Good Morning El Paso 02.19.16

tx-dot traffic “you’ve been in fights with a lot of people but with the pope, does it give you pause? presidential candidate) i don’t like fighting with the pope actually” another feud is brewing between the g-o-p front runner and the leader of the catholic church–what donald trump is saying now. / plus— we are just one day away until the nominating contest in nevada and south carolina–the latest appeals from all the candidates. and a health scare on the utep campus after the university’s president has to be hospitalized. / a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. i’m stephanie valle. and i’m hillary floren. good morning, everyone. the upper ridge of high pressure that brought record breaking temperatures to the borderland has shifted east to the gulf states. in it’s place we see a deep southwest fetch of subtropical moisture streaming over the southwestern u.s. today and saturday. thus plenty of clouds at mid and upper levels of our skies… but really very little chance at any precipitation. temperatures will cool a bit but continue warmer than normal. winds will also slacken from yesterday’s breezy speeds.more details to come! pope francis is saying donald trump is not a christian. the pontiff is questioning his christianity after the front runner wanted to address illegal immigration by building a wall. last night at a c-n-n town hall, anderson cooper asked the presidential candidate about his beef with the pope. ” you’ve been in fights with a lot of people but with the pope, does it give you pause? presidential candidate) ii don’t like fighting with the pope actually. i don’t think this is a fight. i think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media. i think he heard one side of the story-which is probably by the mexican government, ah, he didn’t see the tremendous strain that the border is causing us with respect to illegal immigration, with the drugs pouring across the border. ” trump, who’s a presbyterian, also said, “for a religious leader t question a person’s faith is disgraceful.” it’s the last leg of a political showdown in south carolina and nevada. democratic and republican presidential candidates — pleading to voters. the primaries and caucuses — now just hours away. abc’s ray raimundi.. with the new push by the candidates… it’s your voice, your vote. he stakes — couldn’t be higher. the presidential hopefulls — hot on the campaign trail. the democrats — criss crossing thru the state of nevada. sot – hillary clinton / presidential candidate “to have an election that is about real change?not promises you can’t keep.” sot – bernie sanders / presidential candidate “the eye of america will be on nevada” both democratic candidates facing voters at a telivised town hall meeting — answering tough questions on topics like immigration, privacy and their records sot – hillary clinton / presidential candidate “”may it’s that senator sanders wasn’t really a democrat until he decided to run for president,” she said. “he doesn’t know what the last two democratic presidents did.” nats: of crowd booing clinton response: “well, it’s true. it’s true. you know it’s true,” sot – bernie sander / presidential candidate “i anybody thinks a member of the united states senate or the united states house has to agree with somebody in his own party who is president, well, you know, all the time, that’s not my understanding of democracy.” nats – of clapping at republican town hall on the republican side, john kasick, jeb bush, and donald trump?.face -to-face with south carolina voters. at issue — religion. and comments the pope made criticizing donald trump sot – donald trump / presidential candidate cooper: was there a moment you first heard the pope had said something about you that you thought maybe you’re going to have to ask for forgive forgiveness? trump: no. i have a lot of respect for the pope… he was misinterpreted. tag: going into both contests this weekend, the latest polls in south carolina show donald trump still far ahead of the pack?. while in nevada hillary clinton and bernie sanders are still in a statistical tie. rr, abc news new york verbatim: the president of utep is in the hospital this morning. dr. diana natalicio collapsed on campus yesterday. the university’s executive vice president says she fell while walking across university avenue. she was headed to the student union to vote around 1:30. she’s 76 years old and has been the university’s president for 28 years. utep reports that it notified the u-t system of her hospitalization, and that she is in stable condition undergoing tests. a teenager is now under investigation after two campuses in northwest el paso were placed on lockdown. we’re talking about canutillo high school and the epcc campuses — south of i-10 near transmountain. a canutillo i-s-d spokesman tells abc-7 the lockdown went into effect about 10-30 in the morning yesterday after someone called and said a teenager was allegedly carrying a gun on school grounds. abc-7 spoke with anthony police chief carlos enriquez. he would only identify the suspect as a 17- year-old boy who is a former canutillo high student. he was taken into custody for an outstanding warrant on an unrelated charge. enriquez says no weapon was found and the investigation is ongoing. new this morning– a federal government office in nevada was the target of an f-b-i raid. agents executed a search warrant at the u-s reclamation bureau in boulder city thursday. the case also prompted simultaneous searches at an accounting firm in las vegas and a private home in henderson. the home is reportedly linked to the reclamation bureau’s financial director. the las vegas review- journal says the warrants were issued in a suspected corruption case over a contract to audit the hoover dam. the reclamation bureau runs the dam… and according to the paper, the accounting firm was awarded a one- million dollar federal contract last year. happening today– the so-called “affluenza teen” onc again expected in court in fort worth– a judge will decide whether the teen that caused a fatal drunken-driving crash will have his case transferred to an adult system. ethan couch was given probation for killing four people back in 2007, after his attorney argued that he had been coddled by his parents and suffered from “affluenza.” then couch and hi mom took off to mexico after the 18-year- old allegedly put his probation at risk by appearing on video at a party. couch’s mother, tonya, is on house arrest at her other son’s home after she was charged with helping ethan flee to mexico. meanwhile… anti- government protester and rancher cliven bundy will be extradited back home to nevada. that’s according to court documents filed in oregon, where bundy was arrested last week. bundy faces charges of conspiracy related to an armed standoff near his ranch in nevada two years ago. officials say he led some 400 supporters who faced off with federal land managers. officers were trying to stop bundy from illegally grazing his cattle on federal land. federal officials eventually backed off …but bundy was arrested when he flew to support his sons in a separate standoff at an oregon wildlife refuge. that standoff is over and bundy’s sons are facing charges as well. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… new this morning– solutions to getting around traffic. local agencies are introducing a new app today. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the details…denise? it seems like everyday there is a struggle for drivers to find the fastest route to avoid congestion and construction. it can be a little stressful right? today– the launch of metropia hopes to help drivers get through some traffic nightmares. it’s an effort by seveal agencies including the camino real regional mobility authority, tex-dot and the el paso metropolitan planning organization. metropia is an app you can download on your phone. it will suggest the best routes and best times to leave your house. by signing up– you’ll even be able to earn rewards from local businesses that have teamed up with the metropia. it’s pretty east to download– i just did it myself. we’ll talk more about its features coming up. still much more to come right here on good morning el paso — including a helicopter crash caught on tape—and it all happened within feet of a national memorial. “”i tried really hard on this poured my soul into this and i really thought outside the box and went outside my comfort zone” plus—a work of art is causing a controversy in downtown el paso–what the artist says he plans on doing after it’s taken down. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first! take a look at this! a