172 hours. reporter: ted cruz and donald trump locked in a bitter fight for first in iowa. cruz tried to lighten the mood with a joke about trump s recent erroneous effort to second corinthians as 2 corinthians. well, two corinthians walk into a bar. reporter: there is nothing light about this ad questioning trump s credentials. i m pro-choice in every respect. does this sound conservative. i am pro-choice in every respect. reporter: trump hid cruz saying he would not support him as the the gop nominee. i wouldn t vote for him. i can tell you that. reporter: trump reversed course on backing cruz and offered this odd praise of his loyalists. i have the most loyal people. did you seefr that. where i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody. i wouldn t lose any voters, okay, like incredible. i will introduce someone who is very near and dear to my heart. reporter: iowa, joni ernst appeared with marco rubio. it gave momentum to a campai
political revolution. democrat candidates clash in iowa. iowa voters caution in just six days, a war of words between donald trump of ted cruz continues. he could run right now for prime minister of canada. he d have no problem. each morning is interesting. i learn something new about myself from donald every day. the east coast struggling to recover from the blizzard. flight canceled all across the country. this is the most i ve ever seen. new jersey governor chris christie is wading into controversy. you want me to go down there with a mop. instead of an indictment against planned parenthood, the people who made the videos are facing years in prison. the manhunt for three extremely dangerous felons. in california continues this morning. we feel they may be embedded somewhere in the community. the residents of this apartment complex in northern california ordered to evacuate as this cliff keeps falling into the ocean. the wildest after a guilty
announcer: from nbc news world headquarrers in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening. time is short, and the to-do list is long for the men and women running for president. in just six days we will be counting actual votes in iowa, but in the final stretch it s all about the polls, and tonight they a aear to confirm aaramatic reversal of fortune among the two republican front-runners. donald trump now ahead in a state that once seemed to be ted cruz s to lose. and more worrisome for the cruz camp is trump is lining up what could be key endorsements. high drama in the democratic contests, too. we ve got both races covered starting with nbc c katy tur. hi, katy. reporter: hey there, lester, you know it s crunch time when one candidate is flying known endorsements and the other issuing a warning. donald trump is about to take the stage joined by arizona sheriff jozef arpaio known for his hardline the clock is ticking in iowa. six days left and
is lining up what cocod be key endorsements. high drama in the democratic contests, too. we ve got both races covered starting wit nbc s katy tur. hi, katy. reporter: hey ere, lester, you know it s crunch time when one candidate is flying known endorsements and the other issuing a warning. donald trump is about to take the stage joined by arizona sheriff jozef arpaio known for his hardline stance on immigration. the clock is ticking in iowa. six days left and donald trump is pulling ahead. today leading in five of the last six major polls here. the race now a cage match between the billionaire and his texas rival ted cruz. each looking for a knockout punch. we have a very powerfulndorsement comingngown today. reporter: for trump a major evangelical endorsement, jerry falwell, jr., who spoke glowingly of trump at liberty university last week. in my opinion donald trump lives the life of loving and helping others as jesus taught in the great commandment. iowa gop caucus
from car accidents and snow shoveling. nearly 27 inches of snow rose on the sidewalks of new york. parts of washington got 22. but glengarry, west virginia, population 277, takes the prize at 42 inches. we have a team of correspondents on the blizzard of 16 and we ll go first to kris van cleave in d.c. be careful. reporter: washington, d.c., s government says it s using everything it s got to dig the city out of nearly two feet of snow. man, machine, even bigger machine to scoop it up and haul it away. in some areas it s barely made a difference. people were told to stay home, and many schools will remain closed until at least wednesday. some streets have yet to be touched by snowplows. d.c. s metro worked to clear the tracks as it tries to restore full service some time tuesday. we want the city back just like everybody else does. reporter: emergency manage. director chris geldart. you look at manhattan got more know than d.c., and they in much quicker order were ba