>> ian williams, seoul, south korea, for us tonight. ian, thanks. >>> another dangerous hot spot the u.s. has to keep a close eye on is syria where at least a dozen students were killed today when damascus university came under fire right in the heart of the capital. mortar strikes have increased in and around damascus in recent days as rebels fighting president assad's forces try to enter that city again. >>> as the holiest days of the catholic church calendar year are upon us, pope francis took part in a holy thursday ritual, a show of humility mirroring christ washing the feet of his disciples prior to his crucifixion. he went to a juvenile detention center in rome today, washed and kissed the feet of 12 young inmates held there. the banks were open in cyprus again today for the first time in almost two weeks after political leaders there accepted a financial bailout from the euro zone partners that will hit a lot of people's bank accounts. imagine your atm suddenly working after being idle and empty for days. michelle caruso cabrera

ian williams, nbc news, seoul. >>> u.s. military officials today released the identity of the navy s.e.a.l. killed in a parachuting training exercise. brett shadel was a decorated member of the navy's elite team. he was killed on thursday. he and another s.e.a.l. reportedly collided during a routine free fall in a parachute exercise. he served in iraq and afghanistan. there are some reports he was one of the members of the team that carried out the raid on osama bin laden's compound, but that has not been confirmed. >>> in san francisco, a 19-year-old college student is dead after being shot in the mission district. it happened around 3:00 this morning near 24th and bryant streets, not far from sf general. kimberly tere is there now with more. >> reporter: diane, that young man was shot in front of his home while on his spring break. his family tells us that his father heard the gunshots and came downstairs and found him lying on the stairs. the 19-year-old was taken to the hospital where he later died. police say he and a

ian williams has the latest developments, near the border of north and south korea. ter: lester, officials here in seoul have dismissed the outbursts of more of the same. a rally in the northern capital on friday in support of the call to arms. tens of thousands turned out in support of north korean leader kim jong un's call to arms, chanting "death to the u.s. imperialists." kim jung un called thursday's u.s. show of force reckless. b-2 stealth bombers, exercises over south korea and that the time had come to, quote, settle accounts with the u.s. state television reported that kim had ordered his forces on standby, to strike the u.s., south korea, guam and hawaii. in one photo, targets appear to include austin, texas. experts doubt he has the ability to hit the u.s. but they fear a provocation here in the yellow sea, disputed waters where south korean ferries skirt around north korean territory. bangyong island is home to thousands of south korean islands and many soldiers. it sits just ten miles from the border. kim jung un, seen recently peering at this island thro

>> ian williams tonight in seoul. as for this country, the white house said again today that it's taking the threats of north korea seriously. nbc's kristen welker is at the white house with more on that tonight. good evening, kristen. >> reporter: lester, good evening. white house officials are, of course, concerned, and they have the added challenge of reassuring south korea and other allies in the region that the united states will defend them if they are attacked. now, the white house described the latest pronouncement from north korea as an unconstructive statement, and tried to further downplay the situation by citing north korea's long history of bellicose rhetoric. still, this is a tense moment. a chief concern, the leader of north korea is young and he's unpredictable. one senior administration official told me his father ruled from the shadows with occasional rhetorical flourishes, but the official said, kim jong-un has turned the hyperbole dial all the way up to 10. one foreign policy expert outside the whi

so we begin with our report from nbc's ian williams. >> reporter: brian, this island is less than ten miles from the north. there have been clashes in this area before. and today they watched anxiously as north korea summoned thousands to pyongyang in support of kim jong-un's call to arms. ♪ tens of thousands turned out in north korea's capital, chanting "death to the u.s. imperialists." north korean leader kim jong-un presided over what was called an urgent meeti

>> ian williams in south korea tonight just over the north korean border, as you saw. >>> let's talk more with our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, with us from our washington newsroom tonight. andrea, you've been following this back-and-forth for years. and again in plain english as we posed at the top of the broadcast, doesn't it make a huge difference between figuring out whether he's serious or not, this 28-year-old? >> exactly. that's the problem, brian. because the real danger area is that you have basically a man-child with a finger on nuclear weapons. he has to prove himself to some in his own military, and he's only in his late 20s. he was made a four-star general and president overnight of a nuclear nation that is hermetically sealed. he doesn't know much about how the world works. that's why we saw him in ian's piece today meeting with his generals in front of a map showing u.s. cities that he couldn't possibly target, but clearly this is for domestic reasons. the real worry is miscalculation, and you've got a newly installed south korean woman preside

ian williams is following the situation from south korea for us. good day, ian. >> good day. >> reporter: richard, a strange thing happened here sunday. north korea didn't make any threats. after days of increasingly violent rhetoric, threatening to rain death and destruction on the u.s. and south korea, kim jong un seems to have taken a day off. perhaps the north korean leader ran out of things to say. north korea had warned saturday that the korean peninsula had entered what it called a state of war and threatened to shut down a border factory complex that's the last major symbol of interkorean cooperation. in fact, the peninsula has been in a technical state of war for 60 years. for all the rhetoric including a vow to launch a nuclear strike on the u.s., experts believe a full-sized conflict is extremely unlikely. but the growing tensions during which the north has renounced an armistice and cut lines across have raised fears here that a misjudgment between the sides could lead to a clash which could easily escalate. don't forget, also, that the

nbc's ian williams is in south korea with the very latest on this escalating tension. ian, good morning. >> not only did north korea today declare what it calls a state of war, it said it will now deal with south korea according to wartime regulations. now, it's not exactly clear what that means. since this peninsula has been in a technical state of war for 60 years. there never having been a formal peace treaty after the korean war. officials here in seoul dismissed the latest outburst as more of the same. it followed a massive rally in the northern capital friday, where tens of thousands turned out in support of north korean leader kim jong-un's call to arms. chanting, death to the u.s. imperialists. kim said earlier that the time had come to, quote, settle accounts with the u.s. this was in response to a u.s. show of force, b-2 bombers in exercises over south korea. kim has also ordered his missiles on standby to strike the u.s., south korea, guam, even hawaii. experts doubt he has the ability to hit u.s. targets, and think it would be pretty suicidal to try. they be

>> ian williams thanks to you on the front line. on the way to miami for an economic event, white house officials did say that the president and all of his top officials are consulting with our allies about what to do about north korea. joining me now, traveling with the president, in florida is our white house correspondent, kristen welker. kristen, these escalating threats are clearly a cause of problem. we don't know it's saber-rattling or whether it's serious. this is an untested new leader. obviously there's a cause of real concern and we have to reassure our allies about the u.s. resolve. is there any thought that sending two stealth bombers from missouri to south korea and back yesterday, was too provocative. or do we need to show u.s. strength in the face of this belligerence? >> well the administration has been criticized to some extent for that, andrea. but they are pushing back against those assertions that somehow sending those stealth bombers over south korea provoked north korea even more. defense secretary chuck hagel

the worry is that a squirmish could quickly escalate. >> ian williams there for us in south korea.weet is an author and james holman is a political reporter for politico. gordon, i'm going to start with you in the studio. we heard north korea say that it's entering, quote, a state of war with south korea. what does that mean precisely? >> it means that the war did not end with a peace treaty. it's interesting how this is playing out. we, of course, say that the armistice exists. the north says they will not abide by it. >> you contend that the bluster this time is different. how so? >> the duration. every year the north koreans issue bombastic threats and then they go quiet. this year they continue the threats and i think that's because kim jong-un has not been able to consolidate power and the one way is to issue these threats because over the course of 60 years, this regime has baseless legitimacy on killing foreigners. >> what do we know about the manchild ruler of north korea? >> not very much. he's 29 or 30, educated in switzerland. remember, he's in the middle of this regime

ian williams is in seoul, south korea, with the story this morning.> reporter: good morning, savannah, from the nerve center of samson, electronics, hair hq here in seoul, south korea. this area is where they showcase the latest gadgets with which they're taking on the world and determined to challenge apple's position as the king of cool. below its gleaming skyscrapers lies gadget heaven, where samsung displays its latest cutting edge technology. i'm going to be a movie star. >> right. >> reporter: from the authentic reality wall, to smart windows. who needs to buy blinds? where the glass becomes an information display. >> you can swipe through just using the gesture. >> reporter: then there's the galaxy s-4 smart phone with a censor that can detect if you're looking at it. i'll look away at you. >> it stops. >> reporter: this is samsung's greatest weapon and the biggest threat to apple's iphone. >> we expect our samsung presence to be really expanded to the u.s. market. >> reporter: their rivalry is intense, with bitter patent battles, apple accusin

ian williams has the latest on the new threats good day. >> reporter: officials here in seoul have dismissedows days of escalating rhetoric culminating in a rally in the northern capital in support of the call to arms. tens of thousands turned out in north korea's capital chanting death to the u.s. imperialists. kim jong-un presided over what was called an urgent meeting with military officials and called thursday's u.s. show of force reckless. said the time had come to quote, settle accounts with the u.s. state television reported that kim had ordered his forces on stand by to strike the u.s., south korea, guam and hawaii. in one photo targets appear to include austin, texas. experts doubt he has the ability to hit the u.s. but they fear a provocation here in the yellow sea disputed waters where south korean ferries skirt around north korean territory. the high laisland is home to 5, civilians and many soldiers and sits 5,000 from the border. kim john unpeering at this island through binoculars -- >> he was on that island. does that worry you? >> reporter: he has heard the threats before an