TMZ.com Home

Donald Trump sounded like a southern governor in the '50s or early '60s Saturday morning, boasting that the protesters at The White House had a surprise in store -- attack dogs.

The President said nothing about the reason for the protests. Rather, he talked about how safe he felt inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. ... "Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService ... I was inside, watched every move, and couldn't have felt more safe. They let the 'protesters' scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard -- didn't know what hit them."

He went on ... "The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would have been greeted by the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons I have ever seen."

And, then the most bizarre comment ... "Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action."

He suggested the young agents were the most aggressive, seemingly quoting a Secret Service officer ... "'We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and ... good practice.'"

The wife of the former cop who was arrested for killing George Floyd has filed for divorce.

Derek Chauvin's wife, Kellie, announced Friday night she's ending their marriage after 10 years.

Her rep says, "Her utmost sympathy lies with [Floyd's] family, with his loved ones and with everyone who is grieving this tragedy" ... "While Ms. Chauvin has no children from her current marriage, she respectfully requests that her children, her elder parents, and her extended family be given safety and privacy during this difficult time."

Kellie, who was born in Laos and was crowned Mrs. Minnesota back in 2018, says she's devastated by George Floyd's death.

Violence erupted all over the United States Friday night, in the wake of George Floyd's horrific death ... and there were some horrific moments on the streets.

A protester was bodyslammed early Saturday at Atlanta's Lenox Square Mall. She was running from cops with her male friend ... they ran to their car.  After she got in the passenger seat, a cop dragged her out of the car and a struggle ensued. The officer picks the woman off the ground and bodyslams her.

The woman was handcuffed and taken to jail. We don't know what lead to the confrontation.

There were many other violent incidents as protests took over the streets in D.C., New York City, Atlanta, Philly, Los Angeles, San Jose, Kentucky and many other cities. Buildings were burned, confrontations between police and protesters were abundant.

A protester in New York City was viciously thrown to the ground by a cop, and at least one NYC City Councilman is asking that assault charges be filed against him.

Atlanta's Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, was irate that protesters were looting the CNN building.

The White House was the site of an angry protest as well, while demonstrators fought with Secret Service and other law enforcement, knocking down barriers that resulted in the White House being placed on lockdown.

A reporter became a police target as she covered the protests surrounding the killing of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd ... getting hit with pepper balls live on air.

Protests erupted in cities across the country Friday night, including in Lousiville, Kentucky. Reporter Kaitlin Rust of WAVE was on the ground covering the events when a police officer intentionally opened fire on her and her camera operator, seemingly striking them both with pepper balls.

Rust was certainly not in any type of disguise -- she was wearing a reflective vest, holding a microphone and not in a crowded group of people -- so it begs the question ... what the hell was the officer doing?

Luckily, Rust appeared to be okay and continued to broadcast from the scene.

As we reported ... a police car was set on fire in Atlanta and The White House placed on lockdown as protests continued Friday.

Martin Luther King III says the rioters burning buildings over George Floyd's death have real reason to be upset with cops -- but he's still stopping short of condoning the violence.

MLK3 tells TMZ ... folks across the country, and particularly in Minneapolis, have a right to be frustrated and tired of police killing black people, and he's ripping President Trump for fanning the flames with that tweet seemingly calling for protesters to be shot.

King III says he understands why rioters resorted to setting fire to a Minneapolis police station and several other buildings the night before ex-cop Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with Floyd's murder. Still, you can hear his father when he says the years of pent up frustration don't justify violence.

At the same time, King notes torched buildings can be rebuilt ... but George can't be given new life.

While King III says he simply can't condone violent acts of rebellion, he says it's hard for people to think about peace in today's environment ... and tells us why it's difficult to get people on board with non-violent protests these days.

MLK3 also drops some timeless knowledge from Martin Luther King Jr. ... and explains how Americans can prevail in the fight against evil.

Great news for Daniel Cormier ... the UFC star doesn't have to worry about career options after he retires from MMA, because the WWE sounds VERY interested!

Triple H -- one of the top execs at WWE -- tells TMZ Sports he LOVES everything about D.C. ... and thinks he would EASILY cross over into pro wrestling.

In fact, HHH says the two have already talked about a possible gig ... but ONLY if it won't conflict with his UFC deal.

"I love Daniel. We've obviously talked a lot in the past. We've had conversations about him doing stuff with us in the past whether that's in-ring or whether that's commentary or doing different things."

"I think we'd love to do something with him if the time is right -- obviously, respectful to UFC and to Dana and everything else."

"We'd love to chat with him and we have an open relationship as far as communication so I'm sure shortly we will when he figures out what he wants to do."

41-year-old Cormier has repeatedly said he has 1 fight left in him in the UFC and then he'll retire -- but so far, no fight date has been set. He's hoping to get his rematch with Stipe Miocic sometime this year.

There's more ... Triple H also talks about Conor McGregor possibly joining the McMahon family business somewhere down the line.

"I think that Conor McGregor versus Vince McMahon with that Billion Dollar Walk on the line?! I mean, I think that's a match made in heaven!"

And, don't forget about Rob Gronkowski -- the reigning WWE 24/7 champ.

Will he be able to defend his belt now that he's back in the NFL?

"It's on the line 24/7," Triple H says ... "You might end up seeing him score a touchdown, spike the ball, get rolled up and drop the title ... who knows?!"

Triple H even kicks around the idea of Tom Brady taking the title from Gronk!!

"I mean, geez. He throws the bomb, Gronk catches it, scores a touchdown, spikes it -- Brady rolls up to high five him, shoots behind, gets the roll-up! 1, 2, 3!  New 24/7 champion!

The brutal killing of George Floyd has riveted and, sadly, divided the country yet again. Millions of people were horrified by the violence and millions more were not at all surprised. And, then there's the President, who railed on the protesters. So we gotta ask ...

Elon Musk will tell ya, making history makes ya hungry ... which is why when bad weather scrapped his SpaceX launch earlier this week, he worked up a big burger-sized appetite.

The SpaceX honcho hit up Five Guys with his 2 bodyguards for some tasty burgers Wednesday, not long after the attempt to launch 2 NASA astronauts to the International Space Station got postponed ... until Saturday at 3:22 PM ET.

Les Hatter, Five Guys' VP of Operations of the Central Florida franchise, tells TMZ … Elon stopped at a location in West Melbourne -- which is about 45 minutes from the Kennedy Space Center, where the launch will hopefully happen for real this time.

Conveniently, there's a Tesla supercharging station less than 100 feet from the front door of the fast-food joint ... which had to have made parking a breeze for the electric vehicle company boss.

We're told, Musk sent his guys in to order the food while he stayed out front and chatted with some guests as they were coming and going.

As for what they got -- a round of Little Cheeseburgers (don't let the name fool ya, they're quite hefty), fries and a drink ... and got 'em to go.

As you know, SpaceX is trying to become the first commercial aerospace company to send humans into Earth's orbit. The mission is dubbed Demo-2, and SpaceX's Crew Dragon will take off from the historic Pad, 39A, which famously launched Apollo 11 in 1969 ... en route to the first moon landing.

The 2 veteran astronauts on this mission are 49-year-old Robert Behnken and 53-year-old Douglas Hurley, and it should take them about 19 hours to travel from Florida to the space station ... God willing, and weather permitting.

Although George Floyd's alleged murderer's been arrested, his family still might not see justice served ... according to Eric Garner's mother, who's been down this very road.

Gwen Carr tells TMZ ... she has her doubts about the system working in Floyd's favor, because she went through this nightmare when her son was choked to death during his 2014 NYC arrest.

Gwen says the cops involved in George's killing absolutely deserve to be held accountable, but she's warning Floyd's family not to bank on it, because she sees it as a roll of the dice in these cases.

Eric's mother tells us she's pleased Derek Chauvin -- the fired cop who pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds -- has been charged with murder. However, she also believes Minneapolis police were playing politics when they fired and arrested Chauvin.

Gwen says more needs to be done to stop the widespread riots, and while she's not promoting or condoning the violence, she tells us she understands folks' frustrations all too well. She's been there.

As you know ... the footage of Eric's death infamously captured his final words, "I can't breathe."

His mom says she thought it was a slam dunk the involved officers would be charged with murder because her son was killed on camera -- but only one cop was ever arrested, and all charges were eventually dropped.

Eric's daughter, Emerald Garner, tells TMZ ... police would think twice about killing unarmed black people if there were laws specifically for cops involved in incidents like Garner's and Floyd's.

Eric's mother added some friendly advice for the Floyd family -- she's encouraging them to not sit on the sidelines and let law enforcement handle the case.

Gwen says, in her experience, George's loved ones must speak out to anyone who will lend an ear -- especially lawmakers -- and adds they should not be discouraged by the uphill battle they're already facing.

Don't let these two almost identical images of Emma Roberts trip you up ... be sure to stay focused and see if you can figure out the sneaky switches that have been made to this tricky pic!

The actress was spotted out on a quick coffee run in Los Angeles just last week ... and we have made a few changes to this pic. It's up to you to find 'em! See if you have what it takes to spot the differences between these two super similar snaps!

Here's J.J. Watt explaining why he could never be a UFC fighter -- he's got delicate legs.

"You ever take a razor scooter to the ankle? That puts me out for 3 days! So, I'm not looking to take anybody's shin to my shin."

But, he's a huge UFC fan -- and sat ringside at the last Jon Jones fight in February -- which led to an interesting conversation.

More athletic brothers -- The Watts or the Joneses?!?

Think about it ...

J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt and Derek Watt -- 3 NFL players including 2 Pro Bowlers and one of the most dominant defensive players EVER!

Jon Jones, Chandler Jones, Arthur Jones -- 2 NFL players including a Super Bowl champ (Arthur), a possible future Hall of Famer (Chandler) and the G.O.A.T of MMA (Jon).

We asked J.J. for his take -- and got a pretty solid response.

"That's a great question," Watt said ... "I can tell you that I don't know if any of my brothers and I are taking a shin kick to the ribs."

"I don't know if we're volunteering for that anytime soon, so they can have that title if they want."

But, Watt explained why he's got a bond with the Jones family -- something that started at UFC 247.

"I sat with Chandler so we have a comradery a little bit between the families. To me, obviously being a part of one, it's such a cool thing when brothers get to share that experience -- us in the same league, Chandler and Jon in different leagues."

"It's a special thing."

Hollywood's hottest stars have been slowly making their way out of the house and have been heading down by the shore to do some social distancing in the sand!

With beaches opening up to some activities, these stars have voyaged to open waters and have been sharing all their sandy shots ... celebs like Brooke Shields, Diplo, Kaitlynn Carter and many more have been soaking in the salty air while staying safe!

Get a good look at all the other celebs that have been hanging seaside by scrolling through our gallery of stars headed to the beach!

George Floyd had the weight of 3 full-grown men on him -- not just Derek Chauvin on his neck -- when he was killed ... as a new angle of the deadly incident reveals.

The video, obtained by NBC News, is from the opposite side of the street from the original video ... so, for the first time, we can see the other 2 now ex-officers, who not only subdued him in handcuffs ... but kept him pinned down for more than 8 minutes.

Throughout the 16 seconds of video, you can hear George saying he can't breathe and begging, "Please let me stand."

In the horrific original video, we only saw Chauvin with his knee on George's neck. This new clip was shot sometime earlier.

As we reported, Chauvin maintained his knee on George's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds ... according to the criminal complaint. Also, for 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time, the 46-year-old man was non-responsive.

The complaint also says one of the other 2 officers, seen in this new video on George's back and legs, suggested they flip him on his side when he said he couldn't breathe.

The White House has been put on lockdown and a police car has been set on fire as protests numbers grow in cities across the United States.

Thousands of people have hit streets in Washington D.C., Atlanta, San Jose, Minneapolis and other cities Friday to protest the killing of George Floyd. Many expressed anger that the other 3 officers involved in the incident hadn't yet been arrested or charged for his death.

In Atlanta, a police car was set on fire and major roadways were blocked. In San Jose, riot police started walking crowds back and Secret Service put the White House on lockdown as protests neared the residence.

In a video from just outside the White House, shows protesters knocking barriers over and law enforcement officials setting them back up ... only to be knocked over again.

It was announced Friday that officer Derek Chauvin -- who placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes while he died -- has been charged with 3rd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter. The criminal complaint said he created, "an unreasonable risk and taking a chance of causing death or great bodily harm to George Floyd."

Former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with 3rd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter, and according to the complaint he created "an unreasonable risk and taking a chance of causing death or great bodily harm to George Floyd."

The D.A. announced the charges Friday and said Chauvin is in custody, but the other 3 officers are still under investigation and no charges have been filed ... at least not yet.

According to the complaint, an officer approached George Floyd's car and ordered him out at gunpoint, claiming he passed counterfeit currency. Once Floyd put his hands on the steering wheel, the cop holstered his gun.

The complaint says George "actively resisted being handcuffed." Once in cuffs, however, he became compliant, according to the complaint.

The complaint is based, in part, on the various body cam videos the D.A. reviewed. Cops told George he was being arrested for passing bogus money, and then walked him across the street to a squad car, where George "stiffened up, fell to the ground, and told the officers he was claustrophobic."

At that point, according to the complaint, Chauvin arrives on scene in his squad car. According to the complaint, cops made several attempts to get George in the back of the squad car, but he would not voluntarily go and struggled.

While standing outside the car, George repeatedly said he could not breathe. This is before Chauvin put his knee on George's neck.

At 8:19 PM, Chauvin pulled George out of the squad car and Floyd went to the ground, handcuffed. There are 2 other officers on George's back and legs -- you can't see them in the video, but this is the moment when Chauvin placed his left knee on George's neck.

George keeps saying, "I can't breathe" and "Mama" and "please." The officers said to George, "You are talking fine." One of the other officers said, "Should we roll him on his side?" and Chauvin replied, "No, staying put where we got him."

Another officer said, "I am worried about excited delirium or whatever." Chauvin said, "That's why we have him on his stomach."

At 8:24 PM, George stopped moving, and at 8:25 PM video appears to show him cease breathing or speaking.

At this point, another officer checks George's wrist for a pulse and says, "I couldn't find one." None of the officers moved from their position. At 8:27 Chauvin finally removed his knee. In all, Chauvin had his knee on George's neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds ... 2 minutes, 53 seconds of that was AFTER GEORGE BECAME UNRESPONSIVE.

According to the complaint, "Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous."

The autopsy says George had underlying medical conditions, including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The M.E. said, "The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death." These are preliminary findings pending toxicology tests.

The M.E. does say there were no "physical findings to support diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation."

The 3rd-degree murder charge carries a max sentence of 25 years.

Elon Musk is having a rough week -- one of his SpaceX rockets ignited into a massive ball of fire Friday, and yet ... there's still some good news.

The company's 4th prototype of its Starship rocket was fueled up on a south Texas launchpad when it burst into flames. You can hear SpaceX engineers discussing something about a possible methane leak, though it's unclear if that was from the rocket or something nearby the pad.

Either way ... something lit Elon's baby on fire. Luckily, the test was unmanned -- unlike the Crew Dragon spacecraft, they hope to send into orbit on Saturday from Cape Canaveral.

As you know, Wednesday's launch was scrubbed due to crappy weather in Florida. Right now, the launch still only has a 50/50 shot of going off as scheduled. It rains a lot in FL and could get pushed to Sunday.

As for the Starship rocket ... SpaceX hopes that will eventually be able to carry large numbers of space tourists -- up to 100 at a time -- into space, and eventually to Mars.