Saturday night live as sarah palin. God bless some of the United States of america. We have more of those latenight laughs today, sunday, january 24th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today, blizzard 2016, live from studio 1a in r rkefeller plaza. Welcome to today on this sunday morning. Im erica hill outside on Rockefeller Plaza with our own mountain of snow behind us. Indeed. Dylan drier is back after being in the blue mobiles for days. Its nice to be standing outside. You have to get one of these coats. They really keep you much warmer in new york city. And gloves. We do need to get you gloves, jose. I dont know enough about this. Sheinelle made her way to time square. Shell have more on the historic sheinelle is 411. We think maybe this pile behind us could be around 16 feet. Its our estimate. As you can imagine, thats just one pile. Its going to take a long time for people to dig out from this. Lets get you caught up. Washington, d. C. And philadelphia are waking up to over 22 inches of snow this morning. New york city, we are looking at the second biggest snowfall on record here, 26. 8 inches in central park. The town with the largest snowfall was in west virginia, 40 inches. Serious note, 20 people are dead because ofofhe snow. Some shoveling show and others in traffic accidents. The airlines are slowly getting back up to speed, struggling to resume service. 640 flights already cancelled for tomorrow. Cars are finally allowed back on the roads here in new york. That ban was lifted at 7 00 a. M. Here. Yesterday. We have correspondents fanned out, covering the storm. Course. We begin with sheinelle, who is in the heart of new yorks time square. Sheinelle, a little quiuier there this morning than usual. It definitely is. It seems like most people heeded the warnings and decided to stay indoors to make it easier for the cleanup crews to do what they have to do, especially here in new york. The streets were virtually empty, with the exception of a few brave souls who decided to get out and about. Behind me, as you mentioned im in time squares, guys in red suits are trying to clear the area. The travel ban was just lifted. People are starting to get out and about. One thing is for sure, for people who are at home and waking up this morning, theyre finding there is a lot of cleaning up to do. Reporter from tennessee to connecticut, people are digging out from a monster of a storm. Nations capital, while 27 inches of snow piled in new york in less than 24 thundershowerhours. Where a travel advisory was lifted earlier this morning. Broadway shows, cancelled. Tunnels and bridges, closed. Glengary, west virginia, under 40 inches of snow. 20 people died from this storm, most in traffic accidents. Reagan international to remain closed until sunday. In all, over 6,000 flights were cancelled on friday and saturday. The annelines s airlines are hoping to get back to normal soon, but passengers arent sure. Im stuck for the next two days in miami. Until monday morning. Reporter while the shoveling and plowing goes on, some of the stranded are finally free. Imagine being stuck on the roads no food, water, bathroom facility. Reporter i75 in kentucky didnt get moving until saturday afternoon. Same on the pennsylvania turnpike. People were trapped on the roads, including this church group. We were laughing, singing, praying. Reporter a little teamwork to get back on the record. The most severe Power Outages are in new jersey. 60,000 customers in the dark. Costal flood warnings still up for the new jersey shore, where severe flooding is submerging some of the same areas hit hard by sandy. Those who couldnt stay inside any longer made the best of the snow, sliding down capitol hill, the slopes of central park, or diving in like this panda at the national zoo. As the blizzard of 2016 winds down, theres still a rough road ahead. Nature gives us, and well keep working at it until we get done. Erica and jose, it was coming down so hard and so quickly yesterday, so many people said theyve never seen anything like it. Guys . It was definitely something. Thats for sure. Sheinelle, thanks. We often hear about paralysis in washington, but this time, its the weather to blame, not angry politicians. Nbcs National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer remains in the Nations Capital this morning. Miguel, good morning. Jose, good morning. The District Of Columbia getting two feet of thick and fluffy snow. This is what theyre waking up to in d. C. Its shin high, knee high in areas. It looks enjoyable, but it crippled the city over the last 36 hours. 36 hours straight, we saw steady snowfall here in d. C. It was blinding, dangerous and, today, thehreat is far from over. All of this snow has been are concerns itll weigh down rooftops, bring down power lines. Today, the First Responders will be out in force, checking the roads here. Also, plowing the roads to try to bring the city back to its feet. The big question will be, d. C. Was shut down essentially over the weekend. Will it reopen for business on monday . As sheinelle eluded to, there certainly was some lighter moments here in the District Of Columbia. We saw people sledding near capitol hill. Some folks were skiing across the national mall. Even some Police Officers had a bit of fun yesterday, picking up a football game. There were some lighter moments here. Again, there is certainly some concern here in d. C. Today. Folks trying to get back on their feet. No question about it, its going to be a big dig here in the District Of Columbia. Jose, back to you. Thank you very much. Flooding is a major concern at this hour. High tide hit an hour ago, and it has the water rising in costal communities. Shore in wildwood. Good morning. Reporter good morning. There was no part of the jersey shore that was spared, but this area was hardest hit. As far as you can see behind me and in this direction and also to my left, there are homes underwater, with three or four feet. At the height of it, they say it was waist deep in height. Many of the residents who live here say this is worse than super storm sandy. Another area hit hard by stone harbor. There was flooding in the streets, cars underwater, homes that took in damage. We dont know the extent of the damage yet because, really, the high tide is coming and, again, as you said, out here in wildwood, this area is totally cut off when the high tide comes from the rest of the jersey shore. In fact, if it keeps rising, we will have to check out, oz wellas well. Its important you stay safe. The tomorrow is over. Now we can clean up. A little help from Mother Nature to melt the snow would be nice, which i think well get. Lets look at the blizzard. It started with severe storms and lots of rain. Once the snow starard, it continued to rotate around. We saw these streaming bands of snow sit over new york city for an extended period of time. I remember being out in it, and id look at the radar and im like, this isnt going to end any time soon. The storm is pulling away. Even nantucket, up in massachusetts, doesnt have to worry about the snow. However, this mornings high tide, around now, is when we have the still looking at the higher than normal tides because of the full moon weve seen. The saving grace is winds are no longer on shore. We do still have costal flood warnings along the coast. Some of the highest numbers. We didnt break the record for the snowiest storm ever in new york city. Missed it by 1 10 inch. Officially at jfk, it is the biggest snowstorm ever. Seeing that number at jfk gives us another sense of what a travel nightmare this will be. I was supposed to leave this morning and i have to leave tuesday, if im lucky. If youre lucky. F fghts are all driving through the blizzard from roanoke to d. C. To new york was easier than trying to get to work this morning. Thank god for the subways. Thanks. Turning to politics, all eyes, of course, on iowa this weekend. The president ial candidates battling it out there. We are now, if youre keeping track, eight days awayy from the Iowa Caucuses. A big name is now dropping hints that he may jump into the race. Kerry sanders is in iowa this morning. Good morning. Good morning. You know, were getting really close to finding out which republican and which democrat will get bragging righting coming out of iowa. The whole system, of course, is designed to whittle this down to two candidates. Third independent candidate entering the race. Former new york mayor michael bloom bloombmbg. Repepter michael bloombmbg would be the second billionaire to be in the race. What do you think of bloomberg getting into the race . I love it. Reporter while rubio and clinton held meetings last night, the race is more complicate complicated, with the possibility of bloomberg running as an independent. Bloomberg may run come march, but only if donald trump, ted cruz or Bernie Sanders are their partys nominees. Trump supporter taylor becker. I think bloomberg getting in would be exciting. I dont know id support him, but id love to see another billionaire with his own money and his own mission. Reporter in iowa saturday, hundreds of Trump Supporters waited more than six hours. Temperatures in the teens. Its what he said earlier in the day about his own popularity that turned heads. I could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldnt lose voters. Its incredible. I have no intention of shooting anybody in the campaign. Reporter the battle for the democratic nomination, also fierce. Hillary clinton finds herself in an increasingly competitive race against Bernie Sanders. I will promise you this, if you give me the boost in the Iowa Caucuses to send me on the way to the nomination, i will come back often to campaign, to win iowa in november. Here in muscatine, at the high school, donald trump will hold another rally. Before he does, he plans to go to church here. The evangelical vote is who wants to win in iowa. Chuck todd is moderator of meet the press. How are you . Good morning, jose. Lets talk a little about bloomberg first. Hes considering going into the race, but it seems like hes putting a lot of barriers to the possibility of running. If, if, if, before i decide to go in, right sf . Thats right. What it tells you is if Hillary Clinton is the democratic nominee, hes not going to run. If it looks like she can get the nomination, he wont run. I think he thinks shehes good enough to be president. If marco rubio, jeb bush, Chris Christie or john kasich were looking strong on the republican side, bloomberg wouldnt run. He put the parameters up. Sanders and trump or cruz. Its because he wants to be president , hes just never found a viable path. I think he believes there actually would be a viable path for a Third Party Candidacy if you had more of an extreme nominated in both parties, and sanderscruz is what he looks at. A lot of the focus is on iowa as he head into the caucus next monday. The Editorial Board of the Des Moines Register endorsing rubio and clinton. When it comes to the endorsements, especially in 2016, how much influence do they have this time around . Very little. If a newspaper endorsement has some influence, its more in a democratic primary than a republican one. Particularly, the Des Moines Register, its known as a leftleaning editorial page. Not the newspaper itself but the editorial page. Its more likely there are some caucus goers that might be influenced about on the democratic side, less on the republican side. Look, i think whats remarkable about this last week in iowa, both sides are incredibly close. But the republican candidates, front runners, cruz and trump, its nasty. Theyre going after each other on the air. As close as clinton and sanders are, thene thing we dont see, negative ads. Yesterday at trumps rally is chuck was there, and im wondering if youre seeing the Establishment Republicans going toward trump, thinking it may be cruz. I think that tells you a lot about ted cruzs reputation in washington. It is very hard to see to find a republican senator that will say nice things about ted cruz. The question, jose, is whether these establishment republican types, are they warming to trump only because the alternative is cruz, or are they warming to trump because they can kill cruz and they think, well kill trump later . If im trump, i dont assume these people are with me. I think theyre with me because hes not ted cruz. Chuck, thanks. Good to see you. You got it, brother. Take care, man. This morning, you can join, of course, chuck for meet the press. His guests include donald trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Lots to talk about there. We are keeping an eye on a strong earthquake that hit 7. 1 quake striking there early this morning, centered in a remote area. Strong shaking was felt more than 160 miles away in anchorage, sending as you can see, items tumbling from shelves. Residents describe it as being jolted out of bed, as the floor rolled. No reports of major damage or injuries. A man hunt is underway for three inmates who made an escape from a Southern California jail. Officials say they broke out of the maximum security facility by sawing through steel bars and making their way through plumbing tunnels to get to the roof. Once there, they repelled to the ground using a makeshift rope. Prison Officials Say its not help. The three were being held on charges including murder, kidnapping and torture, and are dangerous. Lets get a look at some of forecasts. Theres been so much focus on the storm here. Things going on in the rest of the countrtr and a cool picture from space, i understand. Who knew . Northern lights as seen from the International Space station. How awesomes this . That is on my bucket list, to ever see the northern lights. Probably never get the chance from space. But this is from a british astronaut, taking the gorgeous pictures. On land, were seeing the storm system pulling away. Still concerned about the high tide happening now. There are costal flood warnings in effect. We have snow that will move into the rockies. Just about 2 to 4 inches with the quickmoving system. Thats a look at the weather across the country. Window. Thats your latest forecast. Dylan, thanks. Football fans have been keeping a close eye on the weather to see if it will have any impact on todays conference championship games. Which, of course, determine the teams headed to the super bowl. Crews in North Carolina will be clearing away snow and ice for the panthers and cardinals. The afc championship is being played in denver, where there could be snow, as the broncos host the new england patriots. The pats are the defending champs, and well have more on that matchup coming up. Up next on today, tina fey takes on sarah palin. We have the highlights from saturday night live after these messages. So many of you both have a perfect driving record. Perfect. No tickets. No accidents. That is until one of you clips a food truck, ruining your perfect record. Yeah. Now you would think your Insurance Company would cut you some slack, right . No. Your insurance rates go through the roof. Anything. Perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Lowes presents how to be a good liliener. This new pedestal sink just screams elegance. 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Its like her mouth starts driving before her brain gets in the car. Snl was hosted by ronda rousey. It w w the mma fighters first time hosting, which is outside of the box but i think she did great. Thanks. Still to come here on today, epic showdown later today. Who will reign supreme between tom brady and Peyton Manning . After these mess i appreciate you coming by. Absolutely. The markets been pretty volatile lately. There is a lot at stake here, you know . For this for a long time. And well keep evolving things. So dont worry. Knowing whats on your mind and a