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President Donald Trump -- who previously said to fire any "son of a bitch" who knelt for the national anthem -- says Colin Kaepernick should get another shot at an NFL career ... if he deserves it.

POTUS has been adamantly against the national anthem protests since 2016 ... and most recently said he'd stop watching soccer and football if the demonstrations continued.

Trump seems to be softening his stance on Kap -- at least as a quarterback -- saying he should have a second chance in the league if he's talented enough to compete.

"If he deserves it, he should," Trump told ABC7's Scott Thuman. "If he has the playing ability. He started off great and then he didn't end up very great in terms as a player."

"He was terrific in his rookie year, I think he was very good in his second year and then something happened."

Trump continued ... "So, his playing wasn't up to snuff. The answer is absolutely I would, as far as kneeling, I would love to see him get another shot. But obviously, he has to be able to play well. If he can't play well, I think it would be very unfair."

What's unclear is if Trump means Kap should stand if he gets "another shot"... but we know for sure he believes a team shouldn't hesitate to sign him if he's good enough.

The comments come on the heels of Ben Carson -- the Housing and Urban Development Secretary -- saying he was going to "work with" POTUS to help him understand the meaning behind kneeling ... so it's a possibility it helped.

NFL commish Roger Goodell also recently said he'd encourage any team to sign the QB.

Chris D'Elia is breaking his silence after multiple anonymous online claims from women accusing the comedian of getting flirty with women who were allegedly underage at the time.

The comedian tells TMZ ... "I know I have said and done things that might have offended people during my career, but I have never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point." Chris goes on to say, "All of my relationships have been both legal and consensual and I have never met or exchanged any inappropriate photos with the people who have tweeted about me."

He finishes by saying, "That being said, I really am truly sorry. I was a dumb guy who ABSOLUTELY let myself get caught up in my lifestyle. That’s MY fault. I own it. I’ve been reflecting on this for some time now and I promise I will continue to do better."

Chris started trending on Twitter Tuesday night after a woman named Simone Rossi started a thread showing alleged texts/emails between her and Chris from a few years ago, when she says she was only 16.

Several other anonymous allegations followed Rossi's post from women alleging Chris had solicited photos and/or sex from them. While most claim they were just younger than D'Elia ... some, like Rossi, claim they were underage.

911 callers from the scene of George Floyd's killing were horrified, but very clear about what they'd just seen -- and it's more evidence the cops should have seen it the way ordinary citizens did.

Minneapolis released transcripts Wednesday of the 911 calls furiously made to report ex-cop Derek Chauvin violently holding his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes.

The calls came in at 8:32 PM and within seconds of each other. One caller said, "I literally watched police officers not take a pulse and not do anything to save a man. They f***ing killed him.”

When asked if the caller wants to speak to the supervisor, the caller said, “I’m recording this. I’m, I mean I’m f***ing recording this right now.”

Check out the transcript ... the operator offered to transfer the caller to the supervisor but the call disconnects. Another reported, “Yeah I just watched Officer #987 kill a, ah … a citizen in front of a Chicago [ave.] ah…store.”

The caller went on to say, "He had his knee on the dude’s neck the whole time. I don't even know if he dead for sure but dude was not responsive when the ambulance came and got him, and the officer that was just out here left, the one that actually just murdered the kid in front of everybody."

It should be noted ... Minnesota doesn't release audio like this, but even in the transcript, you can feel the raw emotion from callers.

As we reported ... a 911 dispatcher was concerned enough about the handling of Floyd's arrest, she called a police supervisor. You hear the dispatcher openly question if the officers needed to use the kind of force she'd seen as she watched live body cam footage from the scene.

Chauvin was arrested four days after Floyd's death, and initially charged by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is now leading the investigation and prosecution, later filed an additional count of second-degree murder against Chauvin. He's facing 40 years behind bars -- the maximum penalty for second-degree murder.

A statue of African-American icon Arthur Ashe has been vandalized with "White Lives Matter" and "WLM" in Virginia ... and now police are investigating.

The monument was tagged in white spray paint early Wednesday morning ... and law enforcement says they have info on potential suspects.

The original vandalism was later written over with "BLM" in red spray paint ... and local reports say community members were already trying to remove the graffiti by the time cops arrived to the scene.

Ashe -- who broke barriers in the sport of tennis in becoming the first black man to win the Wimbledon, Australian Open and U.S. Open -- was honored with a statue in his hometown of Richmond in 1996.

It's worth noting ... the Ashe tribute is part of Richmond's Memorial Avenue, which is filled with statues to Confederate leaders that have been attacked by protesters following George Floyd's death.

2 Chainz's got more drama over his ATL joint, and this time it's beef with the keepers of Pablo Escobar's name ... who are suing the rapper over the restaurant's name.

Pablo Escobar's family company, Escobar Inc., is suing 2 Chainz for at least $10 million ... claiming his Escobar Restaurant and Tapas -- there are 2 of 'em in Atlanta -- violates federal law with its unauthorized commercial use of the Escobar name and likeness.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the company's pissed 2 Chainz slapped the family name across his famous ATL restaurants, their websites and social media -- not to mention the clothing sold with the restaurant name.

The company says it owns the trademark to Escobar's likeness and 2 Chainz is using the name to generate traffic and sales. The company says, for example, 2 Chainz has Escobar's likeness painted inside one of his joints. They also point to the menu featuring "Escobar Crab Cakes."

Escobar Inc. wants the 8-figure damages, minimum, plus an injunction blocking use of the name and likeness at the restaurants.

As we've reported, 2 Chainz's ATL joints have had plenty of unrelated drama recently, stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Allen Glover -- the man allegedly hired by 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic in his failed plot to kill Carole Baskin -- is in trouble of his own now ... he got busted in Oklahoma.

Glover was arrested by Valley Brook police Sunday morning on a DUI-related charge. We're told Glover was parked in a private parking lot and someone called the cops. When officers responded, we're told Glover was in the vehicle and alert but ended up blowing a .26. We do not yet know if the vehicle was running.

He was booked on the DUI-related charge of actual physical control (APC). In Oklahoma, you can get hit with the charge for simply sitting in your vehicle with a BAC higher than .08. An APC charge is more commonly known as a non-driving DUI.

As you may recall ... we interviewed Glover about his role in Exotic's murder-for-hire case a couple months back, and he clearly suggested he had a vendetta against Joe.

Allen told us he wished he could do more to hurt Joe as payback for, as Glover said ... all the misery he caused people and animals. Glover, of course, testified that Exotic paid him $3k to kill Baskin, and his testimony was critical in Joe's conviction.

However, what he told us possibly demonstrated a bias in the case ... but so far it hasn't resulted in Exotic getting freed from prison.

Could Colin Kaepernick's return to the NFL start in Los Angeles?

Chargers coach Anthony Lynn told reporters Wednesday it's certainly a possibility ... saying, "Colin definitely fits the style of quarterback for the system that we’re going to be running,"

Of course, Lynn -- who has yet to speak with Colin about a potential tryout -- says the Bolts have a pretty full QB room already ... so a signing seems unlikely at the moment.

But, Lynn insinuated if something should happen to one of their top quarterbacks ... Colin would be one of the first guys they call for a workout.

"It would be crazy to not have him on your workout list," Lynn said ... before adding, "I’m very confident and happy with the three quarterbacks that I have but you can never have too many people waiting on the runway."

Colin -- who's been out of the league since 2016 -- has yet to have any truly serious offers since he last played ... even despite a workout in front of several NFL scouts in 2019.

Kap's made it clear he feels he's been blackballed because of his kneeling protests ... but in an interview with ESPN this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he's now encouraging teams to sign the QB.

Aunt Jemima syrup is no more -- 'cause the parent company is retiring the image and name after more than a century, while publicly copping to the fact she's a giant stereotype.

The Quaker Oats Company made the announcement Tuesday, saying they were doing away with Auntie. The company explains, "As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers' expectations."

Aunt Jemima's been a thing for more than 130 years now, and its origins are deeply racist. The character is based on an 1800s "mammy" -- a black servant in a white household. Specifically, Aunt Jemima is meant to portray a real-life woman named Nancy Green, who Quaker had previously described as a "storyteller, cook and missionary worker" ... but failing to mention she was born into slavery.

There's even more controversy surrounding the brand that's been swept under the rug over the years -- like the name Jemima coming from a minstrel-era song, "Old Aunt Jemima."

For the longest time, the Aunt Jemima brand featured a black woman with a headscarf -- but in the '80s ... Quaker switched up her look to appear more modern, decking her out in earrings and pearls.

In the wake of the civil unrest overtaking the country right now, tons of people were calling for Aunt Jemima to be shelved or re-branded. NBC News was first to report her demise.

BTW, folks are now calling for a handful of other brands to be changed ASAP because of the same issue -- among them are Uncle Ben's Rice and Cream of Wheat. It appears Uncle Ben's has gotten the message.

A rep for the brand said Wednesday, "As we listen to the voices of consumers, especially in the Black community, and to the voices of our Associates worldwide, we recognize that one way we can do this is by evolving the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity.”

It's unclear what the evolution of the brand will look like ... but the rep told HuffPost that all possibilities were on the table.

Sophie Turner is reaching the bulging baby bump stage ... and she might be getting a head start on shopping for her bundle of joy.

The 'Game of Thrones' star and her husband, Joe Jonas, hit up Melrose Ave Tuesday afternoon, strolling down the famous shopping street and showing off her growing baby bump, which is pretty prevalent these days.

Sophie dressed up her bun in the oven with grey leggings, a crop top and plaid blazer. Kid's already more stylish than the average.

The expectant parents wore masks as they shopped around ... never too early to get a head start on baby stuff, even in a pandemic. Fortunately, stores on Melrose are open again, so Sophie can shop till she drops.

Peep Joe's Bruce Lee graphic tee ... makes ya wonder, is the baby kicking already? Of course it is!

Breonna Taylor's family attorney wants Louisville police to follow in the footsteps of the NYPD and get rid of plainclothes officers ... something he believes could've saved her life.

One of the Taylor family's attorneys, Sam Aguiar, tells TMZ ... Breonna would still be alive today if plainclothes units were not the ones serving the no-knock search warrant that ended in her death.

The family's legal team thinks the search warrant would have been properly executed if the officers were in uniform. Aguiar says 16 neighbors claim the plainclothes officers didn't announce their presence before going inside, and he doubts things would've gone down the same if the cops were wearing badges.

The way Aguiar sees it ... when police "don’t put on the uniform and they don’t put on the badge, it lets them have the sense that they can just go rogue.”

Aguiar thinks the plainclothes units almost exhibit gang mentality. He says they beat down doors when executing search warrants, never announce themselves as police and make it difficult for bystanders to know they are police because they don't arrive in cop cars.

Louisville should take a page from NYC and disband plainclothes units, Aguiar says, and he thinks change could be on the horizon because over the last few years, the city's plainclothes units have fallen under tremendous scrutiny.

As you know ... Louisville has banned no-knock warrants in the wake of Breonna's death, and is now requiring the use of body cameras by anyone executing a search warrant. But, the Taylor family's attorney wants to see more reforms.

For instance, Aguiar says Louisville Metro PD needs to pay officers more, hire better ones, keep the best and get rid of the bad apples.

A police officer canceled her McDonald's drive-thru order ... because she feared employees were messing with her food -- so she gave a tearful plea to cut cops some slack ... and show some appreciation.

The officer explains in her selfie vid she just got off a long shift and is very hungry, and all she wants is her McMuffin meal with a coffee ... but it's taking a while ... and she seems to suspect something fishy's going on.

She gives the play-by-play of her order delay, and after finally getting her coffee but still no food, she says she tells the Mickey D's employee to keep it ... because she's too nervous now to eat it.

The cop then breaks down, saying she's never been this anxious in 15 years on the job to pick up a to-go order she can't see being made. She adds ... "I don't know what's going on with people nowadays," and pleads for everyone to give cops a break.

Not just a break ... but also to tell them thank you, because she's not hearing that enough lately.

Of course, this officer's meltdown comes on the heels of 3 NYPD officers who feared they were poisoned by shakes from Shake Shack ... but an investigation proved that wasn't the case.

Demi Lovato practiced some serious social distancing out in Joshua Tree ... renting the famous "invisible house" for a romantic getaway with her boyfriend.

The singer spent the weekend in the desert with BF and actor Max Ehrich ... sparing no expense in one of America's most iconic vacation homes, which goes for a cool $2,500 a night!!!

As you can see ... the steel-clad home is stunning, and it draws you in with a mirrored glass exterior that reflects its beautiful surroundings, which makes the house seemingly disappear into the desert.

The "Invisible House" kinda looks like a skyscraper on its side, and the 5,500-square-foot space is decked out with movie projection screen and a 100-foot-long indoor swimming pool ... it's tucked away a scorching hot desert, after all.

There are 4 bedrooms with sliding glass doors opening up to the great outdoors, offering expansive views of the 90-acre property. Like we said, super romantic.

Demi's still beaming over her "amazing weekend in the magical desert" with Max ... she says she went to work on a project, but adds it was really just nice to get away from L.A. for a couple days.

BTW ... the "Invisible House" is available to rent for all types of photo and video shoots, so it's possible she rented the home for her project.

A Black Lives Matter protester probably has a giant knot on his head after getting socked by a counter-protester, and what's startling about the video is a cop's response.

Ya gotta see the video from this weekend in Bethel, Ohio ... a solo white guy was demonstrating for #BLM in the middle of a huge crowd of counter-protesters when someone came up from behind him and landed a punch square on the back of his noggin. Mind you, a police officer appeared to witness the blow from just a few feet away.

The man who was smacked doesn't flinch much, and keeps his composure for a few moments before complaining to the cop. The officer didn't do much, other than joining the mob of people in telling him to get outta town and go protest somewhere else.

Other cops eventually escort the BLM protester away from the hoard of angry white folks ... who yelled at him, "motherf***er" and "mama's boy."

If this video doesn't already show it ... the Bethel protest turned ugly quick, with hundreds of anti-protesters showing up with Trump gear, allegedly shouting racist slurs and carrying rifles. Police had originally only planned for about 100 people to show up ... but that number swelled to nearly 1,000.

As a President once said ... "Very fine people."

DeMario Jackson -- who crossed interracial dating lines in 'Bachelor' nation -- says the franchise's first black leading man is gonna get blasted for his final rose pick ... there's just no way around it.

Matt James has a tough road ahead of him, including chock-full of scrutiny about the women with whom he connects on the show ... according to DeMario. His take is if Matt chooses anyone but a dark-skinned black girl, he'll draw unwarranted outrage from blacks and whites.

DeMario uses his own experience on Rachel Lindsay's historic season of 'Bachelorette' as well as 'BiP' -- where he hooked up with Corinne Olympios -- to back up his argument.

Be it racist white dudes in his DMs telling him to stay away from "their" women, or black people encouraging him to exclusively date his own race -- DeMario says everyone will have something to say to Matt throughout his season.

In his opinion, America ain't ready to see the first black 'Bachelor' pick a white woman ... IF it plays out that way.

DeMario's already banking on a scenario like that. Fortunately, he's got some advice for MJ on tuning out all the chatter, regardless of who he falls in love with on the show.

UNLV has said adios to Hey Reb! ... the school just canned its famous on-campus mascot statue -- and now, its sports teams' nicknames could be next.

The university removed the heavy bronze bust -- which sat outside the Tam Alumni Center -- on Tuesday, with the school's president appearing to acknowledge it's because of its controversial Confederate ties.

"In recent conversations with the donor," President Marta Meana said in a letter to students, "We mutually agreed it was best to remove the statue and return it."

Meana seemed to strongly indicate the future of the school's "Runnin' Rebels" nickname and the mascot that comes with it could be in doubt as well.

"I have had discussions with multiple individuals and stakeholder groups from campus and the community on how best the university can move forward given recent events throughout our nation," she said.

"That includes the future of our mascot."

Of course, in the wake of George Floyd's tragic death ... protestors all over the nation have called for the removal of statues and figures that honor America's Confederate roots.

Sculptures all across the country have been torn down ... while NASCAR has even banned Confederate flags from its racetracks forever.

So, could this officially spell the end for the "Rebels" name at UNLV??