later, he charged at her, but the nursing school student wound up giving him a major beatdown ... before eventually breaking free.

Xavier was arrested the next day and charged with sexual battery and kidnapping.

A family dealing with the fallout of the toxic chemical disaster in Ohio say their health and their property are in decline with no end in sight ... and they're pissed at the fed's response.

Nathan Izotic, whose family owns a home two miles from the train derailment that unleashed toxic chemicals into the air, water and ground, joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday and shared what life is like for folks in the area ... and it ain't pretty.

Despite getting the green light to go home, Nathan says he and his family are still suffering from headaches, confusion, tiredness, vomiting and difficulty breathing ... he says the air smells like burnt plastic, there's a chemical sheen and rainbow coloration in the creek running through their backyard and everything reeks of chemicals.

In perhaps the most damning sign of what's happening ... Nathan says there's absolutely no sign of wildlife anymore ... and his dog keeps throwing up.

Of course, it's been two weeks since the Feb. 3 train derailment that started the environmental disaster, and Nathan says folks are fed up with a lack of relief from the feds.

The way he sees it ... authorities and the EPA are "pissing down our backs and telling us it's not raining."

Nathan wants to see investigations and accountability from railroad operator, Norfolk Southern ... and he and his wife are planning to take legal action.

The mother of Tyre Nichols says the 5 former Memphis police officers on trial for her son's death are clearly afraid to face some hard truths ... 'cause she says they won't look her in the eye.

Tyre's mom, RowVaughn Wells, says she's going to be front and center at every court date as the trial unfolds ... but she says, so far, the ex-cops lack the courage to face her.

Former Memphis PD officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith made their first court appearance Friday ... putting them in the same room as Tyre's mom and stepdad. She says they refused to even look her way.

The fired cops were arrested and indicted last month on a slew of felony charges ... second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression ... and on Friday they each pleaded not guilty.

Tyre's mom says she's living a nightmare ... but she's vowing to keep showing up to court in support of her late son and see the trial through to the end.

Don Lemon jumped on a CNN staff call Friday morning to apologize for his sexist on-air comment Thursday that women are not in their prime after their 40s ... but it did not go over well.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Don jumped on for only 90 seconds to address what he said about Nikki Haley and, for that matter, all women.

He said he didn't mean what he said, adding he's going to continue to fight discrimination against women. He essentially said some of his best friends are women, citing his relationships with CNN talent Dana Bash and Erin Burnett, VP for Talent and Content Development for CNN Amy Entelis, and his mom and sister.

We're told some people on the call talked afterward and called Don "tone deaf," with one saying it looks like Don was giving himself kudos for owning his mistake.

The embattled anchor had the day off Friday ... this after enraging his cohost Poppy Harlow with his comment. Although, our sources say his day off had been scheduled beforehand.

A Florida woman fought off an alleged sexual predator and gave him a major beatdown before she escaped to safety ... and it was all caught on dramatic video.

Nashali Alma was working out in the gym at her Tampa apartment complex when trouble came to the door in the form of Xavier Thomas-Jones.

Thinking Xavier had forgotten his key pass to the fitness center, Nashali opened the door to let him in and went right back to lifting weights.

For the next 2 ½ minutes, Xavier strangely stared at a wall before turning to walk toward Nashali. All hell then broke loose.

Check out the surveillance video showing Xavier trying to grab Nashali, who pushed him away and ran off with her cell phone in hand.

But, Xavier chased Nashali around the gym as she tried to no avail to call 911 using her phone. Finally, Xavier caught Nashali, put her in a bear hug and threw her to the ground, attempting to commit a sexual act, cops said.

That's when Nashali went all Mike Tyson on Xavier, pummeling him with right and left hooks. She also grabbed Xavier in a headlock and continued to use his head as a punching bag.

The two wrestled on the ground as Nashali allegedly pulled on Xavier's beard, causing him severe pain. She then broke free and dashed out of the gym to contact the police.

Xavier was arrested the next day and charged with sexual battery and kidnapping. Cops said the attack occurred on January 22, but they only recently released the surveillance footage.

New development in the Idaho University murder case ... it was NOT one of the surviving roommates who discovered the carnage in the house, it was a buddy of one of the victims.

Ethan Chapin's best friend is the one who discovered the lifeless bodies of Ethan and his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, laying in the same bed ... this according to NewsNation.

It has been widely reported that one of the two surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, stumbled upon the bodies 8 hours after the slayings and called 911 from her cell phone.

NewsNation clarified that information, saying Chapin's longtime friend used Mortensen's phone to dial 911. The news org has not disclosed the friend's identity.

This indicates the fear the survivors must have been feeling ... locked in their bedrooms for hours after the murders.

As you know, Bryan Kohberger was arrested for the quadruple murder back in December. Kohberger, a former Ph.D student at Washington State University, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.

A horrifying accident just went down in northern Alabama -- with a combat helicopter falling out of the sky and landing near a freeway ... and the whole thing's on video.

The tragedy occurred Wednesday afternoon in Huntsville, where eyewitnesses say that the military-grade chopper started to descend toward the ground out of nowhere ... only to slam and burst into flames along the median of Highway 53.

Fortunately, it doesn't appear any civilians were harmed in the crash -- but the Madison County Sheriff's Office says sadly, everyone onboard perished ... it's unclear how many exactly. Here's another thing, officials are now confirming this was, in fact, a Black Hawk -- which are normally designated for war zones. Some reports suggest it was a UH-60 model.

The moment the helicopter started to descend was partially caught on a Nest home security camera -- which actually caught the moment it collided as well ... which you can hear in scary detail. This was filmed from quite a distance, but it's incredibly jarring to watch.

Aftermath footage taken from a closer POV is just as distressing ... massive plumes of black smoke erupted from the scene -- and first responders were rushing to attend to the fire.

So far, there's no explanation for why a Black Hawk was in the area or how/why it crashed. An investigation is underway, and cleanup efforts have blocked off all surrounding traffic.

Prosecutors said Wednesday afternoon they are dropping the domestic violence case against former Univ. of Texas men's basketball head coach Chris Beard.

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza made the announcement in a statement ... saying that after reviewing all of the facts of the case and speaking with the alleged victim, "our office has determined that the felony offense cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

A motion to dismiss the case was formally filed earlier Wednesday, Garza said.

Beard was initially hit with a charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation -- family violence ... over his alleged role in a heated confrontation with his fiancée, Randi Trew.

According to court docs, Trew said Beard hit, strangled, and bit her during a Dec. 12 argument in Austin, Texas. Police said they saw visible teeth marks and redness on her arm and an abrasion on her face and leg. They also said she had a cut on one of her thumbs.

Trew ultimately walked back the allegations in a public statement .... saying, "Chris has stated that he was acting in self-defense, and I do not refute that."

She also added, "I do not believe Chris was trying to intentionally harm me in any way. It was never my intent to have him arrested or prosecuted."

Despite the retraction, UT fired Beard on Jan. 5.

Beard, who was 29-13 with the Longhorns after coming over from Texas Tech in 2021, was "crushed" by the decision, according to his attorney.

A preschool in Miami is under fire for intentionally putting blackface on some students ... a move staffers proudly touted as a way to celebrate Black History Month.

Parents found out on Feb. 3 what was happening at Studio Kids Little River -- which has a preschool and daycare facilities. One parent, Courtney Politis, who had 2 kids at Studio, tells TMZ she was made aware of the incident by another concerned mom.

She says pictures of at least 2 toddlers in blackface were posted by a teacher on the school's internal app. As you can imagine, those pics started circulating, showing 2-year-olds dressed in police and construction worker costumes, with dark makeup plastered on their faces.

Politis says she brought this up to the preschool's director, Patricia Vitale, to express her outrage ... but claims Vitale downplayed the racist nature of it, asking why it was a big deal.

However, afterward, Vitale sent a letter to all the parents of the preschool ... writing in part, "We have not intended to offend anyone, and we’re very sorry about any inconvenience."

A few days later, Vitale sent another message that was a little more serious. The letter read, "We wanted to let all the parents know that we met on Friday afternoon with all the teachers and staff. We went over several ethical and multicultural education points. I will teach the team a class covering all the necessary topics regarding US history and multicultural education." She added, "[Y]ou may rest assured this will never happen again."

Politis tells us that, as far as she knows, the teacher who did this didn't face any real repercussions beyond a possible talking-to. Although, she's not calling for the teacher to be fired ... she does want there to be some discipline to show this just wasn't right.

Now, as for whether this is part of a larger political issue in FL -- involving Gov. Ron DeSantis' opposition to "wokeness" -- Politis says she doesn't necessarily see a direct tie there ... instead, she points to the fact the people who run the school are Argentinian.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin says the latest mass shooting in Michigan has her full of rage -- and she's hoping this one is the tipping point for Congress to pass common sense gun laws.

We talked to the Congresswoman -- who represents Michigan's 7th district, encompassing Michigan State University, where 3 students were gunned down Monday -- and she said, sadly, it was like déjà vu. She cited the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School, also in her district.

Rep. Slotkin told us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" ... although her community has experienced this in the recent past, the same gut-wrenching feelings were sparked anew as she and her team got reports of the gunman.

Obviously, she's working with her constituents as they process this tragedy -- but in terms of where to go from here ... Rep. Slotkin says she's still in favor of pushing through bills that'd hopefully help deter such shootings.

She says the fact this shooter -- Anthony McRae -- was a convicted felon who clearly had issues is a red flag that should've popped up in background checks, and he never should've had a gun. The congresswoman also says most Americans are on board with this idea -- realizing that enforcing these kinds of policies doesn't infringe on the 2nd amendment.

The congresswoman also fielded a truly hard question -- what to do about people who are out for vengeance and hell-bent on using a gun? In other words, if bad people are insistent on doing bad things -- legally or illegally -- can we really fight this phenomenon???

It's a tough situation, but Rep. Slotkin still believes this type of festering anger in people -- which leads them to such heinous acts -- can be weeded out from the ground up.

The Michigan State Spartans community is showing an outpour of support for the university as it deals with the aftermath of Monday's mass shooting ... with alums like Magic Johnson, Le'Veon Bell and more sharing their condolences.

"Cookie & I are devastated to hear about the news of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus," Magic tweeted shortly after news broke of the tragedy. "We are praying for the victims, their families, students, faculty, employees & administration."

"This is such a tragic situation & our hearts go out to the MSU community, all of Lansing and East Lansing! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾"

Mat Ishbia, a 2000 national champion with the Michigan State basketball team and owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, released a touching tribute ... saying, "Deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy that took place at Michigan State University last night. Sending my love, thoughts, and prayers to all MSU students, the university, and the entire Spartan family."

Bell -- who played at MSU from 2010-2012 -- said, "this is sad. condolences to the victims."

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. -- who played for Sparty from 2017-18 -- also called on his followers to send their prayers.

Pro football player BJ Cunningham was shocked by the report ... saying, "This world is wild," while also sending a positive message to the families and students at his former campus.

Ex-Duke star and current San Antonio Spurs player Tre Jones sent out a statement, saying he's keeping the victims in his thoughts ... while adding shootings of this nature will keep happening until the government does something about it.

Police identified Anthony McRae as the suspect, who opened fire after entering two different buildings on campus ... killing three people and critically injuring five others before taking his own life.

Cops are investigating the tragedy ... but a motive behind the incident has not been reported.

A gunman went on a shooting rampage at Michigan State University on Monday night, killing 3 students and critically injuring 5 others before taking his own life.

The suspect, identified by police as Anthony McRae, entered two buildings on campus, turning both into shooting galleries as students ran for cover and heavily armed police officers stormed the area looking for the assailant.

Hours later, law enforcement caught up with McRae, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, cops said. During the manhunt, police released surveillance images of McRae walking inside a building while gripping an unknown object in one hand. Police later recovered a weapon.

MSU Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman discussed the attack at a news conference ... "I can’t even begin to imagine what that motive would be. That will obviously be part of our investigation."

Rozman added, "we are unsure of any affiliation that the suspect had to the University."

The deadly assault marked the 67th mass shooting in the country so far this year. A mass shooting is defined as 4 or more people killed or wounded in a single violent incident, not including the gunman.

Rozman said police first started receiving 911 calls of a shooting at Berkey Hall around 8:18 PM ET. When cops arrived at the building, they found two students dead.

Soon after, Rozman said, officers responded to another shooting at the nearby student union building, where they discovered the third student deceased.

Rozman confirmed that 5 other victims were listed in critical condition at a local hospital.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer described the MSU community as "reeling" from the shooting. She also said, "We mourn the loss of beautiful souls today, and pray for those who are continuing to fight for their lives."

The FAA temporarily closed down airspace over parts of Lake Michigan — just the latest aviation closure amid reports of UFOs being shot down.

The order was given Sunday, with the FAA shutting down access to the skies … saying it is now being used for national defense purposes. The specific area that was locked down roughly encompassed the water between Green Bay and Traverse City, give or take.

The government isn’t saying why they closed that airspace -- other than to vaguely cite NORAD operations -- but in any case … they’ve now lifted restrictions — essentially saying everything can go back to normal again, without a proper explanation.

It’s alarming … just yesterday, parts of Montana’s airspace was also briefly closed for national defense purposes — only for it to be reopened again mere hours later — but we’re all still in the dark about what exactly has the feds so spooked.

Granted, this all follows TWO unidentified flying objects being shot down in the last few days … one over Alaska and another over Canada. And, of course, this all comes on the heels on the Chinese spy balloon drama about a week ago.

People are demanding answers and transparency, while also asking … is this the new normal in the U.S. now? And more importantly … WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!?

No word from the mother ship at this point … but don’t take that big exhale just yet. Something tells us more weird stuff is afoot.