News

2:05 PM PT -- Maui Police Department tells TMZ ... at one point, Kirill Basin had pulled out a knife -- injuring himself in the process.

He allegedly chucked it into the ocean before the cops arrived. They say a bystander found the alleged knife and turned it over to police.

MPD tells us the whole thing started when Basin was approached about turning his music down ... they say he allegedly threatened the man and his wife, claiming he had a gun and was going to shoot her.

A Hawaiian congressional candidate got hit by a double whammy ... he first got his ass whooped on the beach ... and then he reportedly got arrested for making terroristic threats ... and the brawl is on video.

Kirill Basin, a Democratic candidate running for Congress against incumbent Democrat Jill Tokuda, got into a heated back-and-forth Saturday with a couple at Keawakapu Beach on Maui. The verbal altercation was captured by a witness on dramatic video, along with the ensuing ass-kicking.

Check it out and bring the popcorn ... the clip starts with Basin talking about putting the other man in the hospital before doing a total 180 and shaking the man's hand.

The leader of a Mexican criminal cartel was swept up by authorities after allegedly ordering the brutal murders of his son's beauty influencer ex-girlfriend and a mayor.

Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala was arrested in late July by military personnel and law enforcement officers during a joint operation ... according to multiple reports.

Mexican officials say Ayala was known as "El R-1" ... he was the main leader of "Los Rs", one of the most violent criminal organizations connected to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel -- a group allegedly involved in murder, extortion and drug trafficking. 

According to authorities, Ayala masterminded and financed the hit on 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Marquez -- whose ex-boyfriend is Ayala's son. In May 2025, Marquez was shot and killed by a gunman while livestreaming in her beauty salon in the Mexican city of Zapopan.

The federal crackdown over alleged threats tied to the Nolan Wells investigation is expanding ... an Illinois man became the third person charged with allegedly threatening witnesses and their families, TMZ has learned.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Edward James Porter from Berwyn, IL is accused of using phone calls and text messages to threaten two witnesses involved in the ongoing investigation into Nolan's death.

Prosecutors allege Porter repeatedly called one witness Friday ... threatening to "come kill" the witness and their family. The complaint says he also claimed he had the witness' home address before allegedly texting the address directly to them.

The box Jeanine Pirro wheeled out of the White House wasn't from cleaning out her desk ... it was apparently evidence showing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool damage was the result of a crappy renovation, and not a vandal.

Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News Tuesday the U.S. Attorney for D.C. brought a box full of evidence that exonerated ex-Olympian David Hearn and other individuals from criminal vandalism charges, which she dropped.

The sources said Pirro brought the box to the White House on Monday in an attempt to prove to President Trump that her reversing course on prosecuting Hearn and others didn't mean she "choked."

The outlet reports the private meeting got heated at times ... but Pirro still has her job ... at least for now.

Kaylee Goncalves' dad seemingly doesn't mind Bryan Kohberger wanting to change his guilty plea ... because he says he wants to see Kohberger on trial for his daughter's murder.

Steve Goncalves, his wife Kristi, and their youngest daughter, Aubrie appeared on "Today" Tuesday to talk about the case and the new Netflix documentary about the brutal slaying ... "The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare."

Craig Melvin asked Steve if he still wants to see a trial ... especially since Kohberger has filed to take back his guilty plea -- claiming he's innocent and only confessed because of "false promises" and "disinformation."

The gun-wielding bystander who shot at the Idaho In-N-Out mass shooter says the killer "crumbled" emotionally and fled the scene after bullets started whizzing past him. 

Jordan Salinas sat for an interview Monday with an ABC News reporter and gave a detailed account of Saturday's deadly shooting at the In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls. The suspect, Chad Williams, fatally shot three people and injured seven others before taking his own life.

Salinas said he peered around a traffic sign near the burger joint and zeroed in on Williams, who was pointing a rifle at passing vehicles. 

Thanksgiving is still on the calendar ... but Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong can't say whether she wants it to stay there.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked the Democratic socialist Monday if she still believes the holiday should be canceled -- and Hong cooked up a 46-second response without ever serving a yes or no.

Hong leaned on her background as a chef and restaurant owner, saying bringing people around a table is "always a good thing" ... but added Thanksgiving is "incredibly painful" for many communities.

Collins raised the issue because Hong called for Thanksgiving to be scrapped in a since-deleted 2021 post, writing ... "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621."

Wildfires are ravaging the state of Washington ... and new video shows firefighters attempting to fight back against the surging flames ... and it's intense.

Spokane County Fire District 8 and the Spokane Valley Fire Department released video that shows the powerful blaze burning through brush and forests ... with brave firefighters hopping out of trucks, grabbing hoses and attempting to halt the fire's progress.

Smoke takes up a lot of the clip ... blotting out the sun and making it difficult to see much beyond the fire ... as first responders walk through backyards of evacuated homes.

Pokémon is being sued in a class-action lawsuit after a former engineering director allegedly tried to get a "Peek-achu" at women and children while they were undressing in the bathroom.

A woman -- who filed the lawsuit as Jane Doe -- is accusing The Pokémon Co. International Inc. of failing to protect employees and visitors at the company's Bellevue, Washington, office from former director of engineering, Ben Tsai.

Tsai was arrested last month and charged with first-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, first-degree possession of those depictions, first-degree voyeurism, and second-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Cops say they found hundreds of videos from the bathroom at Pokémon's office as well as recordings allegedly taken in a local Starbucks restroom and videos taken from inside the bathroom in Tsai's own home.

Influencer Sara Gilson and her husband Jeremiah Duffey died in a murder-suicide -- and now Gilson's ex is trying to prevent Duffey's "beneficiaries" from profiting off the brutal slaying, according to new court docs.

In a July 29 filing, Gilson’s former husband Lyle Landers states that Gilson had no will at the time that Duffey allegedly shot her, and then took his own life in Oklahoma. Gilson was killed by Duffey on July 23 -- less than two weeks after she accused Duffey of being a pedophile in a video posted to TikTok.

The docs say Landers made every effort to find a probate will for Gilson but came up empty at every turn.

8/3/2026 5:04 PM PST -- According to CNN Jeanine Pirro was not fired today when she was at the White House, but she was there for what could have been an "awkward meeting" with Donald Trump. Trump is still mulling over her removal.

Jeanine Pirro's leaving the White House with her tail between her legs ... this hours after Donald Trump ripped into her for walking back the Reflecting Pool vandalism charges against David Hearn.

She rolled up not long after Trump ripped into her for dropping the vandalism case against the ex-Olympian ... he says she "choked."

It's unclear why exactly the U.S. Attorney was at the White House, but remember ... sources told CNN DT is furious with her and is considering giving her the boot.

Ian Diaz's stepfather asked a federal judge to show compassion when it came time to sentence the former law enforcement officer featured in Netflix's "A Toxic Love Story" ... arguing prison would devastate Diaz's wife and young son.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, Diaz's stepfather -- Mark -- submitted a heartfelt letter to the court in June of 2023, describing Diaz as someone he's known since childhood ... saying he never knew him to be violent or "knowingly harmed anyone."

Doughty says the family proudly supported Diaz through the police academy -- later U.S. Marshals training -- and becoming a law enforcement officer had been Diaz's lifelong dream.

He says Diaz's graduation photo still hangs on their wall.

Ian Diaz from "A Toxic Love Story" was slammed by his ex-wife Michelle Hadley's mom … in a letter she wrote to the judge before he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, TMZ has learned.

TMZ obtained the letter written by Michelle’s mom begging the judge to throw the book at Ian for what he did to her daughter. 

She wrote, "I was that mom who walked my daughters right to the door of their elementary school classes and who checked online for sexual predators in our neighborhood. How ironic that the very thing I couldn't protect my daughter from was corrupt law enforcement."

The In-N-Out employee who died when a gunman shot up her workplace over the weekend in Idaho has been identified ... and her friends and family are reeling.

Ashley Garibay, a 23-year-old from Stockton, California, was among the 3 killed and 7 injured when Chad Williams opened fire with an assault-style rifle -- before he killed himself ... according to the Daily Mail.

Ashley's family and friends flooded Facebook with messages of heartbreak and shock, with one person saying, "Ashley you are so beautiful. You will be missed so much."

Nolan Wells’ mom is pushing back on reports the teen was partying big time before he disappeared and was later found dead ... saying word is he wasn't heavily drinking at all.

Christine Wonsley told Don Lemon ... she spoke with someone who observed Nolan during a Fourth of July party on Horn Island -- and he wasn't acting like someone who was wasted.

As TMZ reported ... some witnesses told law enforcement that Nolan was heavily drinking when they saw him that fateful weekend ... but Christine says she thinks that narrative is BS and doesn't add up to her.

She says ... “If you were in our situation, how would you feel if there were millions of people who were saying, ‘Oh, hey, well, he was at an island. He was heavily drunk.'"