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Americans are preparing in droves to get outta Dodge after the disaster that was the first presidential debate ... or so it seems based on the line to get a passport.

The passport office in Times Square drew a flock of customers, all lined up Wednesday morning less than 12 hours after the debate ... or as CNN put it, the "s**tshow."

The NYC crowd played like a response to the head-to-head war of words between President Trump and Joe Biden, because fleeing the country is one of those things ya hear people -- on both sides -- say when they're pissed about politics.

We're told the folks in line were waiting for appointments with the Dominican Republic Consulate.

After last night, virtually everyone's unhappy. As we reported ... some lowlights of the chaotic debate included Biden referring to the President as a "clown," and Trump refusing to denounce white supremacy.

There were plenty of other disturbing comments and verbal attacks, and it's all resonating with the public.

As many viewers and pundits have said ... to hell with the candidates, the American people lost last night.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron now admits he never recommended the grand jury indict either of the 2 officers for shooting and killing Breonna Taylor.

Instead, Cameron says the case he presented to the grand jury is that the officers were fully justified in firing their weapons because Breonna's boyfriend had fired first at them. Cameron revealed some of his strategy in an interview with WDRB in Louisville ... saying, "Our recommendation is that [officers] Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove were justified in their acts and their conduct."

Cameron also said he told the grand jury that the single witness who says he heard the police announce themselves before the raid ... changed his story. WDRB did not ask Cameron if he also told the grand jury that 12 other witnesses said they did NOT hear the police announce themselves -- and that's a huge point.

If the police didn't identify themselves ... Kenneth Walker, Breonna's boyfriend, would be justified in firing his legally owned firearm at people he believed to be intruders in her apartment.

One other thing ... Cameron said nothing about recommending a manslaughter charge to the grand jury. He says wanton endangerment was the only thing he felt he could prove beyond a reasonable doubt. However, police allegedly didn't provide medical assistance to Breonna for 20 minutes ... which would seem to put manslaughter -- legally defined as reckless disregard for human life -- on the table.

Ryan Dorsey's struggling to help his son adjust to life without his mother, Naya Rivera ... and 2 months after her death the stress and some hateful rumors are taking a toll on him.

He says he can't sleep, has lost 20 pounds and wakes up immensely sad at the thought of his son growing up without a mother in his life ... all while dealing with hatred and death wishes upon them.

Ryan poured his heart out in a 12-minute video about Naya's death ... and about people on social media sending "terrible messages wishing death upon strangers they truly know next to zero about."

He says explaining the loss of Naya to Josey is the hardest part -- "You tell him she's an angel now and she’s with God and she’s in heaven, and he says 'I wanna go there. How do I get there?' I wouldn’t wish that upon any of your ears to have to hear that. To hear those words come out of the sweetest soul you know."

Ryan also addressed "ill-advised, illogical, misinformed tabloid" rumors that he and Naya's sister, Nickayla, are in a relationship ... explaining she's been a rock for Josey, who calls her Titi. He says Josey wants his Titi "to live with us forever" because she's now the closest thing he has to a mom."

Ryan says he was at Target with Nickayla looking to buy some items for Josey's birthday party when 2 girls followed them taking pictures. He called out the girls and several tabloids for "creating a false narrative based on an angle of a photo of 2 people grieving who have been living their life out of suitcases, and just trying to get settled into a new place."

Nickayla also took to Instagram to clear the air about the nature of her relationship with her ex-brother-in-law ... saying she's not concerned with the way things look "because no one can see each agonizing moment we all endure." She added, "What matters most I've learned is to show compassion, not to judge others, & never take a moment of life for granted."

Kylie Jenner is flexing her political influence in a very impressive way ... turning your standard IG thirst trap into nearly 50,000 potential new registered voters!

TMZ's learned Kylie's smoke show bikini pics -- posted Monday -- are drawing huge traffic for Vote.org. She used the caption of those sexy shots to direct her nearly 200 million Instagram followers to hit up the site, and so many obeyed ... we're told it saw a whopping 1500% boost from traffic driven via Instagram.

There are more astronomical stats -- Vote.org got over an 80% increase in total users of its voter registration and verification tool from the prior day. That all translates to more than 48,000 users going to the site through Kylie's IG post ... and ya gotta figure that number's still rising.

By contrast ... only 2,900 users came to the registration verification tool via Instagram on Sunday out of 174k total users. So, there's clearly a very real Kylie effect working here.

Remember ... only around 138 million Americans -- out of 328 million -- voted in 2016. Now, more than 1 million have already cast ballots for this year's election ... the highest rate of early voting in U.S. history. For example, around this time 4 years ago, less than 10,000 people had voted.

Ya can't say Kylie hasn't done her part to get people to the polls. Aside from the pics this week ... she also implored fans back in June to NOT get distracted, and show up to the polls.

The Tennessee Titans have shut down ALL in-person activities immediately ... after 3 players and 5 additional staffers have tested positive for COVID-19.

The Minnesota Vikings -- who lost to the Titans on Sunday -- will also shut down their facilities as a safety precaution ... but have NOT reported any positive tests.

The Titans will reportedly not be allowed back at the team facility until Saturday -- which begs the question ... will they play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday without practicing????

The NFL and Players' Association released a statement on the matter, saying, "Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to evaluate close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments."

"All decisions will be made with health and safety as our primary consideration. We will continue to share updates as more information becomes available."

Tennessee also released a statement ... claiming the decision to work remotely was "out of the abundance of caution."

It's bad news for the NFL, which has been able to play 3 regular season weeks without any major outbreaks.

Kevin and Eniko Hart are now a family of 6 after their new baby girl's arrival.

Eniko announced the big news early Wednesday morning, saying Kaori Mai Hart was born Tuesday. Eniko's post said she'd spent 9 months preparing to fall in love for a lifetime. She captioned it with, "a little bit of heaven sent down to earth..welcome to the world baby girl..we couldn't love you more.."

As we reported ... Kevin and Eniko announced back in March they were expecting their second child together. Eniko referenced the early days of coronavirus quarantines, saying ... "BABY #2 in the midst of all of this we're counting our blessings and couldn't be more grateful!! soon to be a family of 6!"

As you know ... Kevin has 2 kids with his ex-wife, Torrei -- 15-year-old daughter Heaven and 12-year-old son Hendrix. Kevin and Eniko got married in 2016. their first child together is a 2-year-old son, Kenzo.

Get ready for a loud house, Kev. Also ... congrats!!!

Mac Davis -- best known as a '70s country music sensation and for writing hits for Elvis Presley -- has died following heart surgery ... TMZ has confirmed.

Davis died Tuesday at a hospital in Nashville ... according to his manager, Jim Morey. Earlier this week, the singer became critically ill after undergoing surgery and sadly was unable to recover. "He was surrounded by the love of his life and wife of 38 years, Lise, and his sons Scott, Noah and Cody," Morey wrote on Facebook.

After news of Mac's health broke, he received an outpouring of love from country stars like Dolly Parton and others asking for prayers and support.

The Texas native got his big break in the late '60s as a songwriter when Elvis recorded his works, "Memories," "Don't Cry Daddy," "In the Ghetto" and "A Little Less Conversation" ... all of which became hits for The King.

Mac also wrote for a handful of other acts -- like Kenny Rogers & the First Edition -- before launching a solo career in the '70s ... kicked off with his Grammy-nominated hit "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me."

Though the song was a success on both the country and pop charts, Mac made a name for himself as a country singer when he was crowned the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 1974.

His other hits include "Stop and Smell the Roses," "One Hell of a Woman" and the 1980 novelty song, "It's Hard to be Humble."

On top of his music career, Davis also starred on his own TV variety show from 1974-76 and made his big-screen debut in the 1979 football film, "North Dallas Forty," alongside Nick Nolte.

He also hosted an episode of "The Muppet Show" and starred in "The Sting II" in the '80s, and went to appear in numerous TV and film projects over the next 3 decades.

He's been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mac is survived by his wife, Lise Gerard, and 3 children.

He was 78.

President Trump won't denounce white supremacy and he just delivered an ominous message to the Proud Boys ... telling them to "stand by."

Trump made the jaw-dropping remark during the first presidential debate when moderator Chris Wallace and Democratic candidate Joe Biden asked him to denounce white supremacist groups.

POTUS first attacked ANTIFA when debating violent protests in places like Kenosha, WI and Portland, OR before saying to the Proud Boys, "Stand back and stand by."

It's a bizarre and ominous statement to say the least ... because "stand by" sounds a lot like Trump is telling the far-right group that if he loses the election to Biden, he'll get back to them.

Conor McGregor is making some major changes in his life ... he shaved his beard!

The UFC superstar has been sporting his trademark facial hair for years -- the last time he fought without a beard was in 2012 in a Cage Warriors match against Dave Hill (Conor won that fight by rear-naked choke).

He grew out the beard for his next fight ... and rocked it in the cage every time since -- including for his 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

So, why the new look? Maybe it's one of the "turn the page" things?

After all, Conor is going through a LOT at the moment -- from legal issues in Corsica (where he's accused of attempted sexual assault and indecent exposure) to his beef with the UFC and Dana White.

One thing's for sure ... McGregor is still in insane shape and fans across want to see him fight again ASAP.

Conor has teased a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao and a charity with Dustin Poirier, but it's unlikely either of those will take place without the UFC's blessing, since Conor is still under contract.

Eric Trump took an anonymous gay person's support for his dad and tried to bootstrap that support to the entire LGBT community -- but some of their heaviest hitters are calling BS.

Officials from some of the biggest LGBT-friendly groups in the country are outraged by the Prez's son's appearance Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" -- when he responded to an NYT op-ed told from the POV of a lesbian woman ... who said she was a secret Trump supporter.

In his response, Eric seemingly flubbed ... making it seem like he's a member of the community. More importantly, he suggested gay people were down with MAGA ... but that's hardly the case ... so say these orgs.

Reps for GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG and the NTCE Action Fund tell TMZ there's a consensus -- folks in their community are mostly NOT Trump fans, nor do they consider him/his fam genuine allies in their fight for equality and representation.

The facts are clear says the LGBTQ honchos ... the Trump administration has actively worked against LGBT causes -- from blocking trans soldiers from serving to sanctioning discrimination and/or firings of gay workers and couples looking to foster.

Bottom line ... all of these orgs believe Eric is either exaggerating or more likely flat-out wrong in thinking the LGBT crowd's got his pop's back -- especially in this election.

Nathan Apodaca, the guy who went viral after posting video of him drinking juice and vibing to Fleetwood Mac on his skateboard, is feeling blessed ... he says the donations pouring in are gonna help him upgrade his busted car and RV.

We tracked down Nathan in Idaho Falls, the site of his now-famous video, and he told us generous folks have sent him $10,000 ... and he really needs it.

Nathan says he's living in an RV with no running water, so he's parked in front of his brother's house, where he uses the shower and toilet. He says the donations via Venmo, Cash App and Paypal will help him get what he needs -- his own space to cook, clean, shower and 💩.

Nathan's also looking to upgrade his car, which funny enough, is the reason he went viral in the first place. Ya gotta hear him tell us what led up to his viral moment, it's quite the chain of events before his shift at a potato factory.

It's easy to see why people are rallying around Nathan ... and he says he's gonna surprise his mother with $5,000. If that wasn't generous enough, he says he already gave his lady-friend a new washer/dryer and bought some clothes for his daughter.

Helen Reddy, the woman who sang the song that became the anthem of the women's rights movement has died.

Reddy's family said the Australian singer died Tuesday, though they did not disclose the cause.

Ready's song, "I Am Woman" ... not only shot to the top of the charts in the 70's, but with its lyrics -- "I am woman, hear me roar ..." -- became an inspiration to this day. It has been used in marches, on TV and, frankly, just by ordinary folk who love the song. Reddy won a grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

She had another #1 hit with "Delta Dawn." She followed that up with yet another hit, "Angie Baby."

It's kind of remarkable that Reddy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg died within days of each other. RBG was a leader in the women's movement, and Reddy contributed the vocals.

By the way, "I am Woman" was not an instant anthem, but gained popularity over time and eventually charted at #1. When Reddy accepted the Grammy, she thanked "God because she makes everything possible."

Reddy went on to appear in various TV shows and movies. She even starred in her own TV show, "The Helen Reddy Show."

Reddy was diagnosed with dementia in 2015.

Her family said, "It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Reddy, on the afternoon of September 29th, 2020 in Los Angeles. She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and a truly formidable woman. Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge her voice will live on forever."

Carole Baskin's reality TV dreams are keeping her in Hollywood, but we're told her animal rescue center won't take a hit while she's on the other side of the country.

The 'Tiger King' star was booted from "Dancing with the Stars" Monday, and now she's setting her sights on shopping a new reality show about animal exploitation ... but fear not, our sources say Carole's Big Cat Rescue is in good hands.

Sources close to Carole tell TMZ ... her daughter, Jaime, runs the animal care part of BCR -- Carole's mainly been doing advocacy anyway -- so the exotic animals at the Tampa sanctuary won't suffer while Carole's away.

We're told Jaime's overseeing hundreds of volunteers at the sanctuary, and they handle the day-to-day animal care, so that essential function's not in peril.

The volunteers are super valuable right now ... our sources say Carole and her husband, Howard, were among the 10 staff members who were laid off at Big Cat Rescue when the pandemic hit, and the rescue still can't hire any more staff to help out.

Carole and Howard are still working full time advocating for Big Cat Rescue, we're told, but they aren't collecting a paycheck at this point.

Fact is ... Carole's got other revenue streams anyways. She had a busy stint on 'DWTS' and now she's producing and starring in a reality show she's actively shopping.

Our sources say the show is primarily about the work Carole and Howard have been undertaking for years -- tracking down animal abusers, exposing them and bringing them to justice through the legal system -- only now there's a film crew in tow.

NFL lineman D.J. Fluker has brought in extra security to keep both himself and his daughter safe from the child's mother after she was arrested for kidnapping, TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told the Baltimore Ravens lineman has been working with the team to coordinate security in the wake of the arrest -- though it's unclear if the Ravens are footing the bill or just providing guidance.

We're told the team is being very understanding about the situation.

As we previously reported, Fluker's ex, Kimberly Davis, was arrested on Sept. 22 after allegedly kidnapping their daughter during a supervised visit while Fluker was out of town to play the Houston Texans.

TMZ Sports has obtained a photo of the moment Davis was taken into custody.

In his police report, Fluker says he has primary physical custody of the child -- and did not give permission for Davis to take her.

Fluker has also said he fears for his daughter's safety -- and his own safety. He has previously accused Davis of physically assaulting him, claiming she punched him in the nose back in July.

Sources close to the situation tell us Fluker has tried to work with Davis -- but feels she just won't cooperate to amicably co-parent their child.

In other words, he WANTS to have a good relationship and make peace with Davis -- but she's making it very difficult.

In the meantime, we're told Fluker has added extra security to be in place for future visitation with Davis and their daughter because he doesn't want to cut her out of their lives completely.

American politician and life-long republican Dan Quayle (full name James Danforth Quayle) was in his early 40s when he took on the role as the 44th Vice President alongside President of the United States George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.

Before Quayle plopped down in the VEEP seat, he served as the long-running United States Senator from Indiana for a solid eight-year run in the '80s.

After the four-year job in the White House, Dan Quayle took on a few other gigs including running for Prez in 2000, working in the private sector and fathering 3 children.

President Trump's acting like a "clown" during the first Presidential debate ... at least according to his opponent, Joe Biden.

The debate went off the rails early as moderator Chris Wallace is finding near impossible to keep the candidates on track, and stop them from shouting over each other. It started with the very first question of the night.

Trump kept interrupting, and at one point, took a jab at Wallace ... saying he thought he was debating Biden not the moderator. The quip drew a facial expression from Biden.

During one heated exchange, Biden simply asked the audience, "Do you have any idea what this clown is doing?"

They sparred quite a bit at the outset, which was supposed to be focused on the Supreme Court, and Trump went after Biden by calling him a socialist when the topic turned to Obamacare.

Biden's calling Trump un-presidential and asking him, "Will you shut up, man?"