Good Morning El Paso 06.23.16

“it’s a debate that has critica urgency” congressman beto o’rourke along with other democrats are still on capitol hill this morning–protesting the failure of lawmakers to pass gun control legislation. it’s a historic day in britain. voters are going to the polls today to decide whether their country will stay in the european union or leave. plus— evacuations continue this morning in california as some of the western wildfires rage on . a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. and i’m hillary floren. now to our top story fervor over gun- control on capitol hill. democrats are demanding action in the wake of the massacre in orlando. when the chamber reconvened, the sit- in became a shout-in as lawmakers made their voices heard. developing now– no signs of giving up. democratic lawmakers are still on capitol hill at this hour. a marathon protest trying to force a vote on three gun control bills. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live … denise? this all comes after the orlando mass shooting– and el paso congressman beto o’rourke is among the democrats staging the sit-in over gun control. there are three measures they want to bring up for discussion and a vote. but so far, they haven’t had any success getting the house to consider their proposals. they say they’ll continue making their case for gun legislation. representative o’rourke took the podium late last night– on the same day his daughter turned he said you defend the second amendment ad still make sensible laws to protect lives and public safety: “the people that i represent in el paso texas know that…gun safety ” that’s one of the bills democrats want to vote on. also– a bill that would ban gun purchases to people on the no-fly list. and one that closes the background- check loophole. house speaker paul ryan dismissed the protest as nothing more than a publicity stunt. cspan stopped streaming the sit-in saying it does not have control over the house t-v cameras. at one point it took the live feed from o’rourke’s facebook. the new york daily news is taking direct aim at house speaker paul ryan on gun control. thursday’s front page features a picture of ryan next to a smaller photo of n-r-a c-e-o wayne la-pierre. giant block lettering reads, quote, “n-r-a’s li’l lap dog,” presumably referring to ryan. a dialog bubble over la-pierre’s picture reads “heel, paul heel. good boy!” the captio explicitly accuses ryan of doing the gun- lobby’s bidding by not allowing a vote on gun control legislation. the front-page slam comes after house democrats calling for action on gun control staged a sit-in wednesday followed by raucous proceedings into thursday. meanwhile….in an early-morning vote, house republicans pushed through a partisan bill to deal with the zika outbreak. the 1- point-1 billion dollar measure has no chance of succeeding with senate democrats and the obama administration. the measure was unveiled last night and approved by a 239 to 171 vote. now the house-passed compromise measure advances to the senate where democrats promise to filibuster it to death. happening today… britain will vote on whether to stay or leave the european union. both camps spent the last day of campaigning in a last minute effort to convince the electorate of their side. the latest polls indicate the referendum vote on staying or leaving the european union is too close to call. hundreds of people are still out of their homes this morning, as the battle continues against the wildfire in the san gabriel mountains. abc’s amy powell has more on this story developing now.. :45-:52 and on the ground, firefighters doing everything they can to protect structures threatened by the wildfire. flames leap from dry brush burning near dozens of hillside homes in duarte.. hundreds of evacuated residents have been told it’s not safe for them to return home. 45:37 sot full coye cere/duarte “i trust the fire dept. a lot .. and if we’re in their way then that’s understandable ..so get out of their way let them do their job and hope for the best, pray for the best.” officials met with residents tonight to update them on the fire that has burned nearly 5-thousand acres. firefighters have been battling the san gabriel complex fire with an aggressive air attack. but offi say the extremely steep terrain poses a risk to ground crews. 20:95:54 sot chief thomas ewald/la cty fire dept. “trying to determin locations to place firefighters where they can safely engage in the fire and there’s no chance of fire getting below them is the biggest challenge.” mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for 500 homes earlier today. sot full victoria — “everyone says it’s not gonna come back ..you never know.” displaced residents say they understand the danger and they’re trying to be patient. 19:50:11 sot stephen vendange/duarte “i’ hoping that it may be tomorrow or the next day but 3 days out of your home in this weather it’s a little rough sometimes.” that was amy powell reporting. 6-07… weather and traffic on the 7s… high pressure aloft will bring now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… still much more to come here on good morning el apso … the wait is over— a city pool is set to reopen after long delays with repairs–. and later–the community is coming together to show support for a construction project–we’ll tell you how you can get more information about it later today and this is abc-7, where news comes first!