Its this week, here now, coanchor martha raddatz. Good morning, and were almost there. Its the final sprint in iowa, just eight days until the very first votes of 2016, and both parties facing an identity crisis. Just last night, the Des Moines Register went with the insiders. Giving its coveted endorsements to marco rubio and Hillary Clinton. Then theres that breaking news Michael Bloomberg, billionaire and former new york mayor, putting together a plan to potentially mount a thirdparty bid for president. All that in just a moment. But we start with the massive winter storm with millions of americans waking up this morning, buried under several feet of snow. Abc news senior meteorologist rob marciano has all of the latest from new york city, which came within just onetenth of an inch of topping its alltime snow record. Good morning, rob, just how bad was this . Well, you know just over 2 feet of snow, as you mentioned. For a 24hour total we did break that record. We didnt expect to see this much snow. That might have caught the city by surprise. The city has done a 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. Somerset, pennsylvania, 35. 5. Almost 3 feet in allentown, pennsylvania. For the big cities, you literally just shut it down, because you have 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 baltimore and d. C. , brought to their knees with this crippling snowstorm. So, concerns in the next couple of days. You mentioned some of those challenges. But what do you see in the next couple of days . Today, its going to be right around the freezing mark. Some sunshine. Taller buildings will see melting. You got these huge mounds of snow that pedestrians have to navigate. This will 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. Youre talking about emergency vehicles and First Responders struggling to get where they need to be. The city itself theyre hiring people, anybody over the age of 18, they will hire you as a 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 d. C. Mayor muriel bowser. Mayor, i saw trucks all night sanding the roads. Give us an assessment. 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 begun 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 . Metro opened . Schools opened . What do you think . Were doing that assessment 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, our primary roads. And now, today, theyll move into secondary and residential roads. This is not a oneday digout, i have to emphasize to our residents. Well be dealing with snow throughout this week. And well make an assessment of our operations, schools and 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 deiced. And so, theyre not going to be opened today and its not likely the metro bus will get opened tomorrow. Were hopeful that theyll be able to have some limited Service Starting tomorrow. But i know that the general manager will make an announcement about the entire metro system by the end of today, Late Afternoon today. Thanks very much, mayor bowser. Thanks, martha. And as rob told us earlier, new york city got hit much harder than first expected. Mayor bill de blasio joins us. Welcome, mayor. You didnt expect this much 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. And 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. Our First Responders to move around. So, things in most of the city are pretty good now. We still have some areas that we have to do a lot more work on. But we have come through it pretty well. 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, and i have to emphasize, people are going to have to stay off the streets. There isnt a travel ban anymore. But the smart thing is to do is stay off the streets. I think tomorrows going to be pretty good. Well be broadly up and running tomorrow as a city. Youre right, the snowplows will be with us for a while. Well, thats good news for everybody up there and here. I want to ask you a quick question about one of your citys famous residents which one, martha . I know you is a lot of them. Youll recognize this one. 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. Got any reaction to that, mayor . Its incredibly insensitive. Were dealing with a surge in gun violence. For someone who says he wants to be president to say that, its not president ial and its incredible arrogant. You know, this is another indicator that donald trump is not ready for primetime. And the reaction to the possibility that former mayor Michael Bloomberg might get into the race. Another new york billionaire. Well, i respect my predecessor for sure. Two things i say. My candidate is Hillary Clinton. I realbly believe shell be the next president of the United States. 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. How do address income inequality. I dont think most americans think billionaires are the ones who are going to help us give us a more fair economy. Okay, thank you for joining us. Mayor bill deblasio. Thank you. Now we turn to the political chaos engulfing the 2016 race, with only a week to go before the first votes are cast, the candidates are scrambling all over iowa this morning. And were right there with them. Abc news devin dwyer is right there covering the gop race and we begin with abcs cecilia vega, live in davenport, tracking Bernie Sanders surge ahead of Hillary Clinton in the latest iowa polls. Cecilia. Martha, good morning to you. Here it is right on the front page of the Des Moines Register, this is what the candidates are waking up to, that coveted endorsement. Hillary clinton right there. This might be the brightest spot in what has been a very tough week for her. That new poll showing Bernie Sanders leading clinton. At 43 , thats her lowest support in iowa so far. It wasnt necessarily a ringing endorsement. The paper said shes, quote, not a perfect candidate. As coveted as this is, listen to this no democrat with this endorsement has ever gone on to winn either iowa or the party nomination. I have been following both 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 sanders had dueling events a few blocks away from each other, in clinton, iowa. The sanders event was packed. As many as 800 people there. He was confident, he was on the offensive. Clinton campaign had a packed event, too, about 450 people. She did, though, repeat a line that shes been using a lot over the last few days. Talking about getting knocked down and getting back up again. Both campaigns are telling me its all boils 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 whos in des moines this morning. Devin, good morning to you. Thanks, cecilia. This incredible Republican Campaign is down to the wire. So close in fact for the first time last night, both frontrunners spent the night in iowa. Ted cruz, this morning, taking the day off before he finishes visiting all 99 counties. Donald trump is headed to church, but the top talker here, how personal and negative this fight has become. Trump overnight said he would not vote for cruz if he wins. Trump also began running his first negative tv ad hitting cruz on immigration. Cruz is fighting back. If donald trump wins its going to be a snowball to hell. I was at that rally, martha, and i can tell you the cruzs case against trump is getting sharper, its electrifying his supporters. Their headquarters are 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. And theres the underdog, marco rubio getting endorsed this 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 on to win the nomination. Martha . 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 jeb 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 marco rubio the partys best hope. The paper has a pretty strong record to giving the nod to the eventual nominee. 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 this off. Im confident when we get to that, the pundits might be surprised. Lets talk about the frontrunners right now, you have a party that cant even decide who not to support among the frontrunners. The National Review with that antitrump issue. Bob dole has endorsed you, is saying trump could probably work with congress because hes, you know, hes got the right personality and hes kind of a dealmaker. It sounds like hes supporting donald trump, what is this doing to your party and your candidacy . Look, bob dole is im proud to have his support. But heres the deal, donald trump is not a conservative. You need a conservative to lead the conservative party into the general election. Hes not a conservative based on whether gun rights or abortion or taxes or spending or a singlepayer system for health care and you cant insult your way to the presidency, either. He view this as a strength. And were not going to win an election by preying on peoples angst and their fears and by insulting people. We 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 consensus 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 amongst the punditry class but amongst voters. You know, in an article this weekend and 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 trump. Saying right to rise like an allpro right guard helped clear a path for trump by blocking several of his wouldbe tacklers in particular marco rubio. With each passing day, it becomes more and more likely that the Lasting Legacy of jeb bushs 2016 president ial will be its prom note role in making donald trump the nominee and contributing to the crisis of conservatism that will follow. Hey, martha, im the only guy taking on 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 be our nominee whos not a conservative. Who doesnt believe in a hopeful, optimistic message. So, the Weekly Standard can say what they want. But im the only guy who consistently goes after him. Ill continue to do it as i advocate my plans. And word yesterday that former mayor of new york Michael Bloomberg might getting into the race as an independent. Look, hes a great man. He was a great mayor. Hes much more liberal than i am, but hes a great person. I dont think hell get in the race unless its donald trump and Bernie Sanders, probably. But thats way off into the future. 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 about whats going on in flint, michigan, the city of hundreds of thousands of americans have been bathing, brushing their teeth in leadcontaminated water, while government officials were telling them its safe to use. Kids exposed to lead. Theyll need millions of dollars of care for the rest of their lives. How is this possible in the United States of america and whos responsible . It is horrific and it is related to the fact that we have created this complex, noresponsibility regulatory system where the federal government, the state government, regional government, local and county governments are all pointing fingers at each other. It is a tragedy. What we need to do is have a 21st century set of rules. There should be transparency. How much blame does government snyder bear . We need government leaders to take steps well, hes taken responsibility and i admire that. Hes not saying its someone elses fault. Hes rolling up his sleeves and trying to deal with this. He has a responsibility and hes admitted it. Should he resign . No, he needs to do what hes doing, which is to 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 was on its knees when he became governor and hes led to a rebound and forged consensus. I think hes doing a good job in that regard. But this is a tragedy that we ought 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 children at this point. But we thank you very much, governor bush. Best of luck to you. Next, our closer 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 Clinton, once considered the inevitable nominee . And the powerhouse roundtable on a possible newcomer to the campaign trail who could seriously shake up both sides of the race. Announcer this week with George Stephanopoulos is connected by blackberry priv. By blackberry priv. [beekeeper] from bees to business expenses, im in charge of it all. 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