Good Morning El Paso 02.12.16

head of russian orthodox church, patriarch kirill. this is a live shot of the vatican right now. it’s been nearly 1,000 years since both the head of the russian orthodox church and the head of the catholic church have met, making this private meeting a historical one. the pontiff will make his way through other parts of mexico before coming to our sister city on wednesday. he will return to the vatican feb. 18. welcome back to good morning el paso. i’m stephanie valle. the time now, 6:?? on your — morning. another nice day in the borderland is expected today. a warming trend continues to keep temperatures above normal. although a weak cold front will cool us down a bit on sunday. after that an upper level high reestablishes over the region. thus leading to warm temperatures… light winds and mostly sunny skies again for the middle of next week. details are coming up on what to expect this valentine’s day! switching gear to politics.. for the first time since hillary clinton’s new hampshire defeat to bernie sanders in the democratic primary, the two candidates faced off.. and it’s your voice, your vote… the two candidates are now looking to nevada and south carolina — hoping to convince a more diverse population that they are the better choice for the democratic nomination. hillary clinton trying to reset after being walloped in new hampshire. the demographics now changing…voters are now more than 90 percent white in iowa and new hampshire… but in south carolina, officials expect blacks to make up more than half of democratic voters. the last four armed occupiers at a federal refuge in oregon will be arraigned today. developing now– their jail booking photos are shown here. jeff banta, sandra anderson, sean anderson, and david fry surrendered to the f-b-i yesterday. this, after they spent 41- days at the malheur national wildlife refuge. they’ve been indicted on a federal conspiracy charge in portland. 12-other occupiers who were arrested earlier are facing the same charge. they took over part of the refuge last month to protest federal land policies. the protesters were led by ammon bundy. his father cliven bundy led a similar fight in nevada two years ago. the elder bundy was arrested wednesday in oregon, on six counts related to that incident. it’s been 17 years since the tragedy at columbine high school in colorado. and for the first time— the mother of one of the gunmen is talking publicly. sue klebold, the mother of dylan klebold, spoke exclusively with diane sawyer about the tragedy, the victims, her relationship with her son and what it was like inside her home. the columbine shooter’s breaks her silence tonight on the 20/20 special “silence broken: a mother’s reckoning.” right here on abc-7 / tonight the eastwood and americas high school boys’ basketball teams take the court in a big game. the title for district 6-a likely on the line. but the troopers will also be cheering for some former basketball players who’ve made history in the sun city. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live … denise? the trooper spirit will be alive at eastwood tonight– the game is a rematch between the trailblazers and the troopers– eastwood lost in the first meeting. americas is undefeated in district play– eastwood– just one game behind them. but it’s fans of the 1976 team that will also help fill up the gym tongiht. they will be honred at the game for winning the state championship 40 years ago– no other big school team has done that in el paso. many of the team members will be in attendance. the troopers head coach says it’s going to be a great night for high school basketball: “americas eastwood is a big rivalry anyway …friday night” “really pumped. eastwood still is” the documentary– “march of the troopers” opens today at th montwood theatre for a week. proceeds go to the debie lewis fund and eastwood high school. the troopers looking to break americas’ 28- game losing streak. you know– i actually got to see the americas in action this season. we told you about a ramp the pope will use to wave across the border. we have more information on who the pope will be greeting. continuing our complete coverage of the pope’s visit in 5 days — the hope border institute, a catholic organization that works with migrants, will select the bulk of v-i-p’s for the event. they will have perhaps the best seat on this side of the border for the pope’s visit. they’ll be within about 100 feet of the ramp that pope francis will walk to the top of prior to the pal mass. take a look at this map. it gives you a better idea of where the ramp and the altar are located. they’re just across the river from bowie high school in south el paso. the ramp is an extension of the alter pope francis will use during his mass. here’s what it looks like from this side of the border. through the fence you can see the ramp where pope francis will stand. “drums beating” new this morning– abc-7 caught up with the matachines group that will be performing at the sun bowl next week. the group of about 3-hundred and 50 will be performing spiritual dances as part of the entertainment at two nations, one faith. this was their practice last night at guillen middle school. if your not familiar with the group, matachines means a sword dancer in a fantastic costume– they are sure not to disappoint on wednesday. if you’re attending the “tw nations, one faith” event tha abc-7’s estela cas be emceeing at the sun bowl… we’ve learned the mass in juarez will be in spanish. but the el paso diocese will offer translation services for english speakers. the people at southwest interpreting services will be donating their time. we’ll have more pope covrage in just a bt with just 5 days to go… workers are busy finishing up the altar and stage where the pope’s mass will take place. officials say the stage should be completed in three days. you can see the backdrop is painted. the lights are up … and the screens and speakers are now in place. another school district is cancelling classes the day of the pope’s visit. gadsden i-s-d reversed its initial decision to keep schools open that day. officials said after speaking with emergency management they determined there would be too much traffic at the santa teresa port of entry. the district covers a handful of communities like anthony, chaparral, santa teresa, sunland park, vado and mesquite. meanwhile… schools in the las cruces public school district will remain open next wednesday. spokeswoman jo glavan tells abc-7 if a student chooses not to come to class, it will count as an unexcused absence– unless they have a note from a parent. the district has a 90% attendance policy. if a student falls below that percentage, they’ll have to appeal to earn credit. another traffic alert to pass along… we want to warn you about a closures that will be happening overnight. there will be a complete closure of joe battle southbound between the bob hope overpass and americas interchange. that’s going to happen from 8 at night until 5 in the morning .. while that is going on… there’s also going to be a northbound closure on americas. this will be between the northloop overpass and the interchange. this is the last night we will have to deal with this for this week. let’s check out the traffic situation again . the tx-dot traffic cams, showing . meantime we have a check of the estimated wait times at the international bridges… and we can tell you highway 70 is expected to be open all day. at the international bridges… and we can tell you highway 70 is expected to be open all day. when we come back, meteorologist krystal klei has your accurate and reliable stormtrack weather forecast. krystal…