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Daring rescue in the middle of a historic storm dumping tons of rain on Los Angeles ... firefighters used a helicopter to save a man who jumped in a raging river to grab his dog.

The emergency situation played out Monday afternoon in the middle of the flooding L.A. River ... with LAFD crews bringing in a chopper to pull out a man who was stranded in the flowing water.

The guy was trying to bit somewhat of a hero himself ... he was attempting to save his dog, who had been swept away in the rapids during a flash flood.

As you can see, a helicopter hovered over the river and lowered a firefighter who grabbed the guy and pulled him to safety.

The poor pooch was saved too ... with the dog swimming to dry land on its own.

LAFD says both man and dog suffered minor injuries ... the guy was transported to a local hospital and the pup was taken to an animal shelter.

Firefighters are happy to report the dog is "alive and eager to reunite with his human."

As we reported ... the big storm, a Pineapple Express, is wreaking havoc in Southern California ... causing flash flooding, catastrophic landslides, and damage from debris and downed trees.

The door that blew off a Boeing 737 Max airplane during an Alaska Airlines flight appeared to be missing bolts that are supposed to keep the panel secured ... per a new report.

In a preliminary report from its investigation, the NTSB says four bolts meant to lock the door to the body of the plane were removed by Boeing to fix another issue and appear not to have been replaced.

The NTSB says the bolts were removed at a Boeing factory when the door was opened as part of a repair on damaged rivets on the plane's fuselage.

It's unclear who removed the bolts, the NTSB report doesn't say, though the safety board says it looks like at least 3 and possibly all 4 bolts were never reinstalled after the rivet repair.

The NTSB says Boeing removed the bolts for a September repair and there's no evidence the door was ever opened again before the 737 Max was delivered in October to Alaska Airlines.

As we reported ... the door blew off back in January, shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland International Airport.

The plane, which was packed with passengers, had to make an emergency landing.

Boeing's 737 Max planes were grounded as airlines checked the bolts on the doors ... and the aircraft was only recently given the green light to get back up in the sky, despite some saying it was too early.

Dr. Phil McGraw's known for helping families iron out their issues, and now he's taking on his biggest challenge yet ... trying to fix U.S. immigration.

The television therapy star visited the Southern border in Texas on Friday to film upcoming episodes of "Dr. Phil Primetime" -- a new primetime show he announced a few months ago which will reportedly follow a similar format as his OG "Dr. Phil."

DPM walked the fence down in Eagle Pass, TX and filmed several interviews with border agents while also stopping to take some pics with border patrol officers ... all while railing against the current administration's immigration policy.

McGraw's specifically calling out Vice President Kamala Harris ... pointing out she's America's immigration czar -- but claiming she's only actually visited the border with Mexico one time since she ascended to the VP job.

What's interesting here ... Dr. Phil isn't taking the "all or nothing" stance many conservative politicians and commentators have staked their reputations on ... instead, he said he's actually in favor of immigration and knows immigrants drive the U.S. economy forward.

But, McGraw explained, that doesn't mean there isn't a problem at the border ... saying we need to "teach people how to treat us" instead of showing undocumented migrants that "they do not need to follow the rules at our border" -- adding it's a slippery slope from ignoring immigration laws to migrants breaking laws once they're in the country.

As for those people against "America First" policies ... McGraw said they need to remember putting themselves -- or in this case, your country -- first isn't the same as being selfish.

FWIW ... the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported a nearly 40% increase in border encounters from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2023 -- and that appears to be growing in subsequent months with encounters over the last 3 months of 2023 topping date from the same months in previous years.

Don Lemon says Taylor Swift could put Donald Trump through a very cruel summer ... 'cause, if she wants to, he thinks she could swing the election in President Biden's favor.

We caught up with the former CNN anchor Friday at LAX where he warned MAGA supporters to keep an eye on just how involved the singer-songwriter opts to be during this presidential campaign.

Lemon says TS wields a ton of power and influence, and while she's not exactly his generation ... he gives her all the props for fighting for her catalog and becoming a self-made billionaire.

As we reported ... members of Trump's inner circle are reportedly ready to go to "holy war" with Taylor if she decides to endorse President Biden -- as she did in 2020 -- but Don thinks it will take more than one-liners to combat her impact on the election.

Translation: underestimating her could sink DT's White House dreams.

This all falls in line with what FOX11 political reporter/anchor Elex Michaelson said on "TMZ Live" earlier this week ... warning Trump's going toe-to-toe with Swift, and Swifties, is a risky strategy.

Although, he does see a scenario where Swift ends up helping both candidates -- basically, Trump could use a Taylor endorsement for Biden to blast Hollywood elitism, and mobilize his supporters to get out and vote.

There has been a vocal minority hating on T-Swift ... even celebs like Plies, who are getting tired of seeing her all over their TVs when they're watching a football game -- so it's not far-fetched to imagine that hate motivating Trump backers.

Joe Biden's supposedly has a choice pet name for his likely 2024 opponent ... one you can't really use in polite society -- which he almost said in a speech recently!

A report from Politico released Thursday reveals the current Prez is seemingly disgusted with Donald Trump ... calling him a "sick f***" when talking to close friends and White House aides.

And, it appears he likes to double down on it too ... commenting "What a f***ing a**hole the guy is" on at least one occasion according to the premier political magazine.

While this may seem hard to confirm ... video evidence from a Pennsylvania speech early last month shows "Dark Brandon" seemingly ready to fire off his new catchphrase while railing against the former POTUS for his remarks.

JB said, "At his rally, he jokes about an intruder whipped up by the big Trump lie, taking a hammer to Paul Pelosi's skull and echoing the very same words used on January 6 -- "Where's Nancy?" -- and he thinks that's funny. He laughed about it. What a sick--."

POTUS never finished that statement ... instead the audience laughed and Biden added he thought DT was "despicable" -- pretty clear he wanted to use a more graphic term though.

If you're wondering if the Trump campaign's concerned about Biden's words at all ... it's pretty obvious they're not. Chris LaCivita, a top campaign adviser, told Politico it's abhorrent he'd use such words to describe his predecessor -- though it's "no surprise he disrespects the 45th president the same way he disrespects the American people with his failed policies."

Bottom line ... these fellas don't like each other, and they're not afraid to show it.

Joe also reportedly gets triggered by Don's statements all the time ... with Politico saying he'd expressed distaste for Trump after comments he made about Charlottesville, Vladimir Putin and veterans.

Preparations for Clive Davis' famed pre-Grammy party came to a grinding halt Thursday morning as cops busted an armed man at the Waldorf Astoria ... TMZ has learned.

The Waldorf is right next door to the Beverly Hilton -- where Clive's event is held -- and cops swarmed the area after getting a call shortly after 9:30 AM for a disturbance at the hotel. We're told a drone was deployed over the Waldorf, and spotted the gunman standing on a hotel room balcony.

Cops immediately shut down one of all traffic around the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard -- one of L.A.'s busiest intersections -- and deployed SWAT officers around the hotels.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops made contact with the guy in his hotel room and convinced him to surrender peacefully -- but once inside, they discovered he had already shot up the room.

The man was actually firing the gun while police were outside the room ... according to witnesses at the hotel.

Once he was in custody, we're told the gunman was booked for felony possession of a firearm and negligent discharge of the firearm.

Our sources say the weapons was a handgun with an extended magazine.

Luckily, no one was injured at the hotel.

The area will be heavily trafficked by media and celebs leading up to Clive's party Saturday night -- attendees have to pick up credentials ahead of the event.

Los preparativos para la famosa fiesta antes de los Grammy de Clive Davis se detuvieron el jueves por la mañana cuando la policía detuvo a un hombre armado en el Waldorf Astoria, según ha averiguado TMZ.

El Waldorf está justo al lado del Beverly Hilton, donde se celebra el evento de Clive, y la policía rodeó la zona después de recibir una llamada poco después de las 9:30 AM por un disturbio en el hotel. Nos dicen que un avión no tripulado se desplegó sobre el Waldorf, y vio al pistolero de pie en un balcón de la habitación del hotel.

Los policías inmediatamente cerraron todo el tráfico alrededor de la intersección de Wilshire y Santa Monica Boulevard, una de las intersecciones más concurridas de Los Ángeles, y desplegaron oficiales SWAT alrededor de los hoteles.

Fuentes policiales le dicen a TMZ que los policías hicieron contacto con el hombre en su habitación de hotel y lo convencieron de rendirse pacíficamente. Sin embargo, una vez dentro, descubrieron que ya había disparado en la habitación.

El hombre en realidad estaba disparando mientras la policía estaba afuera del cuarto, según cuentan testigos del hotel.

Una vez que estuvo bajo custodia, el pistolero fue fichado por delito grave de posesión de un arma de fuego y descarga negligente de dicha arma.

Nuestras fuentes dicen que el arma era una pistola con un cargador extendido.

Afortunadamente, nadie resultó herido dentro del hotel.

La zona será muy concurrida el sábado por la noche, por los medios de comunicación y las celebridades que participarán en la fiesta de Clive. Los asistentes, además, tienen que recoger las credenciales antes del evento.

2:24 PM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... early toxicology results from this investigation suggest traces of cocaine and fentanyl were found in the deceased's systems. A full toxicology report has yet to be released -- but for now, we're told these are substances that cops have detected early on, and there may be others that surface when the official results come out.

The mysterious deaths of 3 Chiefs fans might soon be cleared up -- and early signs point to it being drug-related ... so says an attorney repping one of the families of the deceased.

We talked to Tony Kagay -- a lawyer who's been hired by the mother of Clayton McGeeney, who was one of the three who were found dead in Jordan Willis' backyard -- who joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to tell us what he knows about the investigation thus far.

Kagay was certainly trying to keep his cards close to the vest here -- but based on a meeting he says his client, Nancy Bossert (Clayton's mom), had with authorities Wednesday ... it sounds like what people have suspected will soon be confirmed.

Namely, he seems to be suggesting that the autopsies are complete and early toxicology tests have been run ... and while he doesn't reveal the exact results, he does say he's privy to the fact that there may (or may not) be substances that were discovered in their bodies.

We pushed Kagay to tell us what he knew -- but he was being careful with what he said, and how he said it ... but you can read between the lines here and figure out what's what.

Basically, Kagay acknowledges that drugs may have played a part in the 3 men's deaths -- but there are still questions that need to be answered ... including how any substances may have gotten into their system, and what exactly played out over the course of 2 days.

Cops so far have reiterated that there's no evidence of foul play, and that they're not investigating this as a homicide --- something Kagay confirmed with us as well.

Like we said, there's still a lot to uncover ... but Kagay tells us he believes the autopsy/toxicology results will be released soon (even as early as Thursday) -- which will hopefully shed some light on this tragedy. In the meantime, his client has asked for privacy.

Nancy did say this about her son ... "Clayton was a beloved son ... Clayton was a caring father. Clayton was a loving partner to his fiancée, April Mahoney. His death under any circumstances would have been painful to everyone his life had touched. Under these unusual and confusing circumstances, it is even more difficult for the family to deal with."

We reached out to Kansas City PD and they told us they weren't aware of toxicology results coming anytime soon -- and simply said the case remains under investigation.

2:24 PM PT -- Fuentes con conocimiento directo le dicen a TMZ que los primeros resultados toxicológicos de la investigación sugieren que se encontraron rastros de cocaína y fentanilo en el cuerpo de los fallecidos. El informe toxicológico completo aún no se ha publicado, pero por ahora nos dicen que estas son las sustancias que han detectado los policías y pueden aparecer otras cuando salgan los resultados oficiales.

La misteriosa muerte de los 3 hinchas de los Chiefs podría ser aclarada pronto, y los primeros indicios apuntan a que estarían relacionadas con las drogas, así lo dice un abogado que representa a la familia de uno de los fallecidos.

Hablamos con Tony Kagay, un abogado que fue contratado por la madre de Clayton McGeeney, uno de los tres amigos que fueron encontrados muertos en el patio trasero de Jordan Willis y que se unió a nosotros en "TMZ Live" este jueves para decirnos lo que sabe acerca de la investigación hasta el momento.

Kagay ciertamente estaba tratando de ser discreto, pero de acuerdo a una reunión que su cliente, Nancy Bossert (la madre de Clayton), tuvo con las autoridades el miércoles, parece que las sospechas de la gente pronto se confirmarán.

Con esto, parece estar sugiriendo que las autopsias y las primeras pruebas de toxicología se han ejecutado, y aunque no revela los resultados exactos, dice que está al tanto de que se pueden (o no) haber descubierto sustancias en sus cuerpos.

Presionamos a Kagay para que nos dijera lo que sabía, pero fue muy cuidadoso con la forma y contenido de sus palabras, pero algo se puede leer entre líneas.

Básicamente, Kagay reconoce que las drogas pueden haber jugado un papel en la muerte de los tres hombres, pero todavía hay preguntas que necesitan respuestas, incluyendo el hecho de cómo pueden haber entrado las sustancias en su sistema, y lo que exactamente pasó en el transcurso de esos dos días.

Hasta ahora, la policía ha reiterado que no hay evidencia de juego sucio y que no están investigando esto como un homicidio, algo que Kagay también confirmó con nosotros.

Como les hemos contado, aún queda mucho por descubrir, pero Kagay cree que los resultados de la autopsia/toxicología se darán a conocer pronto (incluso el jueves), lo que esperamos arroje algo de luz sobre esta tragedia. Mientras tanto, su cliente ha pedido privacidad.

Nancy dijo esto acerca de su hijo: "Clayton era un hijo muy querido ... Clayton era un padre cariñoso. Clayton era un compañero amoroso de su prometida, April Mahoney. Su muerte habría sido dolorosa en cualquier circunstancia para todos los que su vida tocó. En estas circunstancias inusuales y confusas, es aún más difícil para la familia de lidiar con eso".

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle are standing behind parents advocating against social media companies ... and they're using a viral Mark Zuckerberg moment to underscore their point.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared a statement on the social media Senate hearings from Wednesday to the Archewell Foundation's website -- showing support for the victims and detailing some of their own experiences speaking to families who've gone through this.

In the statement, PH and MM applauded parents standing up against huge social media companies, and added, "The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms" ... all in all, a fairly fluffy, boilerplate statement from the royal couple.

The big news here ... they picked a shot of Zuck from the hearing yesterday as the huge image above their statement -- a pic that captured MZ's surprise apology to parents and victims of child sex exploitation via social media.

As we reported ... Mark was getting grilled during the committee hearing with Senator Josh Hawley peppering him with questions until Zuck was basically forced to turn around and apologize to the crowd at large.

The crowd held up numerous photographs of victims as Mark apologized and made mention of measures he said Meta's taking to stop any other children from becoming victims.

Well, it seems the Sussexes are clearly on the side of the victims and advocates ... unsurprising given their charitable works to combat sex trafficking and child slavery. Plus, they're parents themselves -- and they have a ton of experience dealing with agitators online to boot.

El príncipe Harry y Meghan Markle están apoyando a los padres que están hablando en contra de las empresas detrás de las redes sociales, y están usando una imagen viral de Mark Zuckerberg para subrayar su punto.

El duque y la duquesa de Sussex compartieron en el sitio web de la Fundación Archewell una declaración sobre las audiencias en el Senado relacionadas con las redes sociales que se hicieron el miércoles, en donde mostraron su apoyo a las víctimas y detallaron algunas de sus propias experiencias hablando con familias que han pasado por esto.

En la declaración, Harry y Meghan aplaudieron a los padres que están en contra de las grandes empresas de redes sociales, y agregaron: "La mejor crianza del mundo no puede mantener a los niños a salvo de estas plataformas", en definitiva, una declaración bastante estándar y suave de la pareja real.

La gran noticia aquí es que eligieron una foto de Zuck en la audiencia de ayer como la imagen destacada de su declaración, una foto que captura la sorpresiva disculpa de Mark a los padres y víctimas de la explotación sexual infantil a través de las redes sociales.

Como informamos, Mark estaba siendo acribillado durante la audiencia del comité con el senador Josh Hawley, bombardeado de preguntas, hasta que Zuck se vio obligado a darse la media vuelta y pedir disculpas frente a la multitud en general.

La audiencia presente estaba sosteniendo diferentes fotografías de las víctimas mientras Mark pedía disculpas y mencionaba las medidas que está tomando Meta para evitar que otros niños se conviertan en víctimas.

Bueno, parece que los Sussex están claramente del lado de las víctimas y defensores, nada sorprendente teniendo en cuenta las obras de caridad que apoyan para combatir el tráfico sexual y la esclavitud infantil. Además, ellos mismos son padres y tienen un montón de experiencia en el trato con los haters en línea.

Another American staple in the food biz is fleeing Oakland because of increased crime ... the only Denny's in the city closed for good earlier this week, continuing a troubling trend.

While Denny's officials reportedly wouldn't speak on camera, a notice taped to the door cited the "safety and well-being" of employees and guests as the chief cause of the closure -- which sounds a lot like increased crime's become an issue for the 24-hour restaurant.

Employees were reportedly notified of the closure just a day before the 54-year-old Denny's officially shut down ... and the company promised to find the employees positions at other locations if they could relocate.

It'll be a minor commute for Oaklanders to get a Grand Slam at the Emeryville location, a 3-mile difference ... but it's just the latest in a shocking trend of closures precipitated by rising crime in the Bay Area.

This Denny's location had reportedly fallen victim to break-ins-robberies and violent crime ... just like the In-N-Out that's also hightailing it out of town.

As we reported ... In-N-Out's COO Denny Warnick cited crime as the major reason the super popular food chain was heading out of business -- though they'll stay open until late March.

Unas manifestantes francesas intentaron hacerse notar, arrojándole sopa a la mundialmente famosa obra de arte, afortunadamente estaba protegida por un cristal impenetrable.

Las dos manifestantes fueron grabadas en video el domingo de pie frente al retrato del siglo XVI de Leonardo da Vincin el cual estaba colgado contra una pared en el Louvre de París.

Mientras los entusiastas del arte observaban la obra, las mujeres arrojaron sopa de calabaza sobre el cuadro, bañando el cristal con el líquido bronceado.

La pareja se giró entonces hacia la multitud que se había formado a su alrededor, la cual filmó el incidente con las cámaras de sus teléfonos móviles.

Una de las mujeres se arrancó la chaqueta para revelar su camiseta blanca que mostraba un mensaje en francés, "Riposte Alimentaire", que en inglés se traduce como "Respuesta Alimentaria".

Ambas mujeres también empezaron a gritar en francés: "¿Qué es más importante? ¿El arte o el derecho a una alimentación sana y sostenible?". Y añadieron: "Vuestro sistema agrícola está enfermo. Nuestros agricultores se mueren trabajando".

Los guardias de seguridad colocaron rápidamente barreras negras para proteger la Mona Lisa mientras escoltaban a la gente fuera de la zona general.

Funcionarios del museo estaban planeando presentar una queja a pesar de que la pintura no parecía haberse dañado, no se conoce el estado actual de las manifestantes.

Protesters in France tried to make a point with the Mona Lisa, throwing soup at the world-famous work of art — but, thankfully, it was protected by impenetrable glass.

The two female demonstrators were caught on video Sunday standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th Century portrait hanging against a wall at The Louvre in Paris.

As art enthusiasts milled about, the women suddenly tossed pumpkin soup at the painting, showering the glass in front of it with the tan liquid.

The pair then turned to the crowd that had formed around them, filming the incident with cell phone cameras.

One of the women ripped off her jacket to reveal her white t-shirt emblazoned with a message in French, “Riposte Alimentaire,” which, in English, translates to "Food Response."

Both women also started yelling in French, "What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?” They added, “Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work.”

Security guards quickly put up black barriers to shield the Mona Lisa while escorting people out of the general area.

Museum officials were planning on filing a complaint even though the painting did not appear damaged ... the current status of the protesters was not immediately known.

After the incident, a group by the name, "Riposte Alimentaire," issued a statement, admitting to the ugly deed and promising the "start of a campaign of civil resistance with the clear demand ... of the social security of sustainable food."

Bill Maher is throwing in the towel on American democracy -- or so it seems -- and he makes a case.

The 'Real Time' host served up a scary parallel between the U S of A and Brazil, both of which had insurrections over their respective presidential elections -- the U.S. on January 6, 2021, and Brazil on January 8, 2023.

In both cases, as Bill says, the presidents who disputed the election were thrice-married, right-wing populists. But that's where the comparison ends.

In Brazil's case, almost everyone rose up against the rioters and the president, who's been banished from the country and is now living in Florida. In the case of America, the former president now living in Florida will be the Republican nominee by an insanely large margin.

Bill then dove into how we really have never been truly democratic ... California has the same representation in the Senate -- which, by the way, can convict a president for misdeeds -- as sparsely populated Wyoming. We have this fakakta electoral college which has no correlation to the popular vote.

Then Bill gets even more real with the confession, maybe we lost our taste for democracy because "we're just a s**ttier people than we used to be."

Ben Shapiro is diving headfirst into the rap game -- he's got a new single and an accompanying music video, and it's doing numbers ... this despite some poor reactions.

The famous conservative talk show host and editor of The Daily Wire -- who's known for his skill on a mic, but not in the MC capacity -- was featured on wrestler-turned-rapper Tom MacDonald's new single ... supplying the guest verse with bars!

Their track together is called "Facts" ... and Ben's 16 takes aim at actual rappers in the game, like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion ... among others. He's wearing a hoodie in this thing as he raps about making money off compound interest, all while his haters live with their parents. Yeah, it's classic Shapiro ... dude loves to flex his intellect.

Anyway, the song's pretty polarizing ... and not just because of the lyrical content, which references culture wars and defunding the police. In terms of listen-ability, it's ... jarring.

As you can imagine -- Ben himself is controversial, and has a ton of haters too ... so, it's no surprise the track's generating a ton of bad reviews on social media right now, with lotsa folks calling it cringe, uncool, goofy and a contender for the worst verse of all time.

In his rap, Ben calls on his supporters to download and stream the song ... and that looks like what's going on, because it's doing pretty well on the music charts. So ... a win?

'Facts' is currently No. 2 on iTunes, between Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake ... and Ben's doing an early victory lap on social media ... taking more shots at Nicki along the way.