Miguel almaguer in washington, d. C. Miguel, good evening. Reporter lester, good evening. This may be the largest snow dumping center on the entire east coast. Much of the snow from the washington, d. C. Area is brought up to this old football stadium. The operation here is massive. The trucks have been coming in and out of this area for hours, hauling snow all the way around this parking lot. And the cleanup, thats far from done. It packed a punch and crippled a region. Tonight, millions are still buried under snow and ice. The roads are completely impassable. This is absolutely terrible. Were all stuck. Reporter plows have been abandoned and many roads untouched. Ive done the part i usually have to do. The part theyre supposed to do isnt done. Reporter in washington, d. C. , the government shut down again. Schools and biszsusinesses are closed. For first responders, some stuck in the snow. In roundhill, virginia, an atv will only take you so far. We reached this community by foot. This is the only way in and out, huh . No plows on these streets for days. We feel trapped, you know. Reporter neighbors have shoveled their way to each other, but they have no way out. For courtney, the road was her lifeline. Her 3yearold son braden has Heart Disease. If he needs serious help, its a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds. Here, we dont have that. They cant get to us. Reporter the historic snowfall was expected, but for some cities, the big amount, a huge surprise. Records in maryland, pennsylvania, and new york. With all the snow came plenty of problems. Roofs are down on businesses, barns, and homes. Today in queens, the roads are a mess, but classes went on. School buses slipping and sliding. Here as there is snow. My daughter has to go to school. She has after school. We cant even get through. Reporter tonight across the east, this is the big dig. But as the temperatures plummet, theyre worried tomorrow will be the big freeze. Miguel almaguer, nbc news, washington. Reporter this is jacob rascon along the jersey shore. A direct hit along the southern coast. Our operations today is really focusing on anybody thats calling in for property checks. Well get a lot of calls for gas leaks or electrical fires and things like that. Reporter it was the worst flooding the town of West Wildwood has ever seen. Hundreds of homes surrounded. Dozens had to be rescued. The massive winter storm causing record high tides. West wildwood, suddenly a virtual island. The water is mostly gone, but so is the seawall that protected the town. Now a mangled mess. Town officials call another storm on the way, they have to rebuild fast. For us, this is worst than sandy. We had, we think, six to eight inches higher this storm than we did in sandy. Reporter this morning, governor Chris Christie responded to critics who questioned why he was back on the campaign trail in new hampshire. There is no residual damage. There is no residual flooding damage. All the flooding receded yesterday morning. Obviously this isnt a minor situation for us. Reporter Barbara Williams woke up to this. Its just a mess. I dont know whos going to clean it all up. We cant. Reporter debris everywhere you look. Boats hundreds of feet from their docks. And with the possibility of another storm, a scramble to prepare yet again. The mayor estimates that the overall damage here to be in the millions of dollars, whether its home repairs, removing debris like this, or rebuilding the critical seawall, which will happen as find the money to do it. Lester. All right, jacob. Thanks. Then there is the travel nightmare from this massive blizzard still not over. Today alone, 1,600 flights in the u. S. Were canceled. Thats in addition to the huge backlog of departures and arrivals scrubbed over the weekend. Our tom costello has more on the huge struggle at airports to get back on schedule. Reporter at a major east coast hub airports from la guardia to philly to washington, day three of the big digout. At Reagan National airport, enough snow to fill a football field dumped into a massive new snow melter. The parking lots take a lot longer. Without parking spots, passengers and employees cant get inside. These guys are pushing and hauling snow from sun up to sun down. Going home, guys. Reporter after days of empty gates, finally today, the in 41 planes by noon to jumpstart operations. Mary ana spent last night on the floor here. I was lucky i was sleeping on the heater so i wasnt that cold. Reporter nationwide, a staggering 13,000 flights cancel. At jfk in new york, Delta Airlines managers say its their biggest recovery effort since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The challenge now, getting all of the planes and crews back into position nationwide, then reasem being a flight schedule to get passengers where they need to go. Were operating the full schedule today, but it will take a couple of days to recover. Reporter its not just air travel. Waiting for a train. Reporter amtrak on though it never ceased operations during the storm as it cleared 400 miles of track. Tonight from rail to rebound on the east coast. Friday were predicting well see pretty close to normal operations tomorrow. Very few cancelations in advance, and this may have happened at an opportune time because this is one of the lower periods of travel across the country this time of year. Very few people are on holiday or vacations, and that makes it a bit easier to resume normal operations. Lester. Tom kos tell le, thanks. To politics now. One week until iowa, and high drama down the stretch on both sides. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders locked in a neck and neck battle as ted cruz tries to fend off Donald Trumps mow momentum momentum. Each focused on the numbers that count. Starting with nbcs Hallie Jackson in iowa. Reporter good evening, lester. Republican Party Leaders here in iowa tell nbc news theyre getting ready for record turnout one week from tonight, something that could help donald trump. But with as many as 4 in 10 people saying last minute to make up their minds, what happens over the next seven days, these closing arguments will make a difference. From the back of the pizza chain where she works, angie watches candidates swing by for a slice and a speech. With seven kids at home, i do like home security. I want to keep my kids safe. Who are the top two . But just recently, shes decided on trump, and shes apparently not alone as he surges 11 points here. Ted cruz spliplipping four. Whats changed . I like ted cruz. Hes been very nice to me. Trumps tune. Hes a nasty guy. He started. I finished it. Reporter hammering cruz for days on his eligibility eligibility, his positions on immigration, and his person al. Trump supremely confident and taking aim. I could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody, and i wouldnt lose any voters. Okay . Its like incredible. Reporter cruz hitting back. Seven months hugging donald trump, embracing him. How are people supposed to believe you now when you say he shouldnt be their pick . Im happy to have a conversation about how donalds and my records differ when it comes to defending life. Reporter cruz today getting back up from former rival rick perry as his supporters hope to sway iowans with new ads. I am pro choice in every respect. And the rest of the field trying to not finish so far out of the money. Reporter including marco rubio looking to get hot late. Getting the nod from the states biggest paper and paper. Theres only seven days left, so i dont think people should be worried about peaking right now. Reporter under 170 hours and counting. Hallie jackson, iowa. Reporter im andrea mitchell. As the democrats make their closing arguments he said, you know, i dont know. Its kind of like my i said you can have it both. Reporter each trying to connect to voters. It is so hard to do anything to pay your bills. Youre ashamed all the time. Its just hard. Thank you. Thank you. Millions of people are experiencing exactly what you guys are experiencing do say that. Reporter both candidates are counting on field armys, paid stuff and thousands of volunteers. For democrats, iowa caucus rules are more complicated than for republicans. Candidates have to meet a minimum threshold of supporters in arbitrate caucus to even get votes. Clinton posted an animated howto manual today. Sanders team produced a video friday. If youre going to be 18 by election day, and youre an iowan, you can caucus. Reporter the map shows the challenge for sanders. To win, he needs firsttime voters to show up all over the state. To get to farflung rural areas and also telling college students, go home. We hope theyll go home and viftd their parents and not only go to their local caucus but bring their parents with them. We think our Field Operation has been extraordinary. Reporter for the first time, president obama seemed to be trying to tip the scales for clinton. She can start here day one. More experienced than any nonvice president has ever been who aspires to this office. Reporter and in an unpredictable year, now the threat of a thirdparty challenge from multibillionaire mike bloomberg. The former new york mayor might run in sanders is the democrat nominee and if trump or cruz gets the republican nomination. A decision bloomberg wont make until march. Thanks andrea. There is breaking news from texas. A grand jury investigating undercover footage of a meeting with a planned parenthood official has cleared the organization of indict the antiabortion activist involved in making the videos that provoked so much controversy. Our justice correspondent Pete Williams is in washington with late details. Pete. Reporter a surprising turn, lester, in an investigation requested by the governor of texas, who wanted to know if planned parenthood broke any laws. The question arose after antiabortion advocates made videos that appeared to show representatives of planned parenthood talking about selling tissue from aborted fetuses. Those videos quickly became a sensation, but now its the makers of the videos who have been indicted. Two face charges of tampering with government records. One is accused of violating state laws against buying human organs. The Harris CountyDistrict Attorney says, quote, we must go where the evidence leads us and says the grand jury cleared planned parenthood of the gulf coast of breaking any laws. That brings to 12 the number of states where investigations have cleared planned parenthood. No comment tonight from the organization that made those videos. Pete, thank you. In california dangerous inmates who pulled off an elaborate, daring escape from a maximum security jail. Nbcs joe fryer report reports authorities are now pleading with the public for help. Reporter three days after a brazen escape from a maximum security jail in orange county, investigators are pleading for the publics help. These three are extremely dangerous felons and need to be apprehended and brought back into custody immediately. Reporter the escapees were housed in a large cell that holds about 60 inmates. Photos from inside show the men used tools to cut through a steel screen in their cell, then entered the jails plumbing tunnels, making their way to an unsecured part of the roof. From there, its believed they fashioned ropes out of linens so they could rappel down the side of the jail, five stories in all. The inmates were last seen friday morning during a 5 00 a. M. Head count. Investigators believe they escaped shortly after, pointing to this grainy Surveillance Video which shows movement on the roof. The jail did not until the next head count at 8 00 p. M. , which means the inmates might have had about a 15hour head start. Its creepy. You dont know if theyre still in the area. Reporter all three suspects are accused of violent crimes. I hope somebody catch them soon, soon enough. Theyre dangerous people. Reporter at this point, investigators say theres no indication the escaped inmates have left the country. We feelhat they may be embedded somewhere in the community, and thats why were reaching out to the community. Reporter investigators dont know how the inmates got the tools that were used to cut through all of that metal, and its unclear if any accomplices were waiting outside the jail to pick them up after they escaped. Lester. Joe fryer in southern california, thank you. Still ahead, a wakeup call for women about their hearts. A new study on the big gender gap in heart attack treatment. Why women need to be than men. Were back now with a new warning about the number one killer of women. Heart disease. And a big gender gap when it comes to having a heart attack. The symptoms are very different between the sexes, leading some women to ignore the signs their body is telling them. As nbcs ann thompson reports, knowing those signs could save your life. Reporter when it comes to treatment for Heart Disease, it is still a mans world. Report on heart attacks in women, today the American Heart Association says Heart Disease remains undertreated and underdiagnosed in women. It starts with the difference in symptoms. Men tend to have severe chest pain before a heart attack. Womens signs can be more subtle, including shortness of breath, nausea, and jaw pain. Did you have a happy day . Katherine weilman with hereditary high cholesterol, was just 39 when a heart attack sent her to the hospital. I had a challenging time getting even the hospital at the time to accept me because i didnt look like someone who should be suffering from an event. Reporter with this new information, this cardiologist hopes treatment of women will improve. The statement gives off a road map as a clinician to look at some of the gender differences with Heart Disease. Reporter take risk factors. With high Blood Pressure have a stronger risk of a heart attack than men. Diabetes, her risk for Heart Disease is four to five times higher compared to young men. The risks are even greater for minority women. In those communities, africanamerican and hispanic, high incidence of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, inactivity, and exposure to chronic stress. Reporter the good news is simple Lifestyle Changes can make a huge difference. An astonishing 80 of Heart Disease and stroke are preventable. Anne thompson, nbc news. Were back in a moment with the accidental halfmarathoner who doing double takes. The Michigan Attorney general today named leaders of an independent state investigation to the flint, but it could take months or years to restore Safe Drinking Water for the city. Today outraged residents gathered on the steps of city hall, furious that bills for leadcontaminated water service. We love this story from alabama. Meet ludivine, a 2yearold bloodhound. While much of the country was bundled up this weekend, she was out running free after escaping from her backyard. She took off and somehow found her way into a halfmarathon being run nearby. She ran the entire way, and heres the kicker. She finished seventh with a time of 1 32. Even has a medal to prove it. When we come back, how the super bowl showdown between cam making its way. Finally tonight, the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers are now set for super bowl 50. In one way, the game islready a record breaker. It has the biggest age difference between quarterbacks. Cam newton and Peyton Manning, born 13 years apart. Heres nbcs janet shamlian. Reporter super bowl 50 will pit the nfls experienced past against its energetic future. At 39, Peyton Manning is the leagues elder statesman, a fivetime mvp. This season. 26yearold cam newton. I dont know if its the best quarterback matchup weve ever seen in super bowl history, but i do think its one of the most unique. Reporter twitter lit up with comparisons from cam and peytons dance moves to their history making age gap. 13 years, 48 days. Cam was 9 when peyton starts with the colts in 1998. Both the number one overall draft pick their year. You start looking at these two guys, old school versus new school. Reporter the irresistible matchup all the buzz on sports radio. Now has jerseys flying out of stores. Ahead of his fourth super bowl and a chance to end a storied career with a second ring. Peytons got the experience. Thats definitely one of the good things going for them. Reporter just weeks ago an injured manning benched by the broncs, and a report linked him to use of a banned drug, an allegation he strongly denies. But the heir apparent is cam newton. Over any defense. Old school about ready to get new schooled. Reporter newton has also made a come back after a serious car accident 13 months ago. Today they sold more of his jerseys than during the holidays. A quarterback dual for and of the ages, as newton and manning make for a clash of the titans. Janet shamlian. That will do it for us on this monday im lester holt. News, thank you r watching and good night. Breaking news. The intersection of mccarran and virginia street by Smith Ridge Plaza is closed right now. Youre looking at a live picture of that area. There is a multivehicle accident there. Police have responded and are cleaned up. We do not know about injuries at this point. That point is off limits for the time being. Good evening. Think you for joining us tonight. Im joe hart. And im shelby shan. A crash is acting up traffic there. We will have a reporter on scene. We also have other news regarding the earthquakes that happened in alaska. The rock to lester alyssa dailey. It was a magnitude 7. 1 quake, it destroyed for homes and knocked out power to 4800 people. It was mostly felt by residents in anchorage. The silver state is known as earthquake country. Nevada has the potential of having another destructive earthquake. Our infrastructures in our region capable of handling one like this . The courthouse