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Kim Kardashian has a chance to use her influence for the good of the nation, just like Robert F. Kennedy did ... that is, if she heeds the advice of one of RFK's daughters.

We got Kerry Kennedy, Bobby's 7th child, on Capitol Hill Tuesday -- the eve of the 50th anniversary of her dad's assassination -- and asked what she thinks of the Kardashian sisters wading into politics.

It's a great question for Kerry, in particular, because she let out a hearty laugh when we raised this topic in 2013. Kerry was highly amused by our comparison of the Kardashians and the Kennedys back then.

However, on the heels of Kim's White House visit lobbying Prez Trump to commute Alice Johnson's prison sentence ... Kerry's no longer laughing. In fact, she offered the K fam guidance on how best to conduct themselves in the political arena.

You'll recall, Kourtney was also in D.C. recently working toward environmentally-friendly cosmetics.

Kate Spade's suicide note was addressed directly to her 13-year-old daughter ... TMZ has learned.

The note was found on a bed near her body and, according to law enforcement sources it read, "Bea - I have always loved you. This is not your fault. Ask Daddy!" Their daughter's full name is Frances Beatrix.

We're also told the housekeeper found her tied with a red scarf to a closet door knob in the bedroom. She was unresponsive and cold to the touch.

The housekeeper ran downstairs to the building's main floor to tell the building's superintendent ... who, we're told ... rushed upstairs, cut the scarf and attempted CPR.

6:25 PM PT -- David shared a photo of Kate, whom he calls "Katy," at his book signing ... along with a heartfelt and encouraging message.

David Spade leaned on a friend hours after getting the tragic news about sister-in-law Kate Spade's death.

The actor and comedian was out in L.A. Tuesday afternoon, looking solemn as he left home. His brother, Andy, was married to Kate and ... as we reported, he was home when she hanged herself.

David wore sunglasses and kept his head down, but was seen getting a consoling hug from a friend.

Kate and David's bro launched Kate Spade Handbags together in 1993 and got married in 1994. They have a daughter together -- 13-year-old Frances Beatrix.

We broke the story ... Kate left a suicide note behind addressed directly to Frances that said, "Bea - I have always loved you. This is not your fault. Ask Daddy!"

Oprah is absolutely shook about becoming an exhibit at a Smithsonian museum ... as you're about to see in this video. Seriously, it's "everybody gets a car" level excitement!

The TV queen spoke to Adam Glyn Tuesday in NYC, where he congratulated her on the Oprah exhibit coming to D.C.'s Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.

The Smithsonian calls her an activist whose contributions run parallel to those of Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells. So, you can imagine ... O's going totally bonkers over the honor, and explained why it's the last thing she ever expected.

Some of the items in the exhibit include the suit she wore during that 2004 car giveaway, and images from her 1971 East Nashville High yearbook. "Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture" will be open for a year, starting this Friday.

We get it, O. What's gonna top this? Even she doesn't know.

Miss America Cara Mund hasn't put on a swimsuit since winning the crown in September, and says that proves the swimsuit competition is no longer necessary to get the job done.

The Miss America Org announced Tuesday it's scrapping swimsuits and doing away with judging on appearance ... and Cara's totally for it. The former Miss North Dakota told us her job mostly involves almost nonstop appearances, but NONE of them require putting on a bikini. As she put it ... not exactly a good look while visiting schools and hospitals.

The evening gown portion of the competition will also see a massive change, but Cara says there's still a chance you'll see some skin during that portion of the competition. And yes, it's officially a "competition" now, and NOT a pageant.

Songwriting legend Diane Warren might wanna look away from this one ... some guy claims she stole one of her biggest hit songs from him -- 31 years ago -- and now he wants 8 figures.

The lawsuit was filed by Brendan Greaves, who says he was 14 years old back in 1987 when he wrote a tune called "Look Away." If you're not up on your '80s rock ballads ... the band Chicago had a #1 hit by the same name back in 1988. Diane wrote the song.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Greaves says Diane copyrighted her tune 8 months after he submitted his "Look Away" to the National Schools Make Music Competition in England, where he lived, and which was sponsored by a division of EMI Records.

In the suit, Greaves says he thinks EMI gave Diane access to his song. He points out the eerie similarity in lyrics. For example, his says ... "If you see me walking by with a tear in my eye, look away, baby look away."

Diane's says ... "If you see me walking by and the tears are in my eyes, look away, baby, look away."

Ok, so why in the world did it take him 30 years to discover this? Greaves says he lives in a quiet village in the UK, and was "blissfully unaware" of the Chicago smash hit.

We question the use of the word, "blissfully" ... the song kinda rocks. In an '80s soft rock kinda way.

1:40 PM PT 6/6 -- Our sources say the two aren't dating or anything serious ... they were just having some fun while out with friends. We're told there's no bad blood with Kendall, Bella and Gigi.

Kendall Jenner is living her best (single) life -- kickin' it with NBA star Ben Simmons one day ... and locking lips with Gigi and Bella Hadid's brother the next.

Kendall was spotted smack-dab in the middle of a heavy makeout sesh early Tuesday morning with Anwar Hadid at a CFDA Awards after-party in NYC. You can tell it's him from the bleach blonde hair he was sporting at the event. Plus, Kendall took a photo of his tattooed hands herself.

Eyewitnesses tell us Kendall was hangin' with Anwar at Socialista New York for about 2 hours -- kissing, cuddling and drinking with the youngest Hadid sibling the whole time. She ended up heading back to her hotel by herself around 4 AM or so ... no Anwar in sight.

Remember, Kendall was on a bike riding date with her rumored new flame, Ben, the day before in L.A. They've been hanging together a lot lately ... post-Blake Griffin. As for Anwar, we're told he and his gf split last month.

And, get this ... nearly two years ago, Kendall posted a pic with Hadid -- when he was just 17 and Kendall was 20 -- and the caption, "dibs?"

Donald Trump just wrapped up his "Who Needs the Philadelphia Eagles to Have a Good Time?" party at the White House ... and proved he actually knows the words to the national anthem!!

As for "God Bless America" ... not so much.

Remember, Trump had initially invited the NFL champs to his D.C. pad to honor the Eagles for winning the Super Bowl. But many key players declined the invite, and then Trump pulled the plug altogether when he learned barely anyone was gonna show up.

Instead, Trump hosted replacement party featuring the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army Chorus performing the anthem.

We should note -- when Trump took the podium, several boos are heard ... but it's unclear who was the intended target.

Trump gave a speech about the importance of standing for "The Star-Spangled Banner." He successfully sang along to the anthem, but definitely needed help with the lyrics when the broke out, "God Bless America."

12:30 PM PT -- Our law enforcement sources confirm Kate's husband, Andy was home at the time she died.

11:45 AM PT -- Our law enforcement sources confirm the note Kate left behind was addressed to her daughter ... telling the 13-year-old the suicide wasn't her fault.

Iconic fashion designer Kate Spade was found dead of an apparent suicide Tuesday morning in her NYC apartment ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources confirm a housekeeper found Kate's body at 10:20 AM ET in her Park Avenue home. We're told she hanged herself using a scarf tied to her bedroom door knob. She was pronounced dead on the scene. We're also told she left a note.

Kate got her start in the '80s working for women's magazine "Mademoiselle" in Manhattan, when she moved in with Andy Spade -- David Spade's brother. She and Andy met while attending Arizona State University and working at a clothing store.

Together, they launched Kate Spade Handbags in 1993, and it blossomed into a full-scale clothing and jewelry line. Kate and Andy got married in 1994.

Kate sold her company in 2007 and took some time off to raise her daughter -- but got back in the game in 2016 by launching a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine ... named after her daughter, who's now 13 years old.

Kate was 55.

Delta Air Lines refused to hand over the dog that had been dead for hours, according to its owner and now a legal battle's brewing over what the Pomeranian's owner calls the airline's "suspicious" activity.

Michael Dellegrazie, Alejandro's owner, and his lawyer, Evan Oshan, tell us Delta wanted to keep the dog's carcass to do its own necropsy ... while Michael wanted Alejandro returned immediately in order to get his own testing done to determine what happened.

As we reported, Alejandro died in Detroit last week after traveling in the cargo hold of a flight.

Oshan says he had to get involved and claims the airline was very uncooperative once he arrived in Detroit, and he had to go to cops to force Delta to hand over the dog ... which by law, is Dellegrazie's personal property.

Delta tells us any delay in returning the dog was due to Oshan not meeting in a previously agreed-upon spot. Delta also says it offered to pay to have an independent necropsy performed right after the death, but they were turned down by the owner.

Oshan says once they finally got Alejandro's body back, they also uncovered a wet, bloody blanket ... with no explanation. Delta allegedly told them the dog had vomited, but the lawyer points out the airline didn't retain any of the vomit to help determine the cause of death.

Tyrese just got slapped with a lawsuit for owing a ton of cash to American Express.

American Express sued the singer and, according to the docs obtained by TMZ, he owes an unpaid balance of $61,071.35.

TMZ broke the story ... Tyrese said he was having huge money problems back in November stemming from his ongoing feud with his ex-wife, Norma Gibson. Tyrese had filed docs claiming he pulls in $105,686 per month, but has monthly expenses of $107,576.

According to docs he filed at the time, Tyrese said he had nearly $900k in the bank and had real property worth close to $2 million.

Orlando Brown's been busted again -- this time for narcotics possession -- and has provided another epic mug shot ... featuring some interesting new ink.

The former "That's So Raven" star was arrested Monday afternoon in Las Vegas after cops witnessed him go in and out of a motel in a high drug and prostitution area ... according to law enforcement sources.

We're told cops pulled over the cab Brown got in after he quickly left the motel, and he initially refused to cooperate with cops during the stop ... so he was cuffed.

Our sources say cops found a bag of drugs on Brown -- later determined to be meth -- and a pipe ... and also discovered a warrant out for his arrest for an unrelated domestic violence case.

Brown was booked on felony narcotics possession, and misdemeanor charges of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest. We're told he's currently still in lockup.

On the plus side ... the giant neck and chest tattoo Brown got of his former costar, Raven-Symone -- which he was flaunting on social media last week -- is getting more pub, albeit probably not the way he hoped.

As we've covered ... Brown's had a plethora of legal problems the past year, including getting arrested by bounty hunters in his underwear. He told us he plans to sue the men over the incident.

LeBron James says the Cavs and the Warriors are united when it comes to Donald Trump -- "No matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite [to the White House]."

"It won't be Golden State or Cleveland going."

LeBron just faced the media and said he learned about Trump pulling the invite to the Philadelphia Eagles moments before he got to the podium ... but says, "It's typical of him and I'm not surprised."

"I think as long as he's in the office, the communication and things like that is gonna continue to happen. It's a lot of things that we believe in as Americans that we don't feel that he's for."

"It's a lot of people that believe that he's not for the people or doing things that are not right by the people."

After James finished his session, Steph Curry had a few words for the media -- "I agree with Bron."

LeBron has attacked Trump before -- calling POTUS a "bum" for criticizing Steph Curry when he didn't immediately accept an invite to 1600 Penn.

Janet Jackson's call to police over the weekend and the stories that followed are connected to her custody trial with Wissam Al Mana, but she's not the one stirring the pot ... according to our sources.

Janet's London custody case is contentious ... not because either parent thinks the other is unfit. Our sources say Janet's having trouble because she wants 1-year-old Eissa in the U.S. with her. Problem is ... Janet chose to move to London to be with Wissam and that's where Eissa was born. It was her decision to move back to the U.S. after they broke up, and that may be giving Wissam the edge.

Janet was indeed upset with Wissam over the weekend and we've learned she called the cops twice -- once on Friday and again Saturday. Thing is ... it was all about Wissam not making Wi-Fi available to Janet's nanny because cell service was spotty in Malibu and Janet wanted communication.

Stories initially surfaced that the nanny became frightened by Wissam's "aggressive behavior." The way the initial story went ... she was "terrified by his behavior and locked herself in a bathroom so she could contact Janet." That story did not come from Janet ... it came directly from her brother, Randy.

Sources connected to the former couple say Randy is fanning the flames of conflict to help Janet gain an edge in her custody case. They say her call had nothing to do with a terrified nanny. It was all about cell phone service, although she did drop a reference to drug use.

We're told cops went out and were literally there only a few minutes before they realized nothing was wrong and told them to deal with the cell phone service issue themselves.