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It looks like the White House may finally be listening to a recommendation from the CDC ... it's replacing the HVAC systems in some pretty historic buildings.

According to official documents, obtained by TMZ, Uncle Sam is shelling out $1,956,924.38 to replace HVAC systems at the Jackson Place Townhouse Complexes. The townhouses include the President's Guest House, better known as the Blair House, as well as a slew of other townhouses on the block that begins at 700 Jackson Place ... right near the White House.

The CDC has previously issued guidelines to employers on how to protect staff and others to slow the spread of the virus. Among the recommendation includes improving HVAC systems and/or finding ways to increase the percentage of outdoor air that makes up the air inside buildings. The order for the new HVAC systems, according to the doc, was solicited October 27 and it's slated to be completed around January 2022. It's a huge task.

The Blair House -- reserved for former presidents and other dignitaries when they're in town -- consists of 4 distinct buildings merged into one. The property has 119 rooms ... including 14 guest bedrooms and 35 bathrooms. So, yeah ... the work could take a while.

It should be noted ... it's not the first time some of the townhouses have had work done. There was $24k worth of repairs done last year, including a new HVAC system at 726 Jackson Place. There were other upgrades in 2016 costing around $60k ... but nothing along the lines of the $2 million to repair the HVAC systems for the entire townhouse complexes.

It's Thanksgiving Day and while some spend the day indulging in sports, parades, or Black Friday shopping lines ... the real deal MVP of the day is, of course, the FOOD!

From the looks of it, these stars have had their fill before the holiday meal hit the table and aren't afraid to share what their favorite dishes have blessed them with ... a food baby!

So in honor of today's festive feast, we're making a game out of these celebrity food babies! Just scroll through our gallery of bellies and try to see if you can guess which star has put their tum on display!

Looks like Michael B. Jordan and his new sexiest man alive crown will be breaking bread with Lori Harvey ... 'cause they arrived together in her hometown just in time for turkey.

Lori and the 'Black Panther' star touched down in Atlanta Wednesday onboard a Delta flight from L.A., but it looks like they got the celeb treatment, as they exited down a staircase to the tarmac. No crowded jetways for this duo.

They both had their face masks on and hoodies up, but photogs saw enough of their faces to know it's them. Lori does live in the ATL, so makes sense they'd head there on Thanksgiving eve.

They threw their luggage in a waiting car and rolled away together ... leaving us all to wonder if Michael and Lori are a hot new couple.

This is the first time the celebs have been linked together one-on-one like this -- there were reports they crossed paths at Nobu earlier this year while in a large group of friends. Lori was still with Future back then, but he's been out of the picture since August.

Sofia Vergara, Joe Manganiello and her son are seeking court-ordered protection from a man their friend claims is stalking them, and is potentially dangerous

Producer Luis Balaguer filed docs seeking a restraining order against a man named Rengifo Randazzo, who he claims is a mentally unstable stalker who was recently arrested for trespassing in Sofia's gated community.

Luis says the guy has a fixation on him, Sofia, her husband and her son, Manolo, and has repeatedly harassed them. According to the docs, Randazzo admitted he was stalking them when he got busted for trespassing.

Luis says Sofia and co. fear for their lives because the alleged stalker has a history of domestic violence arrests and others have gotten restraining orders against him.

Megan Fox apparently has a great thing going with Machine Gun Kelly ... good enough that she's decided to pull the trigger and divorce Brian Austin Green.

The actress filed her divorce docs Wednesday after nearly 10-and-a-half years of marriage to the '90210' star. In the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Megan asks for joint legal and physical custody of the couple's 3 kids and wants to terminate the ability for either her or Brian to get spousal support.

Brian filed a response agreeing to almost everything, he's checked the box for spousal support to still be on the table. Neither has indicated anything when it comes to child support.

There's also a major discrepancy when it comes to their date of separation. Megan says they were done in November 2019 and Brian lists March 5, 2020.

Brian and Megan got married back in June 2010 in Hawaii, and have 3 kids together ... 8-year-old Noah Shannon, 6-year-old Bodhi Ransom and 4-year-old Journey River.

Dallas Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul died Wednesday evening following a medical emergency at the team facility Tuesday, the team confirmed.

"Markus Paul, surrounded by his family, passed away at the hospital this evening at the age of 54," the Cowboys said ... "The cause of death is pending."

Team owner Jerry Jones issued a statement, saying, "The loss of a family member is a tragedy, and Markus Paul was a loved and valued member of our family."

"He was a pleasant and calming influence in our strength room and throughout The Star."

"His passion for his work and his enthusiasm for life earned him great respect and admiration from all of our players and the entire organization."

"Our hearts are broken for his family and all of the individuals whose lives he touched and made better."

As we previously reported, Paul suffered a medical emergency at Cowboys headquarters at around 7:30 AM Tuesday morning and was transported to a nearby hospital.

Doctors scrambled to save Paul -- but despite their best efforts, he passed away Wednesday evening.

Paul had been a mainstay in NFL locker rooms for decades ... he played for the Chicago Bears from 1989 to 1993 and had a stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in '93 as well.

He later went on to become an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the New Orleans Saints in 1998. From there, he worked for the Patriots, Jets, Giants and Cowboys ... winning FIVE Super Bowls with those teams.

The Cowboys had just promoted him to lead their lead strength and conditioning department in January.

"Markus was a great coach and one of the best guys that I have ever known," NY Giants legend Eli Manning said on Twitter this week. "He will be missed."

Former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes added, "My heart is heavy. One of the finest men and coaches I have ever met. The world lost a GREAT MAN today. We love you! RIP Markus Paul."

Faizon Love claims he was scrubbed from a movie poster just because he's Black ... and now he's suing Universal over it.

The actor filed the lawsuit Wednesday, accusing the studio of racial discrimination for removing him from an overseas version of the "Couples Retreat" poster ... while leaving the rest of his white costars in it.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Faizon claims his name and image were erased from the poster when the movie was released outside of the U.S. He says Universal had no issues featuring Black actors in the film, but claims the studio decided to segregate white and Black talent when it came time to market to an international audience.

Faizon says he let the snub slide at first ... claiming the film's producer, Scott Stuber, promised him the overseas poster would be taken out of circulation and Universal Pictures chairman at that time, Adam Fogelson, promised he'd throw a few roles Faizon's way.

However, in the lawsuit, Faizon claims the poster without him is still being used and he never got those acting gigs he says he was promised

We reached out to Universal, which declined to comment.

Jennifer Lopez's new single drops Friday, but she's giving everyone still working before the holiday an early treat ... a NSFW photo to promote it.

J Lo shared the official cover art Wednesday for "In the Morning," and it's a pretty simple concept -- an all-nude, provocative shot of the singer in a clever pose ... one that covers enough to keep it clean for the censors.

In case you've lost track, because Lopez has been doing this sort of thing for so long ... that's a 51-year-old sex symbol doing her thing.

J Lo started turning up the heat last weekend with her AMAs performance with Maluma -- just as she did with Shakira during the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The 'Morning' cover art makes for a great bookend on her 2020.

The single starts streaming on Black Friday, and until then ... expect Lopez to continue aging like a fine wine and looking amazing at all hours of the day.

Joe Biden knows it sounds like a cliche, but he's encouraging Americans to hang in there and come together ... and he's trying to change the discourse and direction of the country after some very tough times ... and what he said is VERY DIFFERENT from what we've become used to.

The President-elect delivered a pre-Thanksgiving address that was heavy on themes of unity, empathy and love ... something that has largely been absent from presidential speeches.

Regarding Thanksgiving -- Biden says he understands the pain and sadness hundreds of thousands of people will be feeling this year as COVID-19 deaths continue to rise ... because his family has suffered a similar loss with the death of his son, Beau.

He says he knows it's hard to care or be thankful in these moments, and acknowledges that 2020 Thanksgiving will not be the same because the pandemic is making families forego gatherings and traditions.

Still, Biden urges everyone to not lose sight of doing what has to be done to help one another ... and that caring for each other is what is going to get us to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Finally, Biden points out that Americans have gotten through many hardships other than the coronavirus since the nation was founded ... but these hardships were conquered by working together.

President Trump just absolved his former national security adviser and convicted perjurer Gen. Michael Flynn ... which might be the start of a last-minute blitz of forgiveness.

After rumors swirled this week he'd do this, the Prez announced the pardon Wednesday, tweeting ... "It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!"

It could be the first of several lame-duck pardons to come out of the Oval during Trump's remaining time in office. As we first reported ... Joe Exotic's people say they've gotten word he could be next.

As for Flynn ... the writing's been on the wall. -- the Prez has time and again said Flynn got a raw deal and was rung up on charges over technicalities rather than anything actually wrong or harmful to the nation. Trump even had Attorney General William Barr go to bat for Flynn in court -- with the DOJ filing to dismiss the charges.

Gen. Flynn signed a plea bargain during Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian collusion by the Trump campaign -- admitting he lied to FBI investigators about conversations he'd had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during Trump's transition to power. He allegedly told him to tell Putin to chill over Obama's lame-duck sanctions against Russia.

Flynn also lied to Vice President Mike Pence about those convos -- and Pence parroted those to the media. As a result, Trump canned him, but openly denounced the move.

There are a few other Trump campaign people POTUS could bail out if he wants -- Paul Manafort comes to mind.

Country music star Morgan Wallen will be grateful for second chances this Thanksgiving -- he'll be the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," 2 months after the show axed him.

'SNL' announced it Wednesday, saying Morgan will perform on the December 5 show ... with Jason Bateman hosting. Moments after the news ... Morgan was keeping things pretty humble, and simply tweeted, "Let's try this again."

Remember ... Morgan was scheduled to be the musical guest back in October, but got booted from the gig after he was seen at a bar in Tuscaloosa, Alabama taking shots, kissing women and generally partying without a face mask or social distancing.

Morgan ultimately apologized for his irresponsible behavior and admitted his actions were "short-sighted." He had also said 'SNL' honcho Lorne Michaels was kind and encouraging and told him they could possibly have him on in the future. The future is next weekend.

The good news for Morgan comes a little over 2 weeks after he openly complained about not being able to do live shows, and called Joe Biden supporters hypocritical for packing streets to celebrate his victory amid the pandemic. He clearly felt there was a double standard.

The NYPD is doing its best to stop the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from becoming a super spreader event -- cops are posting up around the parade route to make sure large crowds don't form.

The turkey day tradition is now a shortened parade stretched over 3 days, and with pre-taping going on Tuesday and Wednesday, police are busy standing guard for trouble and herding folks along.

As you can see, there's a ton of barricades set up on the blocked-off side streets around Macy's flagship store, where most of the pre-taping is going on ... and cops are holding the perimeter.

Police are making their presence known, but a high-ranking NYPD official tells TMZ the police detail for the parade has been slashed by 80 percent from last year, which is a huge cut. The reduction in force, we're told, is because the parade is much smaller.

We're told NYPD is not expecting any large crowds or any trouble, believing most people will be smart and shy away from gathering to watch pre-tapings ... but if people do come to watch, cops will educate them about crowd dangers in a pandemic and move them along.

So far, things seem to be running smoothly as Macy's tackles a new-look parade, which is essentially only the final section of the usual 2.5-mile route.

Honchos at Macy's tell us there haven't been any issues pre-taping floats, balloons, Santa Claus and performers on the side streets around the flagship department store ... thanks in part to the secure perimeters. Organizers didn't telegraph where they were filming, which also helped prevent crowds from forming.

Macy's says Thanksgiving Day will see a live show outside the flagship store anchored by Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and Hoda Kotb during a shortened parade ... and we're told there will be a larger police presence.

Diego Maradona -- widely considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time -- has died at his home in Argentina, according to his reps.

He was 60.

Maradona, who was still recovering after emergency brain surgery earlier this month, reportedly suffered a heart attack at his home Wednesday morning and was not able to pull through ... according to Argentinian news outlet Clarin.

His death was confirmed by Maradona's longtime lawyer and agent Matias Morla.

Back in the day, Maradona was considered one of the best soccer players in the world -- leading Argentina to a World Cup in 1986.

In fact, his "Hand of God" goal against England during the '86 World Cup is one of the most famous moments in soccer history.

Maradona was tracking down a ball and slyly used his hand to punch it over the goalkeeper into the net -- while pretending his hand never actually touched it. His acting job worked and the goal counted!

After his playing career, he struggled with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and health issues -- and had been hospitalized multiple times.

But, he was still widely loved in his home country -- and the fans came out in force to show love just a few weeks ago when he was being transported to the hospital for brain surgery.

As we previously reported, doctors discovered a blood clot on Maradona's brain that required emergency treatment ... and he went under the knife on Nov. 3.

In the days that followed, Maradona's doctor said the outlook was good and he expected the star to make a successful recovery.

But, something went terribly wrong on Wednesday ... and now the world is mourning Maradona's death.

Alex Trebek was mysteriously dissed by the Grammys, because they declined to give him a nomination for his memoir, despite the publisher submitting his name for consideration.

Alex's book -- "The Answer is ... Reflections on My Life" -- was actually nominated in the category of Best Spoken Word Album. The publisher, Simon & Schuster, submitted Alex and Ken Jennings for the award -- they each voiced the book, but Alex was overlooked. Only Ken got a nom.

Ken Jennings even said, "This should 100% be Alex's Grammy nomination. He wrote the book and reads much of the audio book! Who do I speak to about this?"

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ, Simon & Schuster do not understand why Alex was not nominated and they are contacting the Grammys for answers.

President Trump still hasn't conceded, but The White House Gift Shop can certainly read the writing on the wall ... it's slashing prices to unload some Trump merch.

The gift shop website is now offering several Trump-centric products at a discount -- some up to 50 percent. Most of the items can be found in the "Our Featured Products" section.

Here's a list of what's on sale ...

The President Trump American Flag Pin, regular price $24.95, is now $15.95. The pin has "45th President of The United States, Donald J. Trump" engraved on the backside.

2018 ornaments -- just in time for Christmas -- are half off. One package which is normally $350 is now available at $175, and a smaller package normally $100 is on sale for $50. In both cases, the ornaments are engraved with "New leadership, new era, new generation, new hope" on the front, and "North Korea peace talks in Singapore,” "Dow at highest levels in U.S. history" and other accomplishments on the back.

And, of course -- Trump's red hats. Both the "Keep America Great" and "Make America Great Again" styles are marked down to $34.95 from $37.95.

Meanwhile, the WH shop is also promoting the pre-order of Inauguration Coins featuring the 46th President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The coin is priced at $100, and it says it will ship on Jan. 1 in advance of the Inauguration on Jan. 20.

Try not to eat your heart out after watching Chris Evans play the piano ... dude has skills that just might push him to the top of the Hollywood Chrises list.

Captain America spent his Tuesday night learning one of his favorite songs by Italian composer and pianist Fabrizio Paterlini. You can tell the joy the graceful mood piece brought Chris as he mastered the song.

And leave it to Chris to keep it patriotic even while getting down on an Italian song ... he was rocking a NASA cap. Repping for science and classical piano at the same time ... pretty badass.

You can almost see what he's thinking -- what ya got, sirs Hemsworth, Pratt and Pine???