david ushery has more on the political legacy he left behind. >> mario cuomo was born in queens, the son of italian immigrants who came to ellis island with a dream of starting a new life for them. his parents ran a grocery store. he earned bachelor and law degrees before learning his career as a legal assistant. in 1977 he ran for mayor of new york city but lost to ed koch in the primary. cuomo was elected lieutenant governor in 1978. he once again faced ed koch in a primary but this time walked away victorious ant when on to defeat lewis layerman in the general election >> we won because people and the passion of belief are still more important than money. >> cuomo was catapulted into the national spotlight two years into his term delivering a keynote speech in 1984 to the democrat convention. >> there is despair, mr. president, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. >> the address launched him on to the short list of front runners for the democrat nomination in '88 and '92. >> he's the italian stallion of democrat politics at the

cuomo also leaves bliehind his wife. >> that was david ushery reporting. of his career covering new york politics and the cuomos, as well. steve, what can you tell us about mario cuomo's legacy both here in new york and on the national political scene. >> i think there's a couple things here. one is this is one of the most important spokesmen for liberalism. you know, the last half century for american liberalism. and i think the connection is so important here. mario cuomo is famous originally because of a speech he made back in the 1984 democratic national convention. the context of that speech is so important because thavs basically, that moment when he step e stepped on that stage that night in san francisco, was basically the lowest moment in the modern era of the democratic party. ronald reagan was president, he was heading for re-election. he was going to win 49 states, one of the great landslides in hes ri. everybody knew that their ticket was doomed, that their paurty was going down in defeat. there was talk in the press that was rampant. it was b

nbc's new york's david ushery has more on the life of the liberal giant. >> mario cuomo was born in queensthe son of italian immigrants who came to ellis island with the dream of starting a knew life for themselves. his parents owned a grocery store. he earned his bachelors's law degree, entering private practice in 1958. in 1977 he ran for mayor of new york city, lost to ed koch in the primary. cue moo wouz elected lieutenant governor in 1978. he once again faced ed koch in a primary but this time walked away vick tour yous. and with the help of his son he went on to defeat the. >> people and the passion of belief are still more important than money. >> cuomo was cat palted into the national spotlight two years into his first term delivering an electrifying can note speech to the democratic national convention. >> there is despair, mr. president, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. >> the address launched him on the the short list of front runner frs the democrat nom las vegas in '8 and '92. >> he's the italian stallion of democrat par

david ushery has more on the incredible political legacy he left behind. >> reporter: mario cuomo was born in queens the son of italian immigrants who came to ellis island with the dream of starting a new life for themselves in america. he attended ps 50 while his parents ran a grocery store. he started his career as a legal assistant for the new york state court of appeals. cuomo entered private practice in 1958. in 1977 he ran for mayor of new york city but lost to ed koch in the primary. he declared his candidacy for governor in 1982 upon news that kerry would not seek re-election. he once between faced ed koch in a primary, but walked away victorious. with the help of his son andrew, he went on to defeat and win in the general election. >> we won because people people and the passion are still more important than money. >> reporter: cuomo was catapulted into the nation at spotlight two years into his first term delivering an electrifying keynote speech to the 1984 democratic national convention. >> there is despair, mr. president in the faces that you don't see, in the places you

like david ushery said unclear what happened there, but you see the other cars behind that red vehicle slide as well but not nearly as badly and they weren't revving their engines either trying to make that turn. much more on this storm's path and what weather in the northeast looks like for today. we're going to keep you updated. this is a fluid situation. we encourage you to stay with us. this is "way too early," a little earlier for you this morning, which has jen very excited. yes, we're back after this break. >>> look at these drifts out here. these are about 3 to 4 footers. you walk in them and then you get stuck. where i walked before i just walked through there for the weather channel, but you walk through here and then you get -- your boot gets down here and you wonder if you're going to get out. what i need is a pair of snowshoes to walk on top of these drifts. but we're going to be in this most of today. the snowfall rate may back off a little bit, but, boy, these wins are not going to really back off until dinner time. >> mike seidel showing some of the height of the storm

nbc new york's david ushery brings us more. >> reporter: mario cuomo was born in queens.lis island with the dream of starting a new life for themselves in america. cuomo's parents ran a grocery store. he earned his bachelor and law degree from st. john's university before starting his career as a legal assistant for the new york state court of appeals. cuomo entered private practice in 1958. in 1977 he ran for mayor of new york city but lost to ed koch in the primary. cuomo was elected lieutenant governor in 1978 and declared his candidacy for governor in 1982. he once again faced ed koch in a primary but this time walked away victorious and with the help of his son, andrew as campaign manager he went to win the general election. >> we won because people and the passion of belief are still more important than money. >> reporter: cuomo was catapulted into the national spotlight just two years into his first term delivering a keynote speech to the national convention. >> there is despair in places that you don't see, places you don't visit in your shining city. >> reporter: