Good Morning El Paso: 07.21.15

“”trump: “he’s not a war hero luntz: “he’s a war hero.” trum “he is a war hero ? -despite recent comments about p- o-w senator john mccain—trump leads in a new poll this morning. we have the latest./ plus– a new poll is showing how americans feel about the recent diplomatic relations being rebuilt between cuba and the united states. and, how would you reject 60 thousand dollars? why the city of el paso did just that. / the des moines register, the largest newspaper in the key early voting state of iowa, calls trump “unfit” to be president and says he should quit the campaign. but trump is emboldened by his poll numbers, and remains defiant. we’ll get to the latest from washington 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 watching beautiful temperatures start the day with a range of 60s and 70s. the temps will again later rise to the 90s in the upper 90s by late day! winds will pick up as well with rain chances scattered and tstorms possible later on and into tonight. the rain chances continue over the 7 day forecast as well. we’ll take a look at your raincasts and futuretrack model coming up! donald trump is surging ahead in a brand new poll — just as he faces a new firestorm for his latest controversial comments. abc’s bazi kani has the latest with your voice your vote. did donald trump go too far with these remarks about senator john mccain? sot donald trump, presidential candidate trump: “he’s not a war hero ? luntz: “he’s a wa hero.” trump: “he is a war her ?” luntz: “five an half years in a vietnamese prison camp ?” trump: “he’s a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren’t captured.” the blowback against the billionaire businessman coming from top republicans, even democrats. but mccain says he doesn’t want an apology for himself: sot sen. john mccain, arizona “what i think he should do is apologize to the families and those who have served.” trump dismisses the criticism, saying john mccain let veterans down as an elected official, and that he should be the one to apologize for calling the crowds at trump campaign rallies “crazies.” donald trump ha weathered the storm over controversial comments before, last month calling illegal immigrants rapists and murders. yet, his numbers are up. in a new abc news- washington post poll, he holds the biggest lead by far of any republican yet. but most of the poll was taken before his attack on john mccain. and this time, he may have offended the wrong crowd. sot richie tibbets, vietnam veteran “i was going to vote for him, because he’s a businessman and that’s what this country should be is a business. but, now that he said something bad about a veteran, he might have lost my vote.” donald trump is financing his own campaign, which means he does not have to answer to donors. analysts say that’s one of the reasons they believe he will continue his campaign for some time. bazi kani, abc news, washington. developing now and headed into the race along with donald trump– ohio governor john kasich is expected to officially announce he’s running for president today. he will be the 16th republican to enter the race for the g- o-p nomination. new this morning- after 54 years the u.s. and cuba are ready to resume diplomatic ties, and after a recent survey, results show that three- fourths of americans favor this returning relationship. polls show that the public is on obama’s side when it comes to easing relation with cuba by fifty-eight percent, while forty percent oppose. sanctions have also become of concern for americans while forty-eight percent believe they should be decreased or eliminated while forty-seven percent are in favor of them and some even believe they should be increased. / it’s official. the el paso city council is rejecting an almost 60- thousand dollar grant from the state. the money would be used to pay for about half of a survey that would determine which buildings downtown were historic. cities usually go after these grants – because they unleash federal tax credits that can save property owners money when improving the buildings. but many downtown property owners are concerned the survey would lead to future regulations on them. yet over and over again – city employees and preservation advocates told city council the survey didn’t impose such regulations. only city reps claudia ordaz and lily limon voted against rejecting the grant. coming up later on good morning el paso, well hear reactioon on what should be done by one newly elected city rep. this morning– el paso county remains without a parks director. the director overseas parks like ascarate lake and the sportspark in far east el paso. so who is handling those duties? good morning el paso’s denise olivas joins us live with an update…denise? because there is no parks director– that is adding extra responsibilities to commissioners. but yesterday they decided to streamline some of those park duties: “we have not yet hired a park manager so we’re delegating…to our chief administrator” escobar could not say where the county is in the process of hiring a parks director. in addition to this move– organizations or non-profits may no longer get away with fee waivers when wanting to plan events at parks like ascarate lake. escobar says organizers typically go before commissioners, but she now wants a policy-based approach so everyone is treated equal and pay the same fees. once a parks director is hired– they will take over park duties. new information this morning– investigators identify the body found in socorro sunda afternoon. sheriff’s deputies tell abc-7 it is that of 60-year-old javier gonzalez. the body was found on the 99-hundred block of socorro road gonzalez is from el paso. investigators are still trying to find out how he died. police say more arrests may be looming after a shooting in west el paso. it happened around 9 o’clock sunday night on the 16-hundred block of via appia. police say the victim — 19-year-old adrian herrera — was shot in the lower torso. his injuries are said to be non-life- threatening. the shooting appears to be gang related. one person has already been arrested. 19-year- old jessica deo is charged with aggravated assault. police say her mug shot is not being released at this time because the investigation is on- going. new details on the arrest of dj klever here in el paso. he allegedly resisted arrest friday night during the texas showdown festival at the coliseum. according to the complaint affidavit. the d-j, whose real name is josh winkler, was accused of being drunk and out of control back stage. a deputy says winkler swung at someone who tried to help him. two officers tried to arrest him but say he refused. klever serves as the d-j for hip hop artist yelawolf. yelawolf posted this picture on his facebook account of klever after he was released. yelawolf accused authorities of beating klever up and added he will never play at the texas showdown festival again. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… summer vacation may have some of you california dreaming… but a collapsed bridge means only headaches for interstate travelers. we’ll tell you how to avoid the mess if your headed that way. and, unrelenting wildfires in the western u.s. keep expanding. how residents are being affected by the flames. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!