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President Trump is doubling down on his well-wishes for alleged child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars -- his reason ... Jeffrey Epstein might've been killed in there himself.

DT sat for an interview with Axios, which just aired on HBO Monday night. They covered A LOT of topics -- but one in particular that raised eyebrows was Trump's feelings toward Maxwell, and by extension ... her longtime associate, Epstein, who died last year.

Check it out ... the reporter asks why Trump would send someone accused of horrible crimes his regards -- he said this last week during a press conference at the White House -- and 45 answered by suggesting she, too, could be at risk at dying while in custody.

Trump says her "boyfriend" Epstein was "either killed or committed suicide" while in jail, and that he wished her good luck ... further saying to let prosecutors prove she's guilty. The reporter follows up by asking if he thinks she could also die while in custody, and DT seems to confirm that's where his head's at. He says he's not wishing anything bad upon her.

It's interesting that Trump's peddling the conspiracy theory Epstein was knocked off at the hands of others -- because that's exactly how Epstein's own camp feels about it too.

UFC boss Dana White LOVES that his pal, The Rock, just bought the XFL -- but says he needs to get it up and running FAST while there's still a huge appetite for live sports!

"If I was The Rock, I would try to get that rolling as fast as I could. I'd try to get that on television ASAP. I guarantee you there’s a ton of networks that would do it."

White is essentially saying with COVID threatening the NFL, college football and other major sports ... there's a HUGE opportunity for the XFL to thrive in 2020 if The Rock and his partners can move quickly.

"You have all these multi-millionaire athletes that don’t wanna play right now. All these guys that don’t wanna play, They wanna sit out … don’t wanna stay in the bubble, don’t wanna do what it takes. Don’t be surprised if The Rock slides right into that slot with some great programming. 'Cause let me tell you what, people are dying to watch live sports right now."

In fact, Dana -- who's been successfully hosting UFC fights during the pandemic -- says he's offering to serve as Rock's COVID adviser.

"I'm actually gonna call him today and walk him through what I think he needs to do on the COVID side of this thing. And, I have some ideas for him. "

Meanwhile, Dana is getting ready to launch a new season of the Dana White's Contender Series on Tuesday night -- where top contenders face off for a chance at a UFC contract.

Dana says the whole thing is going down in Las Vegas where the UFC has created a "bubble environment" just like Fight Island ... where fighters are quarantined and tested on a daily basis.

"These guys are in a bubble here. We literally have a hotel, our own hotel ... and you get here and you are literally stuck in your room just getting tested all the time."

Benzino allegedly flew into a jealous rage and took his anger out on his baby mama, Althea Eaton's new man and his truck ... which led to his arrest.

The incident went down Friday morning in Braselton, GA where Benzino allegedly got into a shouting match with a man who was hanging out with Althea ... according to cops.

That other man told cops he "and a female he has been seeing, Althea Eaton, were out for a walk in the neighborhood" but when they got back to his truck, Benzino "approached him in a threatening and harassing manner." Cops say the man told them he didn't know Benzino and had no idea Althea was involved with someone else.

According to the police report, the guy tried getting into his 2018 Chevy Silverado but Benzino wasn't having it, and allegedly hit the truck multiple times with his fist. Cops say they saw 2 dents in the driver's side door.

Now, Benzino told a much different story -- claiming he was in the area watching his son play tennis when "a male came up to him and told him he was going to shoot him."

Benzino denied damaging the dude's truck, but witnesses backed up the other man's claims. Benzino was ultimately arrested and booked on 1 count of criminal damage 2nd degree and 1 count of disorderly conduct. He was taken to Gwinnett County Jail where his bail was set at $8,450, and we're told he remains behind bars.

As we've reported ... Benzino's had his share of trouble with the law, and NO lack of serious drama with Althea.

The friendly neighborhood home of the Boggs family in "Edward Scissorhands" is on the market, and though there's no sign Edward's been trimming the hedges ... there's still plenty to like about the place.

The outside of the Florida house -- featured in the 1990 Tim Burton cult classic, starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder -- is a different color now but still looks very much the same ... and it's listed for $224,000.

The 1,432-square-foot residence comes with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, all of which have been recently renovated ... including a completely remodeled master bath.

The house still boasts some original attributes too -- like the kitchen cabinets and countertops and, of course, all the charm showcased in the movie.

The Boggs' house -- used for exterior and interior shots -- was built in 1989, just months before filming began for 'Scissorhands' in the Tampa Bay area. It's actually in a subdivision in the suburban town of Lutz.

Hopefully, all the neighbors are nice as well ... nothing like those Esmeralda or Jim characters.

New York City-native Mercedes Ruehl gained fame in the '80s when she landed the role of the distraught mother, Mrs. Baskin -- who wields a knife and chases her big son out of the house and later threatens him on the phone -- in the classic 1988 over-grown comedy, "BIG."

Mercedes Ruehl shared the screen with stars like Robert Loggia as the toy giant, Mr. MacMillan, John Heard as the paddle ball-cheating Paul Davenport, Elizabeth Perkins as the ravishing Susan Lawrence ... and of course, Tom Hanks as the larger-than-life Josh Baskin.

That same year Mercedes solidified herself as a star after she was in the film, "Married To The Mod," as the gangster wife, Connie Russo.

The Denver Broncos have installed a special "misting booth" at the team facility -- which sprays a disinfectant on players to and from practice in hopes of killing the COVID virus.

The Broncos posted footage of the machine on Monday -- saying, "Time for work. But first, we sanitize."

We're told the booth is spraying a product called "MicroSURE" -- which is touted as a powerful nontoxic disinfectant that kills viruses like E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Coronavirus upon contact.

A rep for the Broncos tells us, "We want to go above and beyond to protect the players."

"The misting booth is an additional safety measure that sprays a safe, medical-grade disinfectant on players and their equipment when entering and exiting the practice field."

The Broncos have already had a serious COVID scare this off-season when star linebacker Von Miller tested positive for coronavirus back in April.

Miller was symptomatic -- but has since recovered. He's called on others to take the virus seriously.

Clare Crawley's journey on "The Bachelorette" is a short one, it turns out, and now her replacement, Tayshia Adams, will be the 2nd black leading woman on the show.

TMZ has confirmed the 39-year-old 'Bachelorette' (who was getting a second shot at love) apparently found her perfect match early on during taping. Sorry, spoiler alert -- but there's been a buzz about it for a couple days.

In light of Clare finding her perfect dude ... producers have decided to switch up the storyline -- bringing in Tayshia, who competed on Colton Underwood's 'Bachelor' season, and then went on to appear on "Bachelor in Paradise." So, she's a familiar face.

Word is that the season will start with Clare's story ... and then pivot to Tayshia. Unclear if the guys who were still standing for Clare will stick around for Tayshia, or if they'll get a whole new crop for her to choose from. Either way, its gonna make for great TV.

Rumors of the change started percolating on social media this weekend, especially after Tayshia teased a possible surprise for Bachelor Nation. Clare is also said to have liked an IG post talking about Tayshia being the new 'Bachelorette' -- a huge signal in and of itself.

Of course, she follows in the footsteps of Rachel Lindsay -- the first black 'Bachelorette' ever -- and it also comes on the heels of Matt James being cast as the first black 'Bachelor' a couple months ago.

Congrats to Tayshia ... and Clare! Again, spoiler alert.

This Burger King lounge is anything but chill ... a customer slapped the hell out of an employee to punctuate a rant, and the incident was caught on camera.

Here's the deal ... the video picks up with the upset customer screaming about a BK employee who "can't count except for robbery and stealing stuff." Next, the man threatens to somehow get the employee put in jail for the rest of her life.

Sounds like he was allegedly shorted on some chicken nuggets and decided it would be a good idea to yell and scream at the manager, or whoever was working the counter, without a face covering ... and make his point with a slap to the face.

The BK employee took it all in stride, and tried to warn the guy he was on camera ... but that didn't stop the slap heard around the lounge.

Amazon's hawking a British line of men's shoes, but shockingly didn't catch the blatantly racist description for one of the shoe colors.

The "Florence Shakespeare" line is peddling its leather Oxford shoes, and the Amazon listing shows you can get 'em in lots of colors, including "N*****-brown." As of this posting ... those words, uncensored, are live on Amazon.

The rest of the posting reads like a normal shoe ad. The first line says, "Occasion:Whether you are working,driving,wedding,Business or other casual lifestyles it is a great choice to wear." However, the rest is jumbled with awful grammar -- so, it feels like something someone threw up as a racist gag/scam.

Still, the fact that it went live on Amazon has to make ya wonder what the screening process is like -- as in, do any human eyeballs get a final look before it's posted.

We've reached out to Amazon for comment ... so far, no word back.

Jonathan Cheban -- AKA the "Foodgod" -- claims he had a gun pointed at him this weekend ... and now, says he's out hundreds of thousands after a crook made off with his bling.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Kim Kardashian's BFF said he was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where he was hanging with his mom and friend. We're told Jon and his ma were at a mall earlier in the day, and afterward ... rolled up to his pal's place.

We're told all three of them were out front in the driveway, when a young man walked up and asked for the time. Our sources say Jonathan felt something was off and told everyone to head inside, but by then ... we're told the dude pulled out a gun and was on them.

Cheban told cops the perp moved the group between two cars, to trap them ... and then pointed the gun right at Jonathan's mother's head. We're told Jonathan told the guy to take anything he wanted and the guy ended up taking Jon's Richard Mille watch, worth about $250k.

BTW, we're also told a second gunman was on the scene -- a larger man who was standing watch. Eventually, neighbors heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on -- which scared off the guys, whom we're told made off together on foot.

We're told cops were called and Jonathan is supposed to go in and help with a sketch of the suspects -- we should note, our sources say neither of these fellas had masks on.

It's interesting ... Jon's best friend, Kim Kardashian, rarely wears expensive jewelry anymore after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

President Trump's set a deadline for Microsoft -- or any other tech giant for that matter -- to buy TikTok's U.S. operations or he'll shut the app down for good.

The Prez spoke to reporters Monday at the White House and was asked about Microsoft's ongoing negotiations to buy the popular Chinese-owned app. Trump said TikTok will undoubtedly "be out of business" in the U.S. on Sept. 15 "unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal."

As we reported ... Microsoft confirmed it is currently in talks to buy TikTok from its parent company, ByteDance. Microsoft had already said it's planning to complete its discussions with TikTok team no later than September 15 ... but Trump's set that date as the deadline to get it done.

Trump says the issue is privacy ... the data of U.S. TikTok users falling into the Chinese government's hands. He told reporters TikTok's U.S. enterprise can't be controlled by China, but he'd rather have an American company with strong cybersecurity run operations here.

Shia LaBeouf doesn't need a bumper sticker to show his support for Joe Biden ... a face covering will do just fine.

The actor was out Monday morning in L.A. arriving at a film set while also doing his part to stem the spread of the coronavirus. But, Shia's face mask is doing double duty ... because he's using his as a billboard to show his support for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

It's a move that's in polar opposition to many of President Trump's supporters ... and we're not talking politically.

The Prez himself was first to politicize face masks by refusing to wear them during most of the pandemic -- and his backers have followed suit.

You'll recall at Trump's Tulsa rally back in June, hardly anyone wore a mask. One supporter even brought a tiny baby into the potentially super-spreading event. Making matters worse ... Trump's campaign staff ordered the removal of social distancing signs, and video clearly shows them doing exactly that.

Herman Cain, who attended that rally and did not wear mask, died from COVID-19 a little over a month later.

Here's a unique, super interesting job posting ... an investor in the San Francisco Bay Area wants to hire a teacher to teach a small group of students in his backyard.

Jason Calacanis is the man behind the ad ... he says he's looking for the best 4th to 6th-grade teacher in the Bay Area who wants a 1-year contract ... teaching 2 to 7 students in an outdoor setting.

Jason, who's invested in startups like Uber and Robinhood, is offering the teacher a higher-paying salary and says anyone who refers the teacher he hires will get a $2,000 UberEats gift card.

The father of one is offering up his backyard micro-school to other Bay Area students in the 4th or 5th grade ... and he says half the spots will be given free to kids in need.

San Francisco students will be "distance learning" this school year due to the pandemic, a fancy way of saying online schooling, but Jason seems to think a micro-school could be the next big thing ... and there's a way of doing good for people in need in the process.

Aerial performer Sam Panda got detained by Myrtle Beach police for her revealing swimsuit, and she had to have a long thong debate to get released.

Sam says "some Karen" called the cops on her for her bikini, and the video starts with her being walked away in cuffs as she and her friend ask for clarification.

The cops actually busted out their law book and claimed Sam was violating an ordinance about being nude on a public beach, and one officer equated her thong bikini to nudity.

Sam objected, and after pointing out that her private parts were all covered up, the cops called for backup. Yes, they needed backup ... over the exposed backside.

For the record, this is the law they brought her in for ... being in public in "a state of dress or undress so as to expose to the view of others specified anatomical areas" ... in this case, her butt.

According to the MB police ... the initial call was a report of 2 women "who were wearing thong bikinis and a see-through top that were dancing and soliciting videos on the beach."

Cops say Sam tried to walk away, which is why she was detained, but after the ordinance was explained ... the ladies agreed to cover up and were released without charges.

Sam believes the woman who reported her "decided that my body was offensive to her and showed her child that her body could one day lead to her arrest."

BTW -- if Sam Panda looks or sounds familiar ... it's because she went viral a few years ago for suffering a broken neck in a scary accident when a rig malfunctioned during one of her acrobatic stunts.

Legendary singer Tony Bennett's made it another year around the sun, and a couple other famous voices are honoring him ... with some of Tony's own words.

The "I Left My Heart in San Fransisco" crooner turned 94 Monday, and got beautiful birthday shout-outs from Stevie Wonder and Sting ... who took 2 of Tony's other famous tunes and made them their own to pay tribute.

Wonder reminisced about his history with Bennett and how they sang together, but also praised him for his track record of standing up for equality for all and civil rights ... even saying John Lewis is talking Tony up in heaven.

Stevie then put his own special touch on Tony's "The Best is Yet to Come" with the help of a player piano ... it's awesome.

Sting also paid tribute by covering a Bennett classic -- "The Way You Look Tonight" -- and says Tony's an inspiration who gives hope to everyone ... that we can fix the world and make it a better place.

Can't argue with that.

Odell Beckham is publicly calling for the NFL to cancel the 2020 season ... saying it's just too dangerous to play with COVID still wreaking havoc.

"I just feel like the season shouldn’t happen," the Cleveland Browns star told WSJ. Magazine ... "and I’m prepared for it to not happen and I wouldn’t mind not having it."

It's important to note the WSJ interview took place just before the NFLPA reached an agreement with the league about COVID protocol on July 24 -- and Odell reported to training camp on July 28.

Beckham is reportedly not considering opting out often 2020 season -- and feels more comfortable and confident about things after seeing the COVID protocols at the Browns facility, according to Cleveland.com.

Still, Odell's concerns to the WSJ seem pretty valid ... he explains why the NFL has much bigger challenges than other pro leagues like the NBA.

"Obviously with everything that’s going on, it doesn’t make sense why we’re trying to do this. I can understand basketball was already in the playoffs."

"Five-on-five basketball in an arena is going to be more intense than regular-season games. Hooping is different than playing an eleven-on-eleven contact sport where there's 80 people in a locker room."

"We’re not ready for football season. So why are we trying to push forward?"

Beckham suggested the owners are leading the charge to play ... because they don't want to lose money.

"It’s obviously for their money. And that bothers me because there’s always been this -- and I hate saying it like that -- but the owners’ [attitude is], Oh we own you guys, and just kind of that unfairness going on that they don’t see us as human."