At Long Last, Mr. Trump: Donald Trump belittled a Muslim couple who appeared at the Democratic convention in a moving tribute to their son, an Army captain killed by a car bomb in Iraq. In particular, he attacked the mother of the dead soldier.
Khizr Khan spoke on Thursday about how his son, Capt. Humayun Khan, died protecting his soldiers from the approaching car. The older Khan’s wife was silent as he publicly said to Trump, “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
Trump told Stephanopoulos that Mrs. Khan probably wasn’t “allowed” to speak. “If you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say, she probably — maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say, you tell me.”
Speaking to the NY Times, Khan hit back at Trump, “He is devoid of feeling the pain of a mother who has sacrificed her son.”
On MSNBC, Khan called on the Republican leadership to repudiate their candidate. “If your candidate wins and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country, will have constitutional crises [like] never before,” Khan said.
Nation: A hot air balloon hit a power line, caught fire and crashed 20 miles south of Austin, Tex., yesterday killing all 16 people on board. Because of the number of dead, it is considered a major incident, equivalent to the crash of a small airliner. It ranks as one of the worst balloon crashes ever.
The balloon was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. Witnesses said they heard a pop, a whooshing noise, and then saw flames.
Last Chance for Rio: The International Olympic Committee now says a three-member panel will have the final say on which Russian athletes are eligible for the Rio games. Only a week ago they said they would leave the decisions to individual sport federations.
Under that edict, all the Russian weight lifters and bicycle riders were banned for doping, but now they have one last chance.
Thrill Ride: In the ever-expanding quest by thrill seekers to “top that,” yesterday a man jumped out of an airplane at 25,000 feet without a parachute and survived. Luke Aikins, who has sky dived as many as 18,000 times, aimed for a net about half the size of a football field strung 200 feet off the ground. At the very last moment he flipped onto his back and stuck the landing. He has a wife and a four-year-old son.
The Front Page: The NY Post has published nude photos of Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, taken when she was a 25-year-old model. She’s wearing nothing but high heels and it appears that she can even pout with her butt. The headline says, “The Ogle Office.”

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