Rep. Ilhan Omar thinks her fellow members of Congress like to get a quorum together in the form of a smoke sesh, because she believes there are plenty of stoners roaming the halls of the Capitol.
Our TMZ DC team chatted with the Congresswoman from Minnesota about the Department of Justice's recent decision to reclassify weed from a Schedule I substance -- the same category as heroin -- down to a Schedule III, which makes it far easier for researchers to receive funding to study it.
It's still not legal for recreational use at the federal level, so don't expect to see FBI or FEMA agents sparking up after a long day ... but, Rep. Omar says she wants to get it to a place where it's completely legal nationwide.
She also told us something that's pretty mind-blowing on a political level.
Jacobis soooo Gen Z -- complain complain complain, although this time he may have a point.
Our D.C. young'un ran into Rep. Seth Magazineron The Hill, and told the Congressman about how he and his friends suffered through COVID, and how he just couldn't handle another pandemic.
The Rep. from Rhode Island was sympathetic, and confessed our country is totally unprepared for another disease that shuts America down.
Jacob then went to his go-to -- THE FREAKOUT METER -- and asked the Congressman where we land.
Magaziner's answer focused on members of Congress ... and where he puts them on Jacob's meter is more than alarming.
The dreaded hantavirus has nearly claimed another life ... as a French woman is struggling, breathing through an artificial lung amid the MV Hondius cruise outbreak.
According to her doctor, the unidentified woman is currently in critical condition in a Paris hospital after contracting the disease aboard the cruise ship during a 34-day expedition through the Atlantic, with several stops along the way.
Authorities said three people have died, with eight other reported cases as a result of the outbreak on the ship, which launched April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina. So far, authorities have confirmed nine of the hantavirus cases.
Details are emerging about the man killed by a Frontier jet engine on a Denver International Airport runway Friday night ... and his criminal record is filled with violent arrests and run-ins with police.
The New York Post reports 41-year-old Michael Mott had been arrested more than 20 times in Colorado dating back to 2002 -- with charges ranging from DUI and trespassing to attempted murder and assaulting a peace officer.
Mott's most recent arrest reportedly came just last month ... when he was busted for felony trespassing, property damage and resisting arrest after an incident at a Colorado Springs home. He was reportedly homeless at the time.
Public records cited by the outlet show Mott's criminal history escalated quickly after a string of minor arrests as a teenager. In 2005, he was arrested for attempted murder involving a gun ... but later pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and served six years behind bars.
He was later reportedly charged with assault involving a weapon while incarcerated ... and after his release, continued racking up arrests tied to domestic violence, burglary, hit-and-run incidents, violating protection orders and resisting cops.
As we previously reported ... Mott breached an 8-foot barbed-wire fence at the airport Friday night and walked onto the tarmac directly into the path of a departing flight bound for Los Angeles. Mott was sucked into the engine and killed instantly ... with his cause of death ruled as multiple blunt and sharp force injuries, and the manner of death was suicide.
Air traffic control audio captured after the impact described "limbs" scattered across the runway ... while all passengers and crew members aboard the plane were evacuated safely.
Denver officials say no suicide note has been recovered.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Six people who were found dead inside a Union Pacific train container in Texas have been identified -- and officials say a 14-year-old boy was among the victims.
The Webb County Medical Examiner's Office released a grim update Tuesday after the bodies were discovered Sunday at a Union Pacific railyard in Laredo ... revealing the group included five men and one woman believed to be from Mexico and Honduras.
Authorities have positively identified five of the six victims so far -- including a 14-year-old Honduran boy, a 29-year-old Mexican woman, a 24-year-old Honduran man, a 45-year-old Mexican man and a 56-year-old Mexican man. One additional male victim has not yet been publicly identified. Officials did not release the victims' names.
The man who was struck and killed by a plane at Denver International Airport over the weekend died by suicide ... though questions remain about why he wanted to end his life.
Denver Medical Examiner Sterling McLaren said 41-year-old Michael Mott is the man who was consumed by the jet engine of a Frontier Airlines plane late Friday night as he walked on the runway. McLaren's office determined the man's cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries, and the manner of death was suicide.
President Donald Trumpsays the U.S. has the hantavirus situation under control ... but he admits there's only so much he can do as fears grow over the deadly cruise ship outbreak.
Trump addressed the increasing panic Monday from the Oval Office ... telling reporters, "I hope it's fine," while insisting the country is in "very good shape" -- despite the virus, which comes from contact with infected rodent waste, spreading aboard the stricken cruise ship MV Hondius.
POTUS added ... "All I can do is everything that a president can do, which is actually somewhat limited."
7:40 AM PST -- The Denver International Airport has announced the individual killed after being hit by a Frontier Airlines plane Friday night "jumped the perimeter fence" and was hit only 2 minutes later "while crossing the runway." The identity has not been confirmed, but the airport does not believe they were an employee.
The airport added that 12 people reported minor injuries, 5 of whom were transported to local hospitals.
The pedestrian is deceased, and is not believed to be an employee of the airport nor have they been identified. An individual was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines flight headed to Los Angeles during takeoff at Denver International Airport Friday night ... and TMZ obtained shocking audio of the incident unfolding.
You can hear everything in the clip -- a female air traffic controller warns her colleagues a person was walking on the runway, and the person is swiftly reported as struck and killed. You can also hear air traffic controllers say there appears to be "limbs" and human remains on the runway.
Emergency personnel are immediately directed to the scene to guard the remains and evacuate the flight ... with the exception of the deceased, only minor injuries were reported.
ABC is actually standing up to the FCC for once ... going after the government agency for targeting "The View."
On Thursday, the network filed a petition against the FCC, claiming they are raising serious First Amendment issues with their probe of the daytime talk show.
Back in February, the agency started investigating "The View" in an attempt to force them to give equal air time to politicians across the political spectrum.
Absolute tragedy in Mexico ... a massive fire ripped through a packed fairground, killing at least 5 people.
Video from the horrifying scene Thursday night shows huge flames tearing through the Parque Tabasco shopping mall fair in Villahermosa in Southern Mexico. Terrified crowds of fairgoers scrambled to escape flames and thick smoke billowing into the sky.
Officials say they finally got the blaze under control by Friday morning, according to Tabasco’s Civil Protection agency.
Tabasco Governor Javier May Rodríguez confirmed investigations are now underway to determine what sparked the deadly inferno ... and he also announced the state will provide economic recovery for impacted businesses.
Rodriguez offered condolences to the families of the 5 victims, saying some of those killed were fair exhibitors who just didn't have time to escape the most intense part of fire.
A British ex-cop is speaking out after becoming the first identified passenger hauled off the hantavirus-riddled MV Hondius this week.
Martin Anstee was evacuated Wednesday -- and speaking from a hospital in Amsterdam, he said he's thankfully not feeling too bad right now ... though doctors are still running tests while he remains in isolation.
Martin told Sky News doctors should have a much clearer picture of his prognosis in the next few days -- so, for now, signs seem positive. Still, his wife Nicola admitted the whole ordeal onboard felt deeply traumatic.
The deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is causing serious panic worldwide ... and now video has emerged showing the ship captain announcing the first death onboard.
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Travel content creator Ruhi Çenet had been on the ship before debarking after the first death, on April 11 ... he later hopped on IG to share video of the captain addressing passengers in a communal area, revealing one guest had died the night before.
The captain also said the ship doctor believed the illness wasn’t infectious ... but just one day later, the dead passenger’s wife also died -- and Ruhi says things only got worse after he left, with the ship's only doctor fighting for his life. So far, there are three reported deaths.
A deadly virus outbreak aboard a cruise ship may have spread far beyond the vessel itself ... because nearly two dozen passengers reportedly wandered across the globe before health officials finally tracked them down.
According to reporting from Spanish newspaper El País, 23 passengers aboard the MV Hondius got off the ship during a stop on the remote Atlantic island of Saint Helena in April -- despite the fact people onboard had already gotten sick and at least one passenger had died.
A Spanish passenger still aboard the ship told the outlet the travelers had no clue they may have been exposed to hantavirus -- a potentially deadly disease with a mortality rate WHO reports could be as high as 40% -- when they disembarked and headed home.
Things got straight-up "You Got Served" meets WWE at a concert in Mexico ... 'cause two rival dance crews turned the stage into a full-blown battleground!
Check out the chaos -- a performance at a concert for popular Mexican group Su Majestad La Brissa at Corner Sport Arena in Chihuahua went completely off the rails when tensions between dancers exploded into a vicious onstage brawl.
Hair was yanked, punches were thrown, and performers were scrapping in front of stunned fans ... while the band awkwardly kept playing through the madness.
Florida authorities leapt into action after a boat started to go down on a lake ... with dramatic video showing first responders saving 6 souls.
The Osceola County Sheriff's Office shared the video of the May 2 catastrophe ... which begins with the boat already sinking -- water lapping up the sides and into the craft.
As the water level rises, a few of the occupants grab life vests and jump into the water ... while others remain onboard.
The body of missing college student James "Jimmy" Gracey has been found in the ocean off the beaches of Barcelona, Spanish police confirmed.
La Vanguardia reported his father -- who flew to the city to join the search -- has been notified ... and no foul play is suspected in the University of Alabama student's death. Jimmy's body was found "at a depth of four meters in the waters" of Barcelona's Port Olímpic, a marina, this afternoon.
WLS-TV in Chicago reports Gracey's family -- he grew up in the Chicagoland area -- released a statement thanking the public for their concern and asking for privacy. As we reported ...
