Ticking. New calls this morning for Vice President joe biden to run for presidtent. The new ad urging him to get into the race while bill clinton makes a late night pitch. Please try to be impartial here. Who do you think is the most qualified to hold office in 2016 . The lady i saw singing on saturday nigh live. And speaking of late night, tonig i show takeover. I think i pulled a hammy on that one. N i think i have to tag out on that one. A surprise appearance for jay leno jumping in on fallons monologu this morning jay is live with us from tonight to today, today, wednesday, october 7th, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller aza. And good morning, everyone. Weve got willie in this mornings for matt and some breaking news at the top this mornin a startling revelation. The Associated Press is repoating this morning that the fbi has helped foil several attempts by russianlinked smugglers to sell Nuclear Materials to muslim extremists, including isis. Lets get right to nbcs key simmons in london reporter . Implications are chilling, an attempt to Sell Nuclear Material to jihadists in the middle east. The fbi has uncovered four such instances acourt the to the associated pres a and in one case earlier this year its claim and arm smuggler offered to sell creasium for 2. 8 milkllion and this manage toedor chetrus wanted to sell uranium ch of this, as you might expect is a little confusing. Chetrus was elected back in 2011 be fore people heard of isis and while in some cases Radioactive Material was seized in every case it was small amounts or not very potent but we do know isis would certainly like to get its hands on the materials which is known as a dirty bomb which may not spread radiation far but can cause mass fierce of it and in our own hour Pete Williams has en speaking to his own sources saying the fbi has been involved in stings like this, but its not clear yet what their role was in these particular stings. Savannah . Zier with the breaking news out of london. Lets turn to michael leitey r who joins us by phone. On the one hand you have russian smugglers who want to Sell Nuclear Material and we know frurom the past that isis is any time you have reports, the extremists and terrorists being interested in nhclear materials or any weapons of mass destruction precursor its a real concern. I will say its not a terribly new ncern. Weve really bee w ried about th t since after 9 11 and al qaeda had an even more focused effort to get weapons of mass decstruction than i think isis did, and in many cases hat the sellers are selling isnat as nuclear or isnt as dangerous as first appears but all tfat being said this is something at the u. S. And we hope ussia has to take very seriously because the consequences of mi bssing Nuclear Material and allowing it to get to a group like isis would certainly be catastrophic. Concern that has been going on for many, many years now. Mike leiter, always good to get your perspective on it breaking news. Lets turn now to a precarious situation were watching in South Carolina where several dams could give way at any moment. Residents looking to see what will happen next after massive rains and flooding over the prst week. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is live in columbia, South Carolina this morning. Good morning. Repore r gred morning. We have a ongoing search and rescue going on here in eastover, South Carolina. You can see a live picture that we have here. There are dive teams that aretin the water. Apparently, according o the sheriffs office, early this morning a ts ck with five people inside went around the barricade as they drove down a road, didnt realize that the road was washed out, even though the barric e was there. The truck went into the water. Three pdople were able to swim out. Two, however, are still missing. Its a sign that there s really danger here literally around every corner. This morning South Carolina is keeping a nervous eye on its struggling dams. More than half a dozen hanging on but in danger of giving way. National guard helicopters dropped huge oneton sandbags to plug breaks trying to hold back the Rushing Water. A lot of holes in the system were filling right now but well turn it around. Reporter capital city of columbia has a massive mopup job. 40,000 residents have no water and forced to rely on bottled water and Officials Say it could be nother four or five days before service is restored. The next several days, severalgweeks, several months ahead are going to be difficult but well be successful. Reporter for many here success is being measured one memory at a time. Going to keep this. Set it out back and threat dry and see what happens. Reporter lawns littered with floodsoaked possessions. While pumps and chainsaws clear away remnants of South Carolinas disastrous deadly deluge. I iearned during times like this the things you really treasure are your family and friends. Reporter and then theres 2weekold annie reading, the family says the infants hiccups in the middle of the night woke them up alerting them that the house was flooding with just enough time for them to get out. Does she have a nickname now . Little hiccup. Might do Something Like that. This will be a runny funny to tell her years from now. Reporter now overnight residents who live near the Beaver Creek Dam got reverse 911 calls at their homes and cell phones telling them that the dam there may breach and that they needed to seek higher ground. Meantime this morning folks in the neighborhood that are now drying out are hoping for a sunny day so that the sun will dry out these possessions like these treasured photos. Savannah, willie. Staggering pictures coming out of South Carolina. Kerry sanders, thanks. Move now to politics and time is running out for vp joe biden to decide if hes going to run for president. This morning were getting a first look at a new ad campaign thats urging him to get in this race. Nbc News National correspondent Peter Alexander is here from washington with all the headlines were politics. Good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. The Campaign Calling for a Biden Campaign is now up and running. Today nbc news is getting an exclusive first look at the first probiden ad to hit the air, produced in hopes of drafting the Vice President into the 2016 race. All thats missing is the candidate. Youre on the cusp of some of the most astonishing breakthroughs in the history of mankind. Reporter this powerful and personal ad produced by a group of biden supporters with a simple message. Joe, run. When joe biden sees this ad i hope he understands that theres millions of americans who are eager to see him enter the president ial race. My dads definition of success is when you look at your son and daughter and realize they turned out better than you, and they did. Reporter ad debuts on cable tv next tuesday, the day the first democratic debate where biden is not expected on stage, and just this morning a new poll shows democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton still in the lead but losing ground in florida, ohio and pennsylvania, but biden outperforms clinton in general election matchups in those critical swing states. It all comes as bidens aides are blasting as offensive and categorically false a report accusing him of being politically calculating while mourning his sons passing. The report maintains biden himself first leaked his sons death bet plea to run. And bill clinton sat down with Stephen Colbert. Please be impartial here. Who do you think is the most qualified to be president . The woman i say singing on saturday saturday . And weighed in on the republican. Hes a master brander and most interesting character. Did you call donald trump and ask him to run for president of the United States . No. No. No . Because that would be pretty smart, man. Yeah. Lot of things i didnt do like that. Reporter a longtime biden supporter says the Vice President is still deliberating so for now biden 2016 remains a hypothetical, and as another biden friend said to me the moment he gets in he becomes another candidate and their words the warm and Fuzzy Feelings quickly if away. Peter, thanks so much. Lets turn to mark halperin, managing editor of bloomberg politics. This story had a pretty devastating thesis, the notion that the Vice President himself talked to the reporter for the purpose of floating a potential candidacy and told them this incredibly heart wrenching story about his own sons death. The Vice President s office shot this down pretty hard. What do you make of in . Joe biden likes to talk and he likes to talk now allotted about whether he wants to run for president , the personal aspects of it and politics of it so hes talking to lots of people, including reporters, including his friends and including donors. I dont think he was out there he just likes to talk and hes emotional right now over all of the confluence in his life i dont think this is a big deal. Mark, however the story got out there, clearly the death of beau biden and family considerations will factor into the Vice President s situation. Hes not sure he has the Emotional Energy to run a campaign. Where do you think he is over that . Hes conflicted and thinks some parts of his conversation and thinking are about could he run, the mechanics, when could he get in, should he get . A lot is still personal. Is it the right thing for his family . Is he up to it . And people who talked to said hes not prepared to do it, running for president and being Vice President at the same time, two pretty big jobs and the jobs hes thinking about, as often as anything else is father, grandfather, husband and someone who is still very much grieving the death of his son. And Hillary Clinton has this ghost candidate in terms of biden and his potential run and Bernie Sanders on his left and so far she hasnt really engaged on biden. Do you think thats going to change. Engaged a little bit with you when she asked about the possible run and went out of her way on monday in New Hampshire say you get in this rough and things are tough. Peter alexander cited a biden adviser who said if you get in, things change. A lot of people around joe biden say, hey, look, joe biden is a competitive guy. Look at headtohead polls mythical matchups with republicans, doing better than Hillary Clinton in a lot of places. When he thinks not about the personal stuff but when he thinks about the competition, get in now, maybe wait and get in in january, if Hillary Clinton loses. Could he get in the that late . A lot of people in democratic politics, including people around joe biden wait and see. Dont worry about the benghazi debates. Wait to see if she loses to Bernie Sanders, because if she loses to Bernie Sanders in iowa or New Hampshire or both, i guarantee you, look at history of the democratic party, there will be panic and joe biden i believe maybe thats the right time. If she loses people say we need somebody else in this race and when he thinks about the possibility of getting in, he thinks about winning, not about the some message, not about fulfilling some family obligation. He wants to be president of the United States, and as i said before hes so competitive. He thinks hed be a better president than Hillary Clinton and thats what is fueling a lot of this. Well see what happens there. Mark halperin, lots to talk about, thank you. The ntsb will be on the scene today to help find out what happened to that missing cargo ship. So far debris has been found but no sign of the ship that disappeared during hurricane joaquin. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren is here with us more. Good morning, kristen moo its been a week since the el faro set sail and one key piece of evidence they are looking for now is the black box. Out at sea, more evidence of a broken and battered ship, debris for miles but still no sign of any survivors. The crew was remembered in a candlelight vigil at the Maine Maritime Academy tuesday night. While the ntsb met with family members in florida, the agency is now investigating the disaster. Questions like why the el faro set sail into the path of such a powerful storm, and what cause the it to lose propulsion at the worst possible time . And we will be studying the meteorological conditions and all of the factors that went into the decisionmaking to sail on that day. Reporter merchant marines like Kenneth Benton on the el faro last month say the crew would have had little say in the decision to leave. I feel that the company and the captain are going to decide whats in their best interest moneywise as opposed to how the crew feels. Reporter the 790foot cargo ship was on a regular run, delivering supplies to puerto rico, but tote maritime insists the storms forecast shifted after its ship el faro set sail. The company is now hiring a third party to conduct an independent an Public Safety assessment. He was my son. Reporter val champ r champo was recently widowed and telling nbcs raheema ellis shes worried about her son lieuies. This cant be happening. Just lost his father and, you know, my whole insides are just being ripped out. Reporter the coast guard is considering when to suspend its search. Meantime, that data recorder will only ping for 30 days so time is of the essence. The ntsb will be looking at maintenance records and any emails between the captain and the company about its decision to leave, guys. So many human stories in the middle of all this investigation. Thanks, kristen. We turn now to natalie. Calls for a new investigation after this air strike by the u. S. At a hospital in afghanistan. Thats right, good morning to you, guys. Doctors without boarders is calling for an unprecedented Factfinding Mission under the rules of the geneva conventions into a u. S. Air strike on that hospital in afghanistan that killed at least 22 people. The medical Aid Group Says its call would mark the first time such a Factfinding Mission would be launched under the conventions. According to the New York Times the american commander in afghanistan now believes that u. S. Troops probably did not follow their own rules in calling in the air strike. A big conte is heating up this morning in the unregulated world of Fantasy Sports. New yorks attorney general has sent letters to Fantasy Sports websites draft kings and fan duel demanding they turn over details of any investigations into their employees. The move is prompted by media reports of possible insider trading, that a draft kings employee may have had access to valuable company data before then winning 350,000 in a fan duel contest. The Companies Say there is no evidence, however, that anyone misused company data. Nbcs Parent Company comcast and nbc sports have invested in fan duel. And the Major League Baseball playoffs swung into action tuesday night as the Houston Astros beat the new york yankees 30 in the American League wild card game. Lots of sad yankees fans. Houstons colby rasmus gave the astros the lead with the home run in the second inning. Thats all they need. The astros will now face the kansas city royals. And we now know who the winner of the 300 million powerball jacket winner is. Shes a factory worker from michigan and didnt take her long to realize she doesnt have to work again. Reporter she was on her way to work. I stopped and bought a cove. Reporter she drove to the Fiberglass Company where shes worked for 22 years not realizing she hit it big until having a bad day at work and thought i might as well check my numbers while im waiting for my lunch. Reporter and now shes the sole winner of the second largest jackpot in michigan history. Im overwhelmed. Reporter her first reaction, oh, i get automatically. I was done. Leech hurried home to tell her partner von avery. Between them they have three children and 11 grand children. Been together for 36 years and never mayor id. Never really wanted to. Ive asked to several times. I said hed have to sign a prenup now. After taking a lump sum payment option, minus taxes, they will have a whopping 140 million dollars. In case youre wondering, that could may 9,324 carats worth of the finest diamonds, seven years at most Expensive Hotel in the world and 5,600 trips around the world. Its crazy. At moment leach has far less extravagant plans. She will buy property in michigan with homes for their children