in foster heart i can imagine items from leeds university in england it's good to see you again thanks for being on the shaft thank you and what about the athletes will take you to the final preparations in pyongyang only bit later on in the program the syrian civil war has entered a bloody end game with government forces laying waste to the country's last few rebel strongholds activists say airstrikes in eastern galba near the capital damascus have killed more than two hundred people in the last four days the bloodshed has led the un to call for an urgency as fire to evacuate civilians and deliver humanitarian aid. even by the bloody standards of the syrian conflict the bombardment of the rebel held enclave of eastern has exacted a fearful toll four days of government data rates have left more than two hundred civilians dead among them at least fifteen children cording to the british based syrian observatory for human rights. eastern as one of the last pockets of anti-government resistance near damascus in a separate incident to the west of the capital u.s. led coalition forces killed

in foster heart i am very night this from leeds university in england it's good to see you again thanks for being on the show thank you well away from the political posturing the athletes at the winter olympics are raring to go or some of them are at least thirteen russians have failed with appeals to the court of arbitration for sport they wanted to compete despite a doping ban on their country and additional forty seven russians will find out on friday if they can participate just as the olympic torch reaches the host city pyong check. the olympic torch his journey is almost over with the opening ceremony just around the corner flame took a spectacular ride on a zip wire on its way to be on chang. this stop is one of the more daring stages of its two thousand eight hundred kilometer journey around south korea. not a fate for the faint hearted. at least the next leg was far easier for those watching to stomach and the olympic village there was an unexpected visitors russian athletes who had been banned from the games by the i.o.c. were presenting their case to the court of arbitration

our joining me now is eight and foster carter korea expert at leeds university in the u.k. a very good day eight and up john yang holding a military parade as it rattles south korea's nurse just before tomorrow's winter olympics opening ceremonies. i think i think it's annoyed them though in this of the new rather delicate time in the sphere of bonhomie they have set sail and it's totally gratuitous for that go into lots of detail we haven't got time for february eighth used to be the army day in north korea but it hasn't been for years they changed it to april unsafe suddenly brought it back again and they can be no other reason for that than to slightly rain on the south's no military parade so it's a kind of annoying but the south has kind of brushed it off and hopes that you know things will go well nonetheless ok well arguably it collapsing to mars opening ceremonies as the arrival of the north's a diplomatic delegation on saturday that slated to meet with the south korean president tell us more about that. well this really is something i mean until the announcement that kim jong

and foster heart i know very united this from leeds university in england it's good to see you again thanks for being on the shaft thank you. well a north korean orchestra has performed in the south to a sellout crowd it's the first time in eighteen years that artists from the north have performed there more than one hundred fifty thousand south koreans applied for the small number of tickets available but in a sign of how divided public opinion is over pyongyang's recent charm offensive police clashed with protesters outside the venue the protesters set off fireworks and accuse north korea of hijacking of the olympics for propaganda purposes. and what about the athletes we'll take you to the final preparations and beyond chain plus the first competitions that's coming up later in this half hour here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world rescuers in taiwan are combing through the rubble following tuesday's strong earthquake around fifty people are still unaccounted for however aftershocks combined with rain and low temperatures are hampering res

our correspondent phil bodmer is at leeds university. what is the impact their? quite a big impact, 33,000 students here affected by the strike action. these steps earlier on today were a full of protesters who marched to the city centre. one of those on the demonstration was this professor and also a lecturer in food physics here. what did you make of the protest today? i was really inspired by it. we had the biggest number of bigots we have ever had. lots of classes were closed, all the entrances were covered, lots of support from students as well as staff. people and students recognise it is notjust about defending pensions, it is about defending education in britain. the longer the dispute goes on, the harder it will be to sustain that level of support, isn't it? i think people have recognised that universities will not pay any attention to anything other than something which seriously disrupts their operation. most people in the union involved in the strike realise that. we have had two oi' strike realise that. we have had two or three day strikes before and

at leeds university, lecturers out on the picket line. thousands of lectures have been cancelled on campuses across the uk, the message — "give us the pensions we paid into, or there will be mass disruption". we're expecting things to grant to a halt, really. forms won't be signed, classes won't be taught, research deadlines won't be met. we're likely to lose about £10,000 a year. now, vice—chancellors are earning about £250,000 to £280,000 a year, so i have questions about why the money shouldn't be coming out of their salaries and not out of our pensions. the university said a £6 billion deficit in the scheme means it's unsustainable, and could only be maintained by making cuts to jobs and research. universities say they have offered a good deal, but lecturers are not convinced. currently, we have what is called a defined benefit scheme, which means we put money in and we will definitely get a certain amount back when we retire. the defined contribution scheme which is being offered means that what we end up with in the pot will

our correspondent phil bodmer gave us this update from outside leeds university. i think there is a mood of defiance hear it leeds today among lecturers, and there seems to be some support amongst students who are having their lecturers disrupted. 33,000 stu d e nts their lecturers disrupted. 33,000 students likely to be affected. this isafair students likely to be affected. this is a fair sized picket line that has been underway since eight o'clock this morning. people are forming up, ready to take place in a march, which will follow the line of protesters and pickets down to the city centre, where they will rally in front of the town hall. this is the first of ii; in front of the town hall. this is the first of 11; days of escalating strikes over a four—week period. as you mentioned, lecturers here protesting against their pensions. that the moment, they were changed from defined pensions to career average schemes. that is now according to union people here today, they say the idea is to change them to stock market related pension schemes. they say that could

joining us from leeds university in england. thank you for being on the show. guest: thank you. brent: a north korean orchestra has performed in the south to a sellout crowd. it is the first time in 18 years and artist from the north has performed there. 150,000 south koreans applied for the audience. but police clashed with protesters outside the venue. the protesters set off fireworks and accused north korea of hijacking the olympics for propaganda purposes. and what about the athletes? we will take you to the final preparations in pyeongchang, first the -- and the first competitions in this hour. here are other stories making headlines. rescuers in taiwan are coming through the rubble following tuesday's strong earthquake. 50 people are still unaccounted for. aftershocks combined with rain and low temperatures are hampering rescue efforts. nine people were killed, hundreds were injured in the 6.4 magnitude quake. the u.s. has backed out united nations call for a temporary cease-fire in syria's eastern area to allow for humanitarian aid and evacuations. this comes amid reports

at leeds university, lecturers out on the picket lane. thousands of lectures have been cancelled across the uk, the message is gives us the pensions we paid into or there will be mass destruction. we are expecting things to grind to a halt really. forms won't be signed, classes won't be taught, research deadlines won't be met. we are likely to use about —— lose about £10,000 a year. vice chancellors earn up to £280,000 a year so i have questions about why the money shouldn't be coming out of their salaries and not out of our pensions. the universities say a £6 billion deficit in the scheme means it is not sustainable and can only be maintained by making cuts tojobs and research. universities say they have offered a good deal but lecturers are not convinced. currently we have a defined benefit scheme which means we put money in and we will definitely get a certain amount back when we retire. the defined contribution scheme means what we end up with in the pot will depend on the vagaries of the market and other things and it means we

our joining me now is eight and foster carter korea expert at leeds university in the u.k. a very good day eight and up john yang holding a military parade as it rattles south korea's nurse just before tomorrow's winter olympics opening ceremonies. i think i think it's annoyed them that when this is a new rather delicate tightness here bonhomie they have said so and it's totally gratuitous for not go into lots of detail we haven't got time full february eighth used to be the army day in north korea but it hasn't been for years they changed it to april and so if suddenly brought it back again and they can be no other reason for that than to slightly rain on the south's no military parade so it's a kind of annoying but the south has kind of brushed it off and hopes that tough you know things will go well nonetheless ok well arguably it collapsing tomorrow is opening ceremonies as the arrival of the north's a diplomatic delegation on saturday that slated to meet with the south korean president tell us more about that. well this really is something i mean until the announcement that kim jo

at leeds university, lecturers out on the picket line. thousands of lectures have been cancelled on campuses across the uk, the message — "give us the pensions we paid into, or there will be mass disruption". we're expecting things to grind to a halt, really. forms won't be signed, classes won't be taught, research deadlines won't be met. we're likely to lose about £10,000 a year. now, vice chancellors are earning about £250,000 to £280,000 a year, so i have questions about why the money shouldn't be coming out of their salaries and not out of our pensions. the universities say a £6 billion deficit in the scheme means it's unsustainable, and could only be maintained by making cuts to jobs and research. universities say they have offered a good deal, but lecturers are not convinced. currently, we have what is called a defined benefit scheme, which means we put money in and we will definitely get a certain amount back when we retire. the defined contribution scheme which is being offered means that what we end up with in the pot will

at leeds university, lecturers out on the picket line. thousands of lectures have been cancelled on campuses across the uk, the message — "give us the pensions we paid into, or there will be mass disruption". we're expecting things to grant to a halt, really. forms won't be signed, classes won't be taught, research deadlines won't be met. we're likely to lose about £10,000 a year. now, vice chancellors are earning about £250,000 to £280,000 a year, so i have questions about why the money shouldn't be coming out of their salaries and not out of our pensions. the university said a £6 billion deficit in the scheme means it's unsustainable, and could only be maintained by making cuts to jobs and research. universities say they have offered a good deal, but lecturers are not convinced. currently, we have what is called a defined benefit scheme, which means we put money in and we will definitely get a certain amount back when we retire. the defined contribution scheme which is being offered means that what we end up with in the pot will d

our joining me now is eight and foster carter korea expert at leeds university in the u.k. a very good day aiden up john yang holding a military parade as it rattle south korea's nurse just before tomorrow's winter olympics opening ceremonies i think i think it's annoyed when this sort of new rather delicate time in the stair bonhomie they have set sail and it's totally gratuitous without going into lots of detail we haven't got time full thirty eight used to be the army day in north korea but it hasn't been for years they changed it to april and so if suddenly it brought it back again lickin we know the reason that that slightly rained on the south's no military parade so it's a kind of annoyed that the south has kind of brushed it off and hopes that it is things will go well nonetheless ok well arguably it collapsing tomorrow is opening ceremonies as the arrival of the north's a diplomatic delegation on saturday that slated to meet with the south korean president tell us more about that. well this really is something i mean until the announcement that kim jong un's sister was company

university, lecturers out on the picket line. thousands of lectures have been cancelled across the uk, the message, give us the pension be paid into or there will be massive disruption. we are likely to lose about £10,000 a year. vice chancellors are earning £250,000 a year so i have questions about why the money should not be coming out of their salaries and not out of her pension. the university say a £6 billion deficit in the scheme means it is unsustainable and could only be maintained by making cuts tojobs and research. university say they have offered a good deal but lecturers are not convinced. the student support the lecturers but also worried about their future. more than 80,000 students have signed petitions calling for a fees to be reimbursed. when we signed up to be reimbursed. when we signed up to university, it was specified in the cubicle and we would have a certain number of hours of contact time with our lecturers. anything short of that is a breach of the contract and a breach of the £9,000. we should be com

in her last year at leeds at university, she is planning an extraordinary installation for final exhibition. connie has made barbie and dull pieces out of boiled and coloured sugar. i really interested to see the colour that is starting to see the colour that is starting to come to these, can you talk a bit about your choice of colour palette? i was trying to make them really bright colours, just like the whole concept of that being really appealing and sickly. connie's work is still in the early stages but it will be an ironic twist on the pressures on women to be thin. a lot of young girls's toys to encourage poor body image, and people aspire to be this model like figure. if barbie was a real woman, she would not have half the organ, she would be classed as severely anorexic, if not dead. did that struck a chord with you? yeah, it it was a bit... just ridiculous. i can't help but be struck by connie talent and by fatalities but it is clear that after ten yea rs, fatalities but it is clear that after ten years, she is still waging an internal battle between happiness and despairand an int

university joining us via skype from exeter so the discussion we were having this morning out in our in our meeting was about kim your jong and how she had sort of in a weird way sort of bewitched a lot of people should come in there she was smiling you saw her on screen you were interested in what she was going to say and what she was going to do in that sense at least has this been a successful trip over absolutely fantastic to be we do a lot always will customarily associate north korea with subtlety grace etc so it was really a very good idea of. him juggle to not just send the steady face ninety year old kim. for him as well a full head of state but also dissent is just as one third of the age and it's amazing how she did it was sort of as some people have called it the mona lisa smile and she didn't actually say anything in public she just smiled. but that seemed to be enough to get because she is such an unknown quantity basically the first time. should education as a child in. public role outside those korea she carried it off absolutely brilliantly gave special nationals car

university to talk us through some of this he's joining us via skype from exeter in the u.k. is it a as our reporter was mentioning at the end of her report there. a loss for the new administration in south korea and this sort of hope that they would be some transparency and that things would go right with big business now when this man now walks free. i think that may be true i should say that i've only just come on line i'm afraid i didn't hear on for probably your preceding report that cessna laith the bulk there of a well meaning bulk of commentary both in the south korean media and though the c.b.s. seems to see it that way i wonder if this is a little bit hasty maybe a bit contrarian he hath after all south korea is a democracy if there are two years of democracy the courts are a lot more independent than they used to be though i don't deny that they are politically acutely sensitive shall we say and i guess it is unfortunate to say the least that the j. young who is the de facto boss of some son has been had his sentence reduced even though he's still found guilty of a

in her last year at leeds art university, she's planning an extraordinary installation for her final exhibition. connie has made barbie and bratz dolls body pieces out of boiled and coloured sugar. i'm really interested to see the colour that's starting to come through these. can you talk a bit about your choice of colour palette? i was trying to make them all really bright colours, and ijust really liked the whole concept — like the whole idea of it all being really appealing and sickly. connie's work is still in the early stages, but it will be an ironic twist on the pressures on women to be thin. a lot of young girls‘s toys do encourage poor body image, and people aspire to be this model like figure. if barbie was a real woman, she would not have half her organs, she would be classed as severely anorexic, if not dead. did that strike a chord with you? yeah, it was a bit... it was just ridiculous. i can't help but be struck by connie's talent and vitality, but it's clear that after ten years, she's still waging an internal battle between happiness and despair and hope and fear.

in her last year at leeds art university, she's planning an extraordinary installation for her final exhibition. connie has made barbie and bratz dolls body pieces out of boiled and coloured sugar. i'm really interested to see the colour that's starting to come through these. can you talk a bit about your choice of colour palette? i was trying to make them all really bright colours, and i just really liked the whole concept — like the whole idea of it all being really appealing and sickly. connie's work is still in the early stages, but it will be an ironic twist on the pressures on women to be thin. a lot of young girls's toys do encourage poor body image, and people aspire to be this model like figure. if barbie was a real woman, she would not have half her organs, she would be classed as severely anorexic, if not dead. did that strike a chord with you? yeah, it was a bit... it was just ridiculous. i can't help but be struck by connie's talent and vitality, but it's clear that after ten years, she's still waging an internal battle between happiness and despair and hope and fear.

our correspondent phil bodmer is outside leeds university. clearly people there are expressing their views. there are indeed. there isa their views. there are indeed. there is a mood of defiance here in leeds today amongst the lecturers and there seems to be support among stu d e nts there seems to be support among students who are having their lectures disrupted today. 33,000 stu d e nts lectures disrupted today. 33,000 students are likely to be affected but this is a fair sized picket line. it has been underway since 8am and people are forming up to take pa rt and people are forming up to take part ina and people are forming up to take part in a march that will follow the line of protesters and pickets down to the city centre, where they will rally in front of the town hall. this is the first of 14 days of escalating strikes over a four—week period and as you mentioned that the lecturers are protesting about changes to their pensions. at the moment their pension scheme, they we re moment their pension scheme, they were changed from define

phil bodmer is outside leeds university. there was a time when lecturers walking out was a cause of celebration among students, now they wa nt celebration among students, now they want compensation? indeed, there is an element of sympathy among students, certainly the ones we spoke to win leeds earlier on today. the number of students joined a rally of 200 or 300 lecturers assembling on the steps of the building, and they had a picket line from about 8am. they set off on this rally through the city centre rob leeds to meet at the town hall, where they held the rally, listening toa number of where they held the rally, listening to a number of speeches. clearly, the mood is one of defiance. they are unhappy about these proposed changes to what they call switching from a defined benefit pension scheme to a contribution scheme. they claim that is the result of them being worse 0ff they claim that is the result of them being worse off in retirement. for their part, the vice chancellors did not make any comment today. but universi

great to have your answer out of leeds earlier delighted of course by the cast decision bit of good news by the i.o.c. now are saying they can't go shatter all the hopes of competing as a reus a rollercoaster of a story and what do you make of it all. well the i'd say first of all we have to say that they are entitled it's an invitation certainly event and they can invite who they like in the world and they can ban whoever they like as well it is an extraordinary turn of events i'm not often surprised by eventuality is in sport but i am by this one the court of arbitration for sport has really turned everything on its head and it said that they find insufficient evidence that is the crucial remark insufficient evidence for the past eighteen months or so we've been bombarded with what is supposed to count as evidence from professor mclaren who said the state sponsored doping going on in russia we've had the paralympic athletes disqualified from successive competitions we've had the individual bans on russians at the at the rio olympics and the blanket ban the world i double a.f.c. champio

. >> we need the colleges, the university, the education system to step up. we need the military very badly we need the military to address this. because it is hideous in the military. >> jessica leeds, i can't thank you enough for being so open and coming in today to speak with us here at msnbc. thank you so much for being here. >> it's important. thank you. >> appreciate your time. >>> and we're going to have mmun president trump's defense for his staffers now accused of domestic abuse. our panel joins us next after a short break. our home team will help you every step of the way. still not enough? it's smaller than i'd like. we'll help you finance your dream home. it's perfect. oh, was this built on an ancient burial ground? okay... then we'll have her cleanse your house of evil spirits. we'll do anything, (spiritual chatter) seriously anything to help you get your home. ally. do it right. to help you get your home. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "...there's only one catch..." car of your choice." "...this is the last car you're ever going to get in your life..." "...you