Controversial S#!T

It's not just defiant beachgoers and people in parks drawing the ire of public officials for ignoring coronavirus guidelines -- Mormons are too, by the hundreds.

Utah state leaders -- including Senator Mitt Romney -- are under fire, along with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after a large crowd of Mormons flooded the parking area of a terminal at Salt Lake City Airport Sunday to welcome back around 1,600 missionaries.

The missionaries were returning early from the Philippines due to the global pandemic, but instead of arriving and going straight to their pickup rides and heading home to self-quarantine -- as advised by The Church -- a huge welcome party gathered to greet them and cheer their return.

As you can see ... no one is maintaining 6 feet of separation, or even 6 inches in many cases.

We're told those members who gathered ignored The Church's instructions for families to stay in their cars. The Church even tried to coordinate with the airport to lead missionaries to the parking lot, but that's where things went south ... because the greeters just gathered in the parking area.

We're told several of the missionaries' family members did follow guidelines, but clearly ... way too many did not. Romney, who is Mormon, has since rebuked their actions.

The missionaries are now under a 14-day self-quarantine, but so far, none has been tested. It's unclear if the large group of greeters are all quarantining as well.

As we've reported ... it's been a challenge from coast-to-coast, to keep people from ignoring the CDC and state orders to stay home and practice proper social distancing.

Montae Nicholson's time with the Redskins is over ... he's been cut by Ron Rivera -- this just 4 months after he was wrapped up in an investigation over a woman’s death.

We broke the story, back on Nov. 14, Nicholson and a friend found 21-year-old Julia Crabbe "foaming at the mouth" in the safety's Ashburn, Virginia home after a night out.

According to police documents, 24-year-old Nicholson and the friend took Crabbe to a nearby hospital ... where she was later pronounced dead.

At the scene the following day, cops say they found pills, weed and "foil with residue" when they searched Nicholson's home ... although they did NOT say who the drugs belonged to.

A spokesperson for the county medical examiner told us back in January that Crabbe died of accidental fentanyl intoxication ... but the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office tells us an investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

For his part, Nicholson has said he's fully cooperating with police and called the days after Julia's death "extremely hard."

Nicholson was also famously involved in a street brawl just a year prior in 2018 ... where video showed him pummeling a man in the middle of a Virginia street around 2 AM.

He was charged with assault over the incident ... but prosecutors dropped the case a few months later.

Nicholson was a pretty solid safety for Washington since being selected in the 4th round of the 2017 NFL Draft ... and he still had one year left on his rookie contract.

It's unclear if his release Monday was related to his off-field incidents ... although Rivera and the Redskins announced they cut four other DBs along with Nicholson.

Dr. Phil is wagging his finger at those folks who are having affairs but won't stop in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, calling them selfish, immature and reckless.

The good doc joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday with a very important message for cheaters continuing affairs, college kids on spring break, and religious folks cramming into churches despite the looming threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Phil says it's time for people to start making sacrifices for the greater good because we're all in this together ... and he's sounding the alarm on the bad apples.

Dude's gotta point ... for some reason, some folks are still ignoring information from health officials about the risks of spreading COVID-19 by gathering in large groups or getting too close to others. Dr. Phil says it's because those folks lack empathy, are super entitled and live in denial.

Dr. Phil says it's time to come to grips with our new reality and start making some sacrifices, cutting out routines that are illicit or otherwise ... because if not, things will only get worse for everyone.

Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for coronavirus ... TMZ has confirmed.

Sources tell us that the incarcerated former movie mogul has, indeed, been confirmed as one of two inmates at the Wende Correctional Facility in New York to have the viral infection. He was moved to the prison recently after being taken to Rikers Island following his rape and sexual assault conviction earlier this month.

It's unclear when exactly Weinstein might've contracted the virus, but we're told he's been in isolation since he was taken to Rikers a few weeks back. Our sources also say he hasn't had contact with his family or lawyers since the diagnosis.

The reality -- Weinstein is among the most at risk for serious symptoms.

Weinstein has looked incredibly frail of late, making appearances in court with the help of a walker and aides. He's also been hospitalized in New York a couple different times over the past month or so -- complaining of chest pains and receiving cardiac treatment.

Weinstein might just be the tip of the iceberg in NYC and NY State prisons -- at least 19 inmates in NYC prisons and 12 employees have coronavirus, the NYC Dept. of Corrections announced Saturday. It's unclear what might be happening at a state-wide level.

A rep for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision -- which currently has custody and supervises Weinstein -- tells TMZ ... "With each confirmed case, DOCCS worked with the Department of Health to identify any potentially exposed individuals in order to provide notifications and to stop the spread of the virus."

There is a quiet panic going around behind the scenes at the House of Representatives because some members tell TMZ they sounded a warning 3 weeks ago about the Capitol being unsafe but they weren't heeded ... and now some fear they have the coronavirus.

The members we spoke with -- who only wanted to talk on background -- tell us, about 3 weeks ago when the problems associated with coronavirus started blowing up they began talking about limiting or excluding visitors from the Capitol.

It was an especially busy time, because the House was putting together spending bills and people were flying in from all over the country to lobby members. There were also lots of visitors who came by and interacted with a number of members. We're told the hallways were packed.

One congressman told us, "No one took this seriously. Leaders from both sides initially said they didn't want to panic people. We're told the leaders ultimately consulted the Congressional doctor, but as one congressman said, "He was scared to make a decision because he was afraid he would trigger a national panic."

A congressman we spoke with says he believes he has the virus and is exhibiting mild symptoms and he has self-quarantined. He also says, "I think lots of us [representatives] are going to get it."

The House is currently not in session, but there's a big problem. The Senate is in session and is hopefully going to pass a relief bill soon. The House members have gone home, and the only way they can approve the bill without flying to D.C. is if the vote is unanimous.

If one member wants to vote no on the bill, the traditional solution would be for members to fly to D.C. to cast their votes. But, putting 435 people on airplanes -- especially when there's fear some of the members have or were exposed to the virus -- it's super risky. We're told there's talk of flying 40 at a time or figuring out some way of keeping people away from each other.

No decisions have been made on what to do if the vote is not unanimous.

As for the other chamber ... as we reported, Senator Rand Paul has tested positive and incredibly he was at the Senate gym today swimming. The fact the Senate gym is open when gyms across the country have closed because a gym is a breeding ground for the virus ....well, it's just baffling.

Joshua Tree's campgrounds may be closed -- but people are still visiting in droves during the pandemic ... which is pissing off a lot of the locals, who are shooing the masses away.

The national park closed its gates Saturday to campers and vehicles wanting to pull into their lots for some desert fun -- but because the area is still open to hikers and bikers ... a bunch of Angelenos and others made a mass exodus to the Coachella Valley-area grounds this weekend.

That caused a bit of pandemonium for some of the locals who live right nearby, including 15-year resident Carrie Dagher ... who tells TMZ she's been in full chase-off mode with out-of-town dopes who keep wandering onto her property, apparently thinking it's God's land.

Not the case, according to Carrie ... who says she's literally confronted and driven about 100 different people who unknowingly crossed her front and back yards while exploring the area. Her property and others can stretch anywhere from 1 to 3 acres, so it's understandable a mistaken trespass might happen here and there. That's not the only problem though.

Carrie also tells us some would-be campers have even tried pitching a tent right in her front yard, which she quickly put a stop to as well. Lawn chairs and picnics have also been attempted on her property -- it seems people either don't know or don't care.

The bigger issue, though, is that because of the massive amount of cars coming to the area -- not to mention all the people they're transporting -- Carrie says these bored city-slickers are actually ruining the land with constant traversing, contaminating the rich soil specifically.

BTW, Joshua Tree is far from the only hiking hot spot people want to get to right now -- the Runyon Canyon trail in the heart of L.A. is also drawing hordes of bodies ... most of whom are NOT maintaining any sense of social distancing as they shuffle past each other.

Snitches (or good citizens, really) have been tagging Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti to notify them of the bizarre scene, in hopes of getting these public places shut down to avoid further spreading of the coronavirus.

The Olympic flame has arrived in Japan -- and shockingly, a TON of people turned up to welcome the torch.

The flame was officially passed from Athens, Greece to a representative of Japan on Thursday -- who took the torch to a waiting jet, which flew to the Matsushima Air Base in Miyagi, Japan.

When the plane touched down on Friday, a group of important people were waiting on the tarmac to greet it -- including Japanese Olympic gold medallists Saori Yoshida and Tadahiro Nomura. Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori was also on hand.

But, the most shocking part ... a large group of fans and reporters gathered at the airport to witness the moment. The people were smothering each other despite massive calls for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, Japan has nearly 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 -- but insists the 2020 Games will go on as planned.

Todd Gurley's run in Los Angeles was just cut short ... the Rams announced they're releasing the former All-Pro -- less than 2 years after making him the NFL's highest-paid RB EVER.

The team made the roster move official Thursday ... and while it's shocking considering his massive contract -- it ain't exactly surprising, considering his actual play on the field.

Gurley has been a shell of himself almost since the day he signed his 4-year, $60 MILLION deal in July 2018 ... with things getting so lousy, L.A. media grew obsessed with talking about a knee injury he insisted didn't exist.

Todd had his worst season as a pro last year ... rushing for just 857 yards -- and gave away a lot of playing time to backup Malcolm Brown, who usually found more success than TG on the field.

The Rams were reportedly trying to trade Gurley the past few weeks ... but couldn't find a dance partner -- mostly because of the dude's enormous contract.

The Rams will have to eat MILLIONS of dollars on their cap to cut the tailback ... which probably says all you need to know about what they think of Gurley's future.

But, the halfback is only 25 years old ... and a nice market could exist for him if the price is right.

Perhaps, down in Tampa Bay with Tom Brady???

The Chicago Bears are trading for Nick Foles ... and it all begs the question -- is Mitch Trubisky officially done in The Windy City?!?!

Multiple NFL reporters say Da Bears are sending a 4th-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for the former Super Bowl MVP ... and it's gotta hurt Trubisky's feelings a bit.

A lot of the Bears' current staff have old ties to Foles ... head coach Matt Nagy worked with him in Kansas City, while new QB coach John DeFilippo coached him in Philly.

But, the message from Chicago all off-season was that they still loved Trubisky as their QB ... in fact, remember when Prince Amukamara told us at the Super Bowl the Bears were Mitch believers?!

Seems that might not be the case anymore ... because not only is a 4th-rounder a pretty pricey fee -- the Bears are likely going to have to eat a whole lot of the 4-year, $88 MILLION deal Foles signed with the Jags last off-season.

Of course, Foles was expendable in Jacksonville because of the unexpected play of rookie Gardner Minshew -- who crushed it filling in for Nick all last year.

Now, does this trade make Trubisky -- the former 1st-round pick who was selected AHEAD OF Patrick Mahomes -- expendable in Chicago as well???