Good Morning El Paso Weekend 07.16.16

new details this morning from the terror attack in nice … with a terror group now claiming responsibility. the fallout continues following a coup attempt in turkey. the latest on the death toll this morning. and the fire in timberon continues to burn out of control. the latest declarations and status of the blaze this morning. and in stormtrack weather, stephen! this is all the news you need to start your saturday, july 16th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend” starts right now! good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtrack meteorologist stephen decatur. after hours of choas. the turkish government claims it’s now in full control. over 28- hundred plotters have been arrested in yesterday’s attempted military coup. abc’s alex marquardt has more. it was chaos overnight across turkey? nats gunfire as part of the country’s military attempted to seize power in a coup?which this morning appears to have ended in failure? more than 100 who helped stage the insurrection were killed, as well as dozens of civilians and police officers. turkish president recep tayip erdogan – who was on vacation – quickly flew to istanbul, and dramatically vowed to crush the uprising. nats erdogen at airport speaking he blamed it on the followers of exiled turkish cleric living in the us?and called on his supporters to take to the streets this crowd answering the call confronting the military and climbing on their tanks? nats people whistling and clashes hours earlier, troops in camoflage had shut down the iconic bridge over the bosphorous, connecting the european and asian sides of the city. a statement by coup organizers declared martial law as tanks took up positions at the entrance to istanbul’s airport?driving along cars on highways?jets and helicopters buzzing overhead. sot – liz cookman 20:02:55:55 everytime you hear wierd low flying planes you panic. it was liek a third world war orsoemthing- but they were very low flyign they wer very noisy and there were so many of them that you knew it was different. explosions were heard in the two biggest cities, istanbul and the capital ankara where there was a blast at the turkish parliament shattered glass and doors ripped off their hinges? the u-s eying the lightening-fast insurgency with concern?turkey a key nato member and ally u-s ally in the fight against is? by daybreak turkey’s government said it had taken back control?arresting more than 1500 connected to the plot?turkey’s president calling it ‘an act of treason.’ and that was alex marquardt and that was alex marquardt reporting. breaking news this morning– is has claimed responsibility of the france attack. french authorities have not indicated the attack was a part of a larger is plot… or that the killer took direction from isis. five people have been taken into custody including the suspect’s ex-wife. the man behind the attack is identified as 31 year old mohamed bouhlel he is a frenchman from tunisia. prosecutors say he was never placed on a terror watch list. he was convicted back in march and handed a six-month suspended sentence for violence with a weapon committed in january. the truck he was driving — barrelled through a crowd for more than a mile, leaving behind bodies strewn across the road, and people fleeing in terror before police shot bouhelel. 84 people were killed — 10 of them children. a father and 11 year- old son from texas – visiting nice as tourists – are among the dead “their family, like so many others, are devastated. they’re grieving and they need all the love and support of our american family as they grapple with an unimaginable loss and try to get through what are going to be very difficult days.” starting today– french president hollande has declared 3 days of mourning across the country for the victims of the attack. donald trump is set to formally introduce his vice presidential pick–indiana governor mike pence at a news conference today. the announcement was delayed in response of the attack in nice– but trump did in- formally announce his pick on twitter. meanwhile, democrats are slamming the decision just days before the republican national convention in cleveland. abc’s stephanie ramos is there with the latest. as preps for the republican national convention continue— mike pence took to fox news talking about his decion to join donald trump’s campaign as his running mate. sot: pence on hannity 7/15 “it’s such a important time in the life of our nation, and this man is the right leader for america that i stepped up without hesitation,” moments after trump tweeted pence as the vp pick .. high ranking republicans praised the indiana governor as a steady leader in the party. sot priebus: “he’s experienced. i think he shores up a conservative base, that’s important. i think he’s complimentary to donald trump as far as personality.” it was just thi past march when pence was at the center of the religous freedom debacle in his home state of indiana. signing the religous freedom restoration act ..the law protects the right of a person or business to follow their religous beliefs. businesses started pulling out of the state quick. hillary clinton calling pence the most extreme vp pick in a generation. nats: pence video meanwhile… clinton – is still narrowing her list of potential running mates campaigning with virginaia senator tim kaine…and reportedely meeting with senator elizabeth warren and house of urban development secretary julian castro. clinton’s campaign says she is clsing in on making a vp selection?and expected to make an announcment next week. new mexico governor susana martinez has declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfire in timberon– new mexico. the cause of the fire is still under investigation. our new mexico mobile newsroom was there this past week. state officials say they were hoping to get more control of the fire overnight… according to an incident commander the fire is 40 percent contained: “i’ve been here since 19-80 and whenever we have distasters like this i’ve always been on the fighting line. i’ve never evacuated before. this is the very first time i had to spend time off the mountain as an evacuaee.” timberon is located southeast of alamogordo and 40 minutes away from cloudcroft. so far the fire has burned 290 acres of land and destroyed or damaged almost 70 homes. we know at least 31 are gone. also from our new mexico mobile newsroom … we’ve learned the former fire chief in timberon lost his home in the fire. richard dysart, who is now a volunteer firefighter, said he was actually one of the first to call in the fire wednesday. “we’ll go off at home somewhere and cry, but all we’ve lost is stuff. we haven’t lost each other,” at 81 years old, dysart says he can’t begin to imagine how he and his wife will rebuild. investigators say no injuries were reported in a pallet fire on el paso’s far east side. the fire could be seen just after 6 o’clock yesterday evening at a business on the 14-thousand block of montana. when firefighters arrived — they say a stack of pallets and two box trailers were engulfed in flames. investigators say the fire was started by discarded embers. an intersection on el paso’s west side is back open this morning. last night traffic heading west on mesa was diverted on to belvidere. we spoke to a couple who came from the area and they say something fell from the power lines and police asked them to stay away because of possible threat of electrocution. the intersection was closed for a couple hours last night… but again according to police dispatch the intersection is open. the power is back on this morning for east el paso residents. it was knocked out for several hours because of all the wind yesterday evening. an el paso electric spokesman posted this on facebook… “due to high winds in our service area, we are seeing outages. our line crews continue to work on restoring power as safely and quickly as possible.” the electric company says up to five thousand customers were without power in this area–near yarbrough and springwood. abc-7 viewer — armando huante sent us this cell phone video showing the power lines that are down… because the poles holding them up were knocked down! armando then called our newsroom to let us know what was going on. other parts were effected also like west and central el paso. but according to the el paso electric website there are no outages as of now. happening today– the horizon city lion’s club and soccorro school district is teaming up once again for their annual uniform swap. parents can save money for the start of the school year by exchanging used uniforms — or backpacks– for a voucher for new uniforms. you can also take other school supplies like notebooks, pencils, crayons and other items… but you can only get a voucher for uniforms and backpacks. it’s happening at: eastlake high school from 8 in the morning to noon. also happening today is the glow run at ascarate park. there will be both a timed 5k for the runners and a 1 mile fun walk. the glow run will have black lights on the course lots of music and food trucks for everyone to grab something to eat after the run. there will also be a kids vip area with a jumping balloon, face painting and more! the party starts at 6-30 and the run and walk starts at 8:30pm and utep will be having it’s 5th annual alumni pick-nic. it will be this evening from 5 to 8 at memorial park on 17- 01 north copia street. the event is meant to help miners reconnect and celebrate their alma mater. there will be food, live music, face painting, water games, and much more. tickets are $25 for the family package which is 2 adults and 2 children. $10 for adults in the alumni association. $8 for utep students. and $7 for children under 12. the ticket price includes a hamburger or hot dog, two salads, beans and two drinks. the scandal in a local school district shocked our region when it first came to light… and coming up on good morning el paso weekend… what one of the most recent administrators facing penalties has to say for himself. and later – a long- awaited road improvement is now open in far east el paso… most of the way anyway! it is , right now we’ll take a live look at traffic this morning: and in stormtrack weather, stephen! stormtrack weather is next! you’re watching abc-7… where news comes first!