we get the story tonight from mara schiavocampo. >> reporter: though it's filled with the wonders of the sea, during hurricane sandy, the ocean devastated coney island's new york aquarium. >> my first thought was we lost the aquarium. >> reporter: as sandy pounded the coastline the storm surge flooded one of the oldest aquariums. >> all of our electrical equipment was gone. so there was no precedent for what we were going to do. >> reporter: electrical equipment controlling key life support systems, sustaining the aquarium's 12,000 fish and marine mammals including one new resident. last month an orphaned baby walrus was brought to the aquarium. he was found off the coast of alaska and needed 24-hour medical care. the new york aquarium isn't alone. >> we were checking the basement to see if we had water and we heard a huge whoosh. >> reporter: jenkinson's aquarium in point pleasant, new jersey, lost almost all of its holding tanks and heating equipment. >> this is all part of the penguin exhibit. we have generators running life support. >> reporter: two weeks after sandy hit, jenkins

nbc's mara schiavocampo checked out companies providing designer duds for your little one. ow their baby clothing and with so many cute clothing the clutter piles up fast. now there's a new way to shop for kids' clothing and the goal is to leave you with less mess and less stress. when it comes to online fashion, borrowing is big business from sites like rent the runway to bag, borrow or steal. now several sites are catering to the littlest fashionistas. >> this is for kate. >> reporter: for stay-at-home margaret sweatman kiddie couture comes right to your door. she rents designer clothes for her girls from the website borrowbabycouture.com. >> i was super excited because the clothes were adorable, and i could actually afford them. >> reporter: the site offers high-end designer brands like dior, stella mccartney for up for two week rentals, the cost, $20 to $160 a week, less than a quarter of the retail price. because it's special occasion i can justify spending more than i would on a regular play dress, and i think the cost of the couture dress is comparable to what i would

i'm mara schiavocampo. turkey is getting involved now with the prime minister promising to support palestinians in gaza. and while the white house says israel has the right to defend itself, they're hoping for a diplomatic solution. president obama is tackling foreign policy as he starts his first trip abroad since the summer, making an historic trip to asia. let's bring you up to date. air raid sirens have been sounding again in tel aviv today for yet another day as rocket fire from gaza continues. a rocket launched toward tel aviv was blown up in the sky by the israeli missile defense system known as irondome. militants have fired more than 100 rockets towards israel today. israel's response has been to bombard gaza with hundreds of air strikes. these images were captured earlier in gaza. the associated press is now reporting 300 air strikes on gaza today alone. at this moment, the president is on board air force one on his way to southeast asia. the plane stopped in the last hour to refuel at ramstein ai

nbc's mara schiavocampo checked out companies providing designer duds for your little one. s from the website borrowbabycouture.com. >> i was super excited because the clothes were adorable, and i could actually afford them. >> reporter: the site offers high-end designer brands like dior, stella mccartney for up for two week rentals, the cost, $20 to $160 a week, less than a quarter of the retail price. because it's special occasion i can justify spending more than i would on a regular play dress, and i think the cost of the couture dress is comparable to what i would buy at the mall. >> reporter: this company was fineded by parents of two parents a little over a year ago. they got the idea when trying to outfit their oldest son for a wedding, realizing he'd probably never wear the suit again. >> children are growing so quickly that often when you go from one special occasion to another they are not the same size. >> reporter: borrow baby couture has three roofs designer inventory at their office in baltimore. current season trends for girls 9 months to 4 years. everything i

nbc's mara schiavocampo is here with more on this. >> reporter: good morning.uld be no elmo without robert clash but the puppeteer who created elmo is coming forward after a man claimed forward saying he had an intimate relationship with clash while he was still a minor. ♪ >> reporter: though he's best known as the voice of elmo, revered puppeteer kevin clash is now speaking out in his own defense against accusations of sexual misconduct. in a statement monday "sesame street" said they were contacted in june by a then 23-year-old man who alleged he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with kevin clash. in his own statement, 52-year-old clash acknowledged having a relationship with the man but says it was between two consenting adults, and i am deeply saddened that he is trying to characterize it as something other than what it was. >> when you look at the stories here, clash and his accuser are not all that far apart. the only question is did the relationship begin at age 16 or age 18 or later? >> reporter: "sesame street" says they found the a

mara schiavocampo is in highlands, new jersey, more on the storm's aftermath. mara, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning. the big concern now is cold weather. temperatures are expected to dip to near freezing tonight, and more than 1 million people are still without power. this just one day after new york city cancelled its most famous race in the wake of the storm. for the first time in over four decades, sunday's new york city marathon was cancelled. as the marathon project of recovering from superstorm sandy continues under the threat of cold weather moving in. >> there's growing consensus this will be a coastal storm by the middle of next week. >> reporter: into new york and new jersey lines for gas with hours long. >> i've been here for two hours. never seen it this long. here every day and it's never been this bad. >> reporter: thousands are struggling for a hot meal, a warm bed and a roof overhead. in new jersey power outages are still an issue, but governor chris christie pointed out that progress is being made. >> we're down to under a m

. >> nbc's mara schiavocampo following big dreamers in the big apple. how are ticket sales?rter: there have been a steady stream of customers buying tickets. they've sold about $1,300 worth of tickets this morning alone, and that's happening at places all across the country. like you mentioned more than a billion dollars in ticket sales, about 547 million individual tickets that have been sold. the bigger the pool gets, the more the excitement builds, the more the tickets are sold and that cycle feeds on itself leading to this record jackpot. half a billion dollars. that's a $327 million onetime cash payout. you know, it's not only the winner that gets a little something. the state gets a dollar of every ticket sold, the federal government gets 25% of the prize in taxes, even vendors like this one get 1% of the winnings or up to $100,000. everyone has their hopes on the line here. the odds of winning tonight 1 in 175 million. and if nobody wins tonight that pool is going to keep growing. that's why it's gotten so big. nobody has won since october 6th. that's more than seven

mara schiavocampo has more on the story. ra, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. those odds aren't deterring people much. this $2 ticket is what everyone is after. more than 350 million powerball tickets have been sold since this pool started growing. it's now reached almost half a billion dollars and may continue to soar before someone finally hits the jackpot. from atlanta. >> i'm the luckiest guy alive. why not. >> reporter: to new jersey. >> a little bit of money for a lot of possibility. >> reporter: to new york. >> when it's over 100 million, that's a nice ticket. >> reporter: all across the country a surge of energy over powerball and its record jackpot of about $425 million. >> i hope i'm the winner. >> reporter: current pool has been growing for more than seven weeks, getting bigger and bigger each time no one wins as the jackpot soars, so does the excitement. >> house boat, yacht, mansion. >> reporter: and the prospect of a $278 million cash payout, powerball's biggest ever. >> eight's been a g

nbc's mara schiavocampo is here with the very latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, willie. kevin clash isn't just the voice of elmo, he's described as the soul of "sesame street's" most popular character. this week he took an indefinite leave of absence from the show to battle what he called false and defamatory allegations and now he's been vindicated. he's the man behind one of "sesame street's" most cheerful characters. puppeteer kevin clash was anything but happy about allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor. monday "sesame street" released a statement saying they had been contacted in june by a then 23-year-old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with kevin clash. "sesame street" said they found no evidence to support the claims. clash, a 52-year-old divorced father who is now openly gay, said the relationship began after the man turned 18. tuesday that accuser recanted. in a statement attorneys for the man said his sexual relationship with mr. clash was an adult consensual

nbc's mara schiavocampo is here with this story. good morning to you. >> good morning. this could be straight out of hollywood. after the storm a new jersey woman came across dozens of letters in the sand. glimpses into history, and one couple's amazing love story. in atlantic heights, new jersey, amidst the destruction from hurricane sandy, a message in a bundle. washed upped during the storm, a neat pile of letters tied with a pink bow. the day after sandy struck, kathleen chaney was surveying damage near the beach when her 14-year-old son patrick spotted the stack. you knew what they were? >> i watched enough romance at movies. yeah, i just knew. >> reporter: the letters seemed to be in bad shape. >> they were pretty wet and really sandy. i had to kind of dust them off. >> reporter: but after drying by the fireplace, chaney was finally able to read them. 56 handwritten love letters addressed to a darling lynn, signed by your loving dot. the letters didn't just withstand sandy but time. they were written 70 years ago. post marked in the '40s. some penned during world

for "today," mara schiavocampo, nbc news, new york >> and we are thrled to say that some of the italiana and thera. happy thanksging, nice to see you. >>ood morning. >> here's what i was thinking, sometimes in families thers a health competition between grandmothe as to who is the best cook, soo y guys ever get competitive? >> i don't think so. >> we all love cooking. >> yeah. >> we all love cooking so i don't think competition, we all have our own special dishes. >> who is the best cook? >> me. >> me. >> now that you're spending s much time in this restaurant cooking, do your families suffer? do you still like cking s much at home? >> yeah. >> i have to say if i don't cook, i'm dead. >> it's not really an option. >> actually my husband is thrilled that i cook because i make dishes there that ion't make at home so then he'll s why didn't you make this for me, so i'll make it a home, o. >> you share recipes which is nice so you learn from each other. >> yes. >> whas the most impornt thing you've learned since you've had this b? >> me? >> yeah. >> i like the environment. i like my boss. h