bloomberg is considering a third-party run. and jail break. three fugitives on the run, including an alleged torturer and a man accused of murder. why did it take 16 hours to notice they were gone? tonight we taking inside the manhunt. good evening. saturday. cecileia on the campaign trail tonight. as we come on the air a winter storm is raging, disrupting lives and tourney deadly. 60 million people in the storm's path. on the streets, man versus mother nature. the snow blowing straight across coming down fast. up to four inches an hour. the coast hit especially hard, take a look at that, rivers of ice taking over streets along the jersey shore. the region at a standstill. not a soul at reagan airport. major highways shut down in several states. thousands of people stranded in cars and trucks. some people overnight.

snowboarding down the empty roads, and this is a live look right now at the white house. but it is new york being especially hard. there's time square. only police cars. all traffic banned. look at this image from space. the orange lights are major cities buried under snow and clouds from the massive storm. from space to the center of the storm, our team has covered it all and we start with abc's ron claiborne in hard-hit new york. >> reporter: tonight the nation's largest city in a bull's-eye in an epic storm creating whiteout conditions. forcen an extraordinary travel ban. >> unless it is truly an emergency, you should not be on the road. travel is now banned, and the reason we're doing that is to trect people. >> reporter: the snow still coming down strong tonight exceeding expectations.

top snowstorms on record here in new york stained no letup expected for hours. >> one of the worse blizzards, winter storms, that i've seen here in new york. oh, yeah. it's no fun. >> reporter: no fun at all? >> no. it's not a winter wonderland. >> reporter: many roads eerily empty in the middle of the day. and orrered shut down, rail lines and new york city the transportation lifeline. no flights coming in or going out of new york's three major airports, and across the storm-affected swath of the east coast, more than 10,000 cancellations spanning friday through sunday. even broadway shows, shuttered. meteorologist indra peterson's out in the thick of it. >> if new york city gets more than 21 inches of snow, the third greatest snowfall on record. forget what two feet of snow looks like. it's a blizzard out here. talking about wind producing snow drifts as high as five feet. >> reporter: to battle the snow the city called out an army's

no match for this monster tomorrow. tom, i'm in normally bustling sometimes square. a fraction of the people out on a saturday night. so far this entire season until this storm, new york city had only gotten a trace amount of snow. now in less than 24 hours, the city has gotten an entire winter's worth. tom? >> the crossroads of the world now a winter wonderland. all right, ron. thank you. this storm is the worse to hit the jersey shore since superstorm sandy. tonight, powerful weekends, high tide and the full moon sending icy waters into the streets damaging homes and senting people scrambling for safer ground. linzie janis in the danger zone reporting in from wildwood, new jersey. >> reporter: good evening. up and down the new jersey coast, severe flooding with barrier islands like this the hardest hit. virtually every street here is under water. tonight, the jersey shore getting slammed by a massive nor'easter.

chunks of ice passing by this front yard in ocean city. the storm surge, up to eight feet. these streets are still flooded and it is low tide. look at the water just coming in to this home. and let me show you what happened at high tide, when the water was were waist high. it just carried that pig nick table into -- picnic table into the center of the street. residents trapped in homes. some families attempting to evacuate on their own. >> what are you doing out here? >> trying to get to my mother. >> reporter: in wildwood, new jersey, water nearly up to this man's waist. enough to it keep this ferry wheel spin, the winds. >> the winds are horrible. cutting you up. wind and rain. >> reporter: in atlantic city, floodwaters to do this home's windows and submerging this car. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: governor chris christie warning residents to stay indoors.

a four-wheel drive vehicle or not. very sliply out there now. >> reporter: residents up and down the coast worried about a repeat of superstorm sandy. >> water level this time is higher than sandy. >> reporter: tom, the wind is fierce here, and at high tide, the water was waist deep. another high tide tonight, and tomorrow morning, residents very concerned the flooding is going to get worse. tom? >> that water coming in fast. all right, be careful out there. the biggest danger in the monster storm, travel. officials pleading with drivers to stay off the roads. crews working around the clock. snow plows strug aring to keep up. more than 1,000 accidents in five states, just today. abc's david curlsy in washington, d.c. where the blizzard is still hitting hart tonight. >> reporter: tonight washington, d.c. is buried. up to two inches of snow an hour piling up. >> didn't expect to be caught in the middle of snow zilla. >> reporter: the nation's capital, its roads, monuments,

foot and a half of snow. >> go back a little. go back. >> reporter: the weekend timing, the ghost town appearance a huge advantage for crews trying to clear roads. even fire trucks and ambulances needed help in the deep snow. the d.c. police chief lending a hand on stuck patrol cars. so much snow, each road, each sidewalk, cleared numerous times. so you've already shoveled the sidewalk, four, five, six times? >> around ten times. >> reporter: ten times? >> yeah. >> reporter: by afternoon, another problem. philadelphia. >> reporter: the wind and continuing snow, the major issues now as you can see. the roads are still snow-covered. the moment the snow plows are able to clear the roads, more falls on the ground. >> reporter: at least 11 deaths attributed to this storm. most of them car accidents. and hundreds of motorists stuck. 500 vehicles on the pennsylvania turnpike going nowhere. including 31 members of the

team in a bus since yesterday afternoon. some even walking for pizza. >> i just want to get home like everybody else. >> reporter: jeremy hanawalt escape theed turnpike after 15 hours. >> gotten people out of here or used that as an option. >> reporter: in kentucky, water dropped off to stranded motorists's an ohio family traveling from a funeral spent all night in the car. >> we're going to get you out of here haven't soon. nine hours ago. >> reporter: they finally started moving. with the storm still dropping snow, it will be some time before everyone is dug out. so much snow to remove, the crews are building snow hill, mini mountains, and it's still snowing and blowing, making it even hard to see the u.s. capitol. tom? >> david kcurl curly, thank you. and look how fast it built up outside this pennsylvania home. by dawn, everything in the backyard buried. but the weight of all the snow

abc's gloria riviera with the threat at home. >> reporter: tonight the massive snowfall pushes neighborhoods to their breaking point. in suburban virginia, 30 inches and counting. this emergency snow removal crew stuck. >> i'm 5'6". you can see the snow is up past my knees. when you really get out to the suburbs this is what you see, house after house blanketed. all that snow piling up on roofs here. experts say a foot of heavy, wet snow on a 1,600 square foot home weighs as much as 14 tons. for the first time here, residents like the shaft family are an shis. >> you got 18 inches of snow on your roof. right now light and fluffy. is that a concern? >> i'm not going to dance up there for sure. >> once you get past 24, calling for 36 or 40, wonder, how much can your roof hold? >> reporter: the snow, so heavy, this gas station roof caved in. this historic theater in virginia, destroyed.

early warning signs. creaking sounds and cracks in the ceiling. up and down the coast, heavy snow and winds downing power lines. our phillip mena is in north carolina. >> here in rami, ice is the issue on trees and power lines. crews working to restore power more nan 100,000 people tonight ill without electricity throughout the state. >> reporter: officials there warning people to steer clear of lines which could be live. another deep snow danger -- carbon monoxide. with so many struggling under so much snow, safety experts say, remember to clear the exhaust pipe before warming up your car, and make sure to keep snow drifts from covering furnace and dryer vents outside. city officials still telling residents here like so many other places to stay inside for safety. many of the people we spoke to said they have given up on getting out until the snow starts to melt. tom? >> gloria, thank you. let's turn now to someone

time indoors. abc senior meteorologist rob marciano from washington station in d.c. almost buried in the snow. the big question, how many longer will this storm last? >> reporter: under blizzard warning, still coming down sideways with winds consistently over 35 miles an hour and the visibility remain low. the low itself is still very close. take a look at radar. you can see the snow bands are rotating in. seen 19 inches and counting in new york city. 18 inches a and counting in philadelphia. 21 and counting here in d.c. just outside of d.c. to the west nearing 40 inches of snow. tremendous coastal flooding earlier today. another high tide cycle to go through and winds continuing to crank, in cases near the coast over 50 miles an hour through the overnight period and then things begin to end from west to east as far as the snow is concerned. should be done, all done by midnight but winds continue to crank throughout the day.

real, real nightmare, tom. as far as travel goes, getting around by train, there is a limited amtrak schedule nap is the only way to get around. >> a rough few days ahead. okay, rob, thank you. turning to politics now and a huge day on the campaign trail. donald trump whipping up a new controversy with that vile lnt joke about shooting people on fifth avenue. another new york billionaire putting out feelers about possibly joinings rate. former mayor michael bloomberg and major endorsement from a paper. >> reporter: the controversial remark this time came in the form of a brag. >> i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody sand i wouldn't lose any voters. okay? it's like incredible. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump in iowa under fire once again. >> i will let donald speak for himself. i can say i have no intention of shooting anybody in this campaign. >> reporter: but the brash billionaire may not be the only billionaire in the race for long.

york city mayor michael bloomberg is contemplating mounting a third party run despite repeated promises he would not enter the race, bloomberg recently instructed advisors to draw up plans to run as an independent. telling george stephanopoulos last week he would welcome a bloomberg bid. >> he's a friend of mine. i'd love to. because he would be, i think, take a lot of votes away from hillary, if it's going to be hillary. >> reporter: the former mayor reportedly troubled by all of the front-runners from trump on the right to hillary clinton and bernie sanders on the left. trump's rival at the moment -- ted cruz, also in the hawkeye state raking in a big endorsement from glenn beck. >> if donald trump wins, it's going to be a snowball to hell. >> reporter: but the big effort battle du jour, over a jeb bush video featuring his mother. >> jeb has real solutions. >> reporter: trump taking to

jeb's ad where he desperately needed mommy to help him. jeb, mom can't help you with isis, the chinese or with putin. bush firing back with this picture and today -- >> be careful, donald. >> reporter: a mom war warning. >> you know my mom. i'm putting my money on barbara bush on that one. >> reporter: and another big endorsement coming in just right now. this one from the influential des moines register newspaper, picked for this race marco rubio on the gone side. hillary clinton for the democrats. as for michael bloomberg, people close to him telling us he believes he has until noor get into the race. clearly that means he would miss caucuses here, tom, just nine days away. >> the race is more fascinating every day. thank you. much more ahead on "world news tonight." up next, an alleged torture and murderer escaped from this southern california jail. tonight, we'll take you into the manhunt. that frightened outbreak of

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that's the last time we can confirm they were physically in the housing location. >> reporter: law enforcement telling abc news the jail break was pre-planned and well thought out revealing the three inmates were in a tank that houses 68 people when there was a disturbance at 8:00 p.m. by 9:00 p.m., police sdoevd the inmates were missing. authorities believe how the men escaped from behind these wallsened are not revealing details yet. incredible, this went down steps tom? >> lauren, thank you. still ahead on "world news tonight," one of the biggest diamond rings on the planet. can you guess which celebrity tonight is porting this 35 karat diamond engagement ring? and kids aren't the only ones having fun in the blizzard zone. the adorable scene that played out today at the national zoo.snow. the adorable scene that played

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bottled water from emergency sites. and next, billed as the biggest rock in hollywood. mariah carey saying yes to this australian billionaire. her ring estimated to be in the serious bling. and you just can't put a price on this. the national zoo posting this adorable footage of its 19-year-old male panda tian tian frolicking in this weekend's big snow in d.c., but his baby cub. what about him? bei bei, not so much. tian tian, whose name means more and more couldn't get enough of the white powder. don't worry, his thick, woolly coat is designed to keep him warm in the snowy mountains of china. when we come back, the blizzard from the carolinas to cape cod. mother nature's soft reminder once in a while we could all use a snow day. the blizzard from south carolina to new york. once in a while, we can all use

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finally tonight, it's quite a weekend for snow and one that millions of americans of all species will never forget. >> reporter: every now and then major takes over the spaces we consider our own. a soft reminder how cities clean up nice in a snowfall andble to other species who normally try to keep out of the way. so in the nation's seat of political pow are they went for a stroll down an empty avenue last night. yes, this was washington, d.c. people camous plunging in, playing when not the plowing. this set of three kids all dressed up, will they even remember this day? and then, too, the silence a big snowfall brings. with the sound track turned down, everything pops in a

respect at the tomb of the unknown soldier without a shake of his head. sure it's cold outside when the world looks like this but something warm in being reminded something bigger than this can get us all to stop and listen while we wait the sun. john donvan, abc news, new york, thank john for the story and thank you for watching, "gma" and "this week in the morning" i'm tom llamas. see you right back here tomorrow morning.

good night. >> i'm no joke thief. amy schumer defends her name. >> i didn't steal a joke. >> then, he didn't know. >> i came home. what happened? >> will smith says he knew nothing about his wife's call for an oscar boycott. >> and, the man they call the bordo bandit. was he stealing wine? look at this wrestling match in the wine store. >> things you never thought of to get your car through the blizzard of 2016. >> it is kind of silly, but it really works. >> plus, sarah palin under fire. >> it comes from our own president.