Good Morning El Paso: 07.20.15

“i strongly believe that th best way for america to support our values is through engagement” a new day in the relationship between the u.s. and cuba this morning—embassy’s opening up today. we have the latest. after this week’s attack on military facilities in tennessee, governor greg abbott is taking increased precaution here in texas./ and, police are looking for clues as to how one man’s body ended up in an east el paso canal. today, cuban officials will formally inaugurate their embassy in washington. formally inaugurate their embassy in washington. the cuban flag will fly for the first time since havana and the united states severed ties in 1961. we’ll get to the latest details on our top story in just a bit. a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. i’m stephanie valle. and i’m hillary floren. good morning, everyone. good morning! today we’re beginning with just some clouds and clearing skies as the sun rises. temps are in the 60s and 70s, but we’re heading to the low 80s. the chance of rain is limited to the later afternoon and evening. and we’ll expect for chances of rain to continue in our work week. coming up we’ll track the chance of rain through today, and when we could see the most likely hit.plus, the regions with the better chance. coming up! for the first time in more than a half century, the united states and cuba now have full diplomatic relations. the embassies in both countries will be open again today, after an agreement to resume normal ties took effect at midnight. abc’s bazi kani has the latest on this story developing now. the cuban flag raised inside the u-s state department this morning and soon will fly outside the carribean island’s embassy in washington, d-c for the first time in a half century. over in cuba, workers have been sprucing up the building that today is once again an american embassy. nats raul castro, president of cuba “a new stage will begin…” cuban president raul castro says this day is the beginning of a long and complex road to normalizing relations between the two countries that severed ties back in 1961… shortly after a young fidel castro seized power, and declaring cuba a socialist state. more than 50 years later, president obama decided it’s time for a new approach. sot obama “i’ve been clear that we will also continue to have some very serious differences. strongly believe that the best way for america to support our values is through engagement.” nats – protestors in cuba among the differences still clearly present: freedom of speech and assembly. just yesterday, cuban security forces once again arrested political protestors. critics — including several republican presidential candidates — say cuba has not yet done enough to earn a new relationship with the united states and threaten a change of course. sot marco rubio “i would end the diplomatic relations with an anti- american communist tyranny, until such time as they actually held a democratic opening in cuba. ” secretary of state john kerry will meet with his cuban counterpart at the state department later today… and will travel to cuba next month for a formal ceremony at the u.s. embassy there. bazi kanani, abc news, washington. u.s. investigators are still trying to understand why mohammad youssuf abdulazeez opened fire at an army recruiting center and navy operations center in tennessee last thursday. the city of chattanooga is trying to comprehend these events as well. sunday church services became memorials for the five victims of last week’s deadly shooting. impromptu memorials have sprung up across the city … as residents try to process the events of the past few days. / a vigil was held sunday evening as an opportunity for all islamic centers of greater nashville to come together and pray for the victims of the chattanooga shooting and their families. “”in the end we are all stil brothers and sisters in humanity.” the center wanted to show solidarity for the city of chattanooga, to condemn the heinous act and to spread word that they are a part of a larger community. the goal of the group is to stand strong, not only for their own religious community, but for chattanooga as everyone works to recover. texas governor greg abbott is authorizing guardsmen at military facilities across texas to be armed. this comes after the attack on a recruiting center and a marine-navy reserve facility in chattanooga earlier this week. abbot said quote: “after the recent shooting in chattanooga, it has become clear that our military personnel must have the ability to defend themselves against these type of attacks on our own soil,” “arming the national guard at these bases will not only serve as a deterrent to anyone wishing to do harm to our servicemen and women, but will enable them to protect those living and working on the base.” however it is too early to tell if the facilities should have guards or other increased protection. authorities are trying to figure out how a body ended up in a canal far east el paso county. sheriff’s deputies say it was found on the 99-hundred block of socorro road. deputies say they were flagged down shortly before three yesterday afternoon. investigators still don’t know how the man died, deputies have not released the mans identity. from our new mexico mobile newsroom a las cruces family says their daughter has been missing for more than a month. 44-year-old janet castrejon vanished while on a camping trip with her family in june. the family was camping at rustler peak in southern arizona.. and fears their daughter may have been abducted. she suffered a devastating brain injury when she was 17 years old the day of the disappearance, janet was in the campground restroom with her mother. she took a short walk — alone — back to her family’s campsite… and never made it back. if anyone sees anything that looks suspicious, call 911. the city of el paso says mistakes are to blame for funding that led to the loss of federal money to fast-track transportation projects. it was the topic of last night’s abc-7 xtra. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with a recap …denise? city rep. claudia ordaz last week pointed out the city has lost out on 40- million dollars worth of projects. because of what appears to be inefficiency. but other city employees say that money is not lost. city manager tommy gonzalez admitted city employees had made mistakes when filling out applications. but he says the bigger problem is city employees are so afraid of city council – they submit projects for funding that aren’t ready out of fear they’ll be attacked publicly by council members. one of our guests last night– mathew mcelroy– the city director of international bridges who is also part of a new committee to help the city improve its process to get federal money. he says the term “lost is being misused: “what really happened …will help this region” txdot says the city could lose out on more than 20-million dollars in reimbursements for transportation projects. because the city is not regularly sending invoices to the state. the city says the real amount is less than half of what txdot claims but admits it needs to do better. coming up– we hear from city rep claudia ordaz on that possible cluture of fear within city hall. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… nationally aired boxing was in el paso over the weekend — and abc-7 has exclusive photos from the match to show you, coming up. / and later, torrential downpours have residents searching for higher ground. we’ll take a look where– meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!