10 things you need to know today: July 31, 2016

Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala at the Democratic National Convention

(Image credit: Robyn Beck/Getty Images)

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1. Trump responds to father of slain Muslim soldier: 'Did Hillary's script writers write' his speech?
2. Hot air balloon carrying at least 16 crashes in Texas, leaving no survivors
3. Trump accuses Clinton of rigging the debate schedule
4. Turkey plans to shutter military academies, fires hundreds more soldiers
5. French Muslims attend Mass to show solidarity after church attack
6. Two brothers in Belgium arrested, one charged, on suspicion of plotting terrorism
7. Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire Mark Cuban backs Hillary Clinton
8. Severe flash flooding in Maryland hits Baltimore and nearby Ellicott City
9. Skydiver successfully jumps 25,000 feet without a parachute
10. Jon Stewart will return to television this fall with an animated HBO show

last updated 31 July 2016

1. Trump responds to father of slain Muslim soldier: 'Did Hillary's script writers write' his speech?

Donald Trump on Saturday responded in an interview to a Democratic National Convention speech from the father of a Muslim U.S. soldier who died while deployed to Iraq. Trump said Khizr Khan, who questioned whether the candidate had read the Constitution, "doesn't know" how much he has "sacrificed" for America by having "tremendous success." He suggested Khan's comments were pure political manipulation by the Democratic Party, asking, "Did Hillary's script writers write" Khan's remarks? Khan in turn argued Saturday night that Trump's comments were "typical of a person without a soul." He lamented "all the snake oil [Trump] is selling, and my patriotic, decent Americans are falling for that."

A hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people caught fire and crashed into a pasture in Texas on Saturday morning. The crash happened near a small city called Lockhart in Caldwell County south of Austin around 7:40 a.m. Central time. The Texas Department of Public Safety initially announced multiple fatalities, and Caldwell County later confirmed there were no survivors of the crash. "Investigators are determining the number and the identities of victims at this time," said the local sheriff, Daniel Law.

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Republican Donald Trump began accusing Democrat Hillary Clinton of tampering with the general election debate schedule Friday night, tweeting, "As usual, Hillary & the Dems are trying to rig the debates so 2 are up against major NFL games. Same as last time w/ Bernie. Unacceptable!" He continued that line of attack Sunday morning in an interview on ABC News, announcing he "got a letter from the NFL saying, 'This is ridiculous. Why are the debates against' — 'cause the NFL doesn't wanna go against the debates. 'Cause the debates are gonna be pretty massive, from what I understand, OK?" A representative of the NFL denied such a letter ever existed, while the Commission on Presidential Debates said the debates were scheduled in September of 2015 without consultation "with any political parties or campaigns."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Saturday his intention to shut down the country's military academies and bring its armed forces under the direct control of his administration as part of ongoing efforts to consolidate his power following a failed military coup attempt. Erdoğan also dishonorably discharged nearly 1,400 soldiers Sunday morning, a move which comes close on the heels of the dismissal of another 1,700 troops last week. These hundreds of new firings represent just a tiny fraction of the 60,000 judges, military officers, teachers, and other government employees who have been detained, dismissed, or suspended on suspicion of having ties to coup organizers.

Muslims across France attended Catholic Mass on Sunday morning in an expression of solidarity after a beloved French priest was killed by two men who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State. "We're very touched," said Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, where more than 100 Muslims gathered at the local cathedral, just a few miles from the site of the church attack. "It's an important gesture of fraternity," Lebrun added. "They've told us, and I think they're sincere, that it's not Islam which killed Jacques Hamel." Similar Mass attendance was observed elsewhere in France and Italy, with three Imams attending Mass at St. Maria Church in Rome.

Belgian authorities arrested two brothers, identified as Nourredine H. and Hamza H., late Friday night after raiding multiple houses in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of the nation. A representative of the Belgian prosecutor's office said Saturday morning there was so far "no connection with the terrorist attacks" that occurred in Brussels this past March. The suspects' phones and computers were confiscated, though no weapons or explosives were discovered. Saturday afternoon, Nourredine was charged with attempted murder by terrorism, while Hamza was released without charges.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton snagged the endorsement of billionaire investor Mark Cuban Saturday, a somewhat surprising announcement given the Dallas Mavericks owner's previous expression of interest in voting for Republican Donald Trump. "Leadership is not yelling and screaming and intimidating," Cuban said at a Clinton campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You know what we call a person like [Trump] in Pittsburgh? A jagoff!" Pennsylvania is expected to be an important battleground state for both campaigns in November.

Heavy thunderstorms produced flash flooding in central Maryland Saturday night that closed roads and necessitated emergency rescues. Residents of Baltimore were warned of rising waters and encouraged to move to higher ground, but the worst damage was done in closeby Ellicott City. The historic downtown area saw businesses flooded with several feet of water and cars overturned in the streets. One person has been reported dead and two remained missing as of Sunday morning.

An American skydiver named Luke Aikins became the first person to jump from 25,000 feet without a parachute and survive in a daredevil feat Saturday night. Aikins leapt from a plane over California's Simi Valley and landed in a 100-by-100-foot net while moving at a velocity of 120 miles per hour. "I'm almost levitating, it's incredible," he said while celebrating with his family after the event. Aikins did wear a parachute for the jump as an emergency back-up plan.

Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart is on track to return to television with an animated HBO commentary on current events which should debut early this fall, said Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief of programming, on Saturday. "It's an animated parody of a cable news network. It's Onion-like, with video and text," Bloys revealed. "It's very much Jon's voice and tone," and will be somewhat similar to the animated Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton characters used on Stephen Colbert's Late Show. As for the timeline, Bloys said, "My hope is that it will be up and running by September or October."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.