With just surprise outsiders on both sides. Oking like they can topple the insiders. Just last night, the Des Moines Register went with the insiders. Ging their endorsements to marco rubio and Hillary Clinton. Theres that breaking news Michael Bloomberg, billionaire and former new york mayor, putting together a plan to potentially mount a thirdparty bi for president. All that in just a moment. But we start with the massive winter storm with millions of americans king up this morning, buried under several feet of snow. Abc news senior meteorologist rob marciano has all of the latest from new y rk city, which came within just onethent of an inch of topping itt alltime snow record. Good morning, rob, just how bad was it . Over 2 feet of snow as you mentioned. For a 24hour total wee did break we didnt expect to see this much snow. The city has done fair job of digging things out. In areas just to the west, check out some of these numbers. This a huge swath of incredibly heavy snow. Shepardstown, west virginia, 40. 5 inches of snow. Somer somerset, pennsylvania, 35. 5. For the big cities, you literally shut it down, no place to put the snow. Look at what it looked like yesterday in times square, you never see it like this, people kind of walking the streets. There was a travel ban that has since been lifted. Big cities like new york, philly brought to their knees with this crippling snowstorm. What do you see in the next couple of days . Around the freezing mark. Swme sunshine. Taller buildings will see snow melting. You got these huge mounds of snow that pedestrians have to navigate. This will be become a little bit slushy monday tuesday wednesday as it warms up. Today its treacherous to get around. The roads arent too horrible. I mean, new yorks finest having to deal with getting out here. First responders struggling to get where they needo be. The city itself theyre hiring people, anybody over the age of 18, theyll hires you as day laborer to shovel snow. Rob, thank you for joining us this morning. You bet. And joining us now here in our Nations Capital is c. Muriel i saw trucks all night plowing the roads. We finished 36 hours of snow last night and we have been working, pushing and plowing snow throughout the entire storm. But once the snow finished, thats when the real digout has become in washington, d. C. And give us an assessment about tomorrow, monday morning, what will it look like in d. C. . Government opened . Roads cleared . What do you think. Were doing that a aessment right now. I was out all night looking at our roads across the city, so, our crews are doing an excellent job on our main thoroughfares and now, today, theyll move roads. This is not a oneday digout, i residents. Well be dealing with snow throughout this week. Well make an assessment of our government in the coming hours. And what is the likelihood with the metro, how long do you think this will take . I know its always a problem with those huge snow banks and melting snow and ice . Well, i know metro brought in tremendous resources over the weekend to clear stations. But also, to clear their track and keep their tracks iced. And so, theyre not going to be opened today and its not likely that the metro bus will get opened tomorrow. Were hopeful theyll have some mited Service Starting tomorrow. But i know that the general manager will m me announcement about the entire metro system by the end of today, Late Afternoon today. Thanks very much, mayor bowser. Thanks, mamaha. New york city got hit much harder than first expected. Mayor bill deblasio joins us. Welcome, mayor. Snow, so, what are the challenges this morning . Well, martha, weve ended up with the second largest amount of snow in the history of this city, going back a century and a half. Youre right the original estimates were for half that much. I have to say, our city workers did an amazing job and the people of new york city, they get credit, too, they heeded the travel ban we put in place, which allowed our sanitation workers to get out and clear the streets. So, things in most of the city are pretty good now. We still have some areas that we have to a lot more work on. So, how long do you think new york city will feel the effects, that snow could be there for a long, long time, those giant piles . Well, yeah, i think today is going to be a very intense cleanup day, i have to emphasize, people are going to have to stay off the streets. There isnt a travel ban anymore. Pretty good. Well be broadly up and running tomorrow as a city. Youre right, the snowplows will with us for a while. Thats good news for everybody up there and here. I what want to ask you a quick question, listen to what donald trump said about which one, martha . You a lot of them. Listen to what donald trump said about his candidacy yesterday. I could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters. Okay . Its like, incredible. Any reaction to that, mayor . Its incredibly insensitive. Were dealing with a surge in gun violence. For someone to be president to say that, its not president ial and its incredible arrogant. You know, this is another indicator that donald trump is and the reaction to the possibility that former mayor Michael Bloomberg might get into the race. Well, i respect my predecessor for sure. Two things. My candidate is Hillary Clinton. And the second thing is, i dont think the people of this country want to give more power to billionaires at this point. I think that what this election is increasingly about. I dont think most americans think billionaires are the ones who are going to help us give us a more fair economy. Thank you for joining us. Mayor debalas owe balas owe. We turn to the political chaos engulfing the 2016 race, with only a week to go until the first votes are cast, the candidates are scrambling all over iowa this morning. And were right there with them. Covering the gop race and we begin with cecilia vega, live in davenport, tracking Bernie Sanders surge ahead of Hillary Clinton in the latest iowa polls. Martha, good morning to you. On the front page of the Des Moines Register, this ishat the candidates are waking up to, that coveted endorsemen Hillary Clinton right there. This might be the brightest spot in what has been a very tough week for her. Thatew poll showing Bernie Sanders leading clinton. It wasnt necessarily a ringing endorsement. The p per said shes, quote, not a perfectcandidate. As coveted as this is, listen to this. No democrat with t ts endorsement has ever gone on to winnettete iowa or the party nomination. I have been following b bh camps as they cross the state. I can tell you the attacks have been swift, they have been fierce, they have been nonstop. Just yesterday, both clinton and few blocks away from each other, in clinton, iowa. The sanders event was packed. He was confident. He was on the offensive. Clinton campaign had a packed house, too. She did, though, repeat a line that shes been using a lot over the last few days. Both campaigns are telling me its all boil down the next eight days to the ground game. Using these teams, getting people out to caucus. The gop race just as tight on that side. For that we turn to my colleague devin dwyer in des moines this morning. Thanks, cecilia. This incredible Republican Campaign is down to the wire. For the first time last night, both frontrunners spent the night in iowa. Ted cruz this morning, taking the day off before he finishes siting all 9 counties. Donald trump is headed to how personal and negative this fight has been. Trump overnight said he would not vote for cruz if he wins. Donald trump began running his first negative tv ad hitting cruz. Cruz is fighting back. If donald trump wins its going to be a snowball to hell. I was at that rally, martha, the cruzs case against trump is getting sharper, its electrifying his sporters. Theyre placing 15,000 calls a day, but the big question here is, will those huge crowds for trump actually turn out to caucus . His iowa operation of course has been untraditional. The underdog, marco rubio getting endorsedhis morning by the Des Moines Register. Rubio trails in the polls here. Worth noting in every election in the last 20 years, the register has endorsed the republican candidate who went o o thanks,devin. The supercharged battle playing out this morning over whether donald trump should be the new face of the republican party. Just got even more intense. The billionaire, now, taking his feud with general bush, the onetime favorite of the gop establishment to a whole new level this weekend and governor bush joins me now. Good morning, governor. I want to begin with that endorsement, calling rubio the partys best hope. Well, i would have loved to have the Des Moines Register endorsement. I didnt get it. Congratulations to marco. Ultimately its the caucus goers that decide this and voters in New Hampshire and South Carolina and nevada to start all thi off. Im confident when we get to that the pdits might be surprised. Lets talk about the frontrunners right now, you decide not to support among the frontrunners. The National Review with that ooenttrump issue. Bob dole has endorsed you is saying trump could probably work with congress because hes, you know, hes got t right personality and hes kind of dealmaker. It seems like hes supporting donald trump, what is this doing to your party and your candndacy . Look, bob dole im proud to have his support. Heres the deal, donald trump is not a conservative. You need a conservative to lead the conservative into the general election. Hes not a conservative based on gun rights or abortion or taxes or spending or singlepayer system for health care and you cant insult your way to the presidency as well. He views as a strength. Election by prayingeying on peoples angst. You have to get to 50. You do that with a solid conservative record with conservative ideas to change the course of direction in washington, d. C. Do you think people will do you think trump would work better with congress than cruz . All i know we need a president to work with congress and right now we dont have that. Thats what i pledged to do, to build consensus, to fix the taxes, the regulation that is a complete mess for our country. To begin to build a bipartisan consens on Foreign Policy again, where americas leadership in the world creates peace and security. Those are the things that i talk about and it seems to be resonating not amongstst the punditry class but among voters. In an article this weekend you talk about trump. The Weekly Standard says that you and the superpac that supports you bears some of the blame for the rise of donald saying right to rise like an allpro right guard helped clear a path for trump by blocking several of his wouldbetacklers in particular marco rubio. With each passing day, it become becomes morend m me likely that the Lasting Legacy of jeb bushs 2016 president ial will be its prom note role in ming donald trump the nominee and contributing to the crisis of conservatism that will follow. Im the only guy taking on you trump on, because i dont believe that hes a conservative and my life commitment to the conservative cause is going to be validated by having a guy being b our nominee whos not a consvative. So, the Weekly Standard can say what they want. But im t t only guy who consistently goes after him. Ii continue to do it as i advocate my plans. And word yesterday that bloomberg might getting into the race as an independent. Hes a great man. A great mayor. Hes much more liberal than i am. Hes a great person. I dont think hell get in the race unless its donald trump and bernie saeshdz. Right now, were focused on eight days of getting our caucus voters out. I want to move to some of the domestic issues. Lets talk aboutp whats going on in the city of flint, michigan, hundreds of americans have b en bathing, brushing their teeth in leadcontaminated water, while government officials were telling them its safe to use. Theyll need millions of dollars of care for the rest of their lives. How is this possible in the United States off america and its horrific and it is relalad to the fact that we have created this complex, noresponsibility regulatory system where the federal government, state government, regional government, local and county governments are all pointing fingers at each other. Its a tragedy. We need to have a 21st century set of rules. There should be transparency. How much blame does government snyder bear . . Well, hes taken responsibility and i aire that. Hes not saying its someone elses fault. He has a responsibility and hes admitted it should he resign . No, he needs to do what hes doing which is too accept responsibility and begin to solve the problem. You once called him a spectacular governor, do you still think so . I think hes been a great governor for michigan, michigan governor and hes led to a rebound and forged consensus. This is a tragedy that we oug to focus instead of blaming people, what hes doing is creating a strategy to fix it because its a complete disaster. Its hard to fix, the health care of those childrent this point. But we thank you x very much, governor bush. Next, our close look at the gop in crisis, inside the fight for the future of the republican party. How the brawl for the partys soul will impact who comes out ahead in iowa. Plus, senator Bernie Sanders is here, could he deliver earlystate upsets to hillary clintoto once considered the inevitable nominee. And the powerhouse roundtable on a possible newcomer on the campaign trail that could seriously shake up both sides of the race. Announcer this week with connected by blackberry priv. [beekeeper] from bees to business expenses, im in charge of it all. So ive been snapping photos of my receipts and keeping track of them in quickbooks. Now im ononop of my expenses, and my bees. Best 68,000 employees ever. Janet . Cough if you can hear me. Dont even thinknkbout it. I took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. Yeah. But what ababt mike . It works on his cough too. Cougug it works on his cough too. Mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours. Lets end this. Thousands of people came out today to run the race for retirement. So we asked them. Are you completely prepared for retirement . Okay, mostly prepared . Could you save 1 more of your income . It doesnt sound like much, but saving an additional 1 now, could make a big difference over time. Im going to be even better about saving. You can do it,t helps in the long run. Next, the storm thats hit the gop just one week before t t first votes are cast in 2016. Im always there for my daughter. For the little things. And the big mimistones. And just like im there for her, pacific life is there to help protect me and my family so i can enjoy all lifes moments. Pacific life. Helping families for over 145 years achieve as the reality sets in that the republican nominee could really be an outsider, its an allout cil war inside the republican party. Nearly t dozen leading conservative thinkers banding together against trump in the latest edition of National Review. While others, like bob dole, warming up to the billionaire, saying he could at least work with congress. Trump, embraced the newfound support. And you know what, theres a point at which, lets be to the we got to get things done not x. George caught up with senator ted cruz on his campaign bus in New Hampshire this week and asked the texas senator about why he prefers not to have the support of dole or anyone else in washington . You seemed to welcome the attack from bob dole, but how about the argument hes making . He said he believes your candidacy, if youre the nomineeee is going to cause cataclysmic loloes. He omitted two words, nobody in washington doesnt like cruz. That doesnt bother you . The biggest divide we got in this country politically its not between republicans and democrats. its between career politicians in washington in both parties and the americans. Somewhere, a lot of the idea donald trump would be a more electable nominee its not a question of electability, listen to what theyre saying. Youre right were saying, the estataishment is abandoning marco rubio and theyre rushing to donald trump and they have explained why. Bob dole yesterday explained why. He said donald trump is someone we can make a deal th, we can cut a deal, we can work with him. Listen, if youre someone in this country who thinks we need more republicans in washington to cut a deal with the democrats to agree with harry reid and nancy pelosi and chuck schumer, then you ought to vote for donald trump. And joining us now, rich lowry, the orchestrated effort to take dow the billionaire and republican alex castellanos, Campaign Strategist too bob dole, george bush and mitt romney, who thought about blocking trump rich, is ted cruz correct there, you saw that interview with george, has donald trump become the establishment candidate . Yeah, the reason, martha, we did this issue, we wantmd to make two issues. Number one, donald trump is not a conservative. And two, we wanted to make the point, not the socalled establishment thats opposing trump, in fact, as we speak, you have elements of the political accomplishment among republicansns hiding under their desk, figuring out how they can coop or deal with donald trump. We want to win this election. We want to do it with a consecutive and we think we can. Rich, you wrote this morning, this is what National Review exists to do, to plant the flag for conservativism, have you missed your chance, has trump i object the notion because hes at 30 at the polls. This thing is effectively over. Look, w knew we could get a lot of blowback from this issue. Its particularly rich that donald truru invoked william f. Buckleleand said buckley would be ashamed of what we have done. In ct, buckley wrote about donald trump in 2000, he called him a nar sissist. Alex, you have a different take, at the beginning of the month, you tried to get an antitrump thing going, you had no takers. Is the gop going to have to live with a Trump Nominee . As much as i love N