right journalist jason strother reporting for us from seoul thank you jason thank you now to some other stories making news around the world a brief u.s. government shutdown is set to end after the house of representatives passed a bill to fund the federal government through march twenty third the senate passed it a few hours earlier the bill also increases overall spending limits over two years the president is expected to sign the bill into law activists say airstrikes in syria's eastern near the capital damascus have killed over two hundred people in the past four days the bloodshed has led the united nations to call for an urgent ceasefire to evacuate civilians and deliver humanitarian aid. the european parliament has expressed deep concern about the human rights situation in turkey in a resolution lawmakers urged president. to lift the state of emergency he had imposed after the failed military coup in two thousand and sixteen they say is being used to stifle legitimate opposition in the country. and the reuters news agency says an investigation into the massacre of ten hinge a man

for more of the story let's bring in jason strother he's a freelance journalist in seoul jason i'm trying to picture this washington's most second most powerful the official sharing a stage with high ranking north koreans at the olympics can we expect to show. i don't think we can expect a showdown nor do i think we can expect a handshake of course leading the north korean precession is the sister of ruler kim jong moon kim go junk but i. sure as much as south korean president moon j.n. would have liked to have had an environment where perhaps the u.s. and north korean officials could have informal talks there is no indication from either side that either is really eager to speak to each other or pence came out swinging before even landed there for even gets theirs to south korea is promising but u.s. vice president new sanctions on the north what could that entail. well he was quite vague on that and i haven't seen anything out of washington yet indicating what those might be i think it's just another part of the trumpet administration's plan to put maximum stress on the kim jong regime

joining me now is jason strother our correspondent he's in ghana in south korea just in to what extent is the presence of a kim or your jong adama. ating events that. right well we're seeing pictures of she and president mungy and shaking hands ahead of the opening ceremony there are more images of. president moon kid kim jong as well as kim young the second in command in the north korean regime as long as as well as vice president mike pence all sitting in the same room watching the ceremony together so it's certainly a big deal this is the first time that a family member of the ruling kim clan has ever come to south korea and read this and leave the delegation from the u.s. headed by vice president mike pence was there any diplomatic will clinton if. well local media is reporting that at a dinner reception that was held prior to the opening ceremony vice president pence made a very brief appearance he more or less avoided it mr kim young who's. basically the second man in charge in north korea. tenses office says that there was a scheduling conflict but it's being read here is more o

let's bring in journalist jason strother who is standing by and so hi jason mike pence is promising new aggressive sanctions as we heard against the north what could they entail a ride well there's no word from washington what and what new sanctions could be but we could expect that the u.s. would go after more foreign companies that are doing business with north korea now of course here in south korea seoul has been bending the rules in regard of sanctions allowing some north korean officials to arrive here as well as a north korean boat to transport its orchestra here however if new sanctions are imposed against the regime following or even during the olympics it would certainly be a blow to south korean president moon j.n. who's really tried to bridge the gap here and bring north korea into the fold could this announcement from pence then throw this entire process the start that we're seeing into doubt. i don't think so right now there is good momentum built here of course on friday north and south korean athletes will walk together into the opening ceremony under a unified korean fl

and let me join our correspondent jason strother he is in a gun in south korea jason to what extent is the presence of kim jong dominating events there. well it certainly made some amazing photo opportunities and we see the shots of president moon jayenge shaking her hands says she was there in the v.i.p. box as president as president moon prime minister shinzo ave. as well as vice president mike pence all watched the opening ceremonies it's certainly a big deal and the lead of this lead the delegation from the u.s. which was headed by vice president mike pence well think diplomatic hope what now if well the media here is more or less saying vice president pence snow the north korean delegation even before the opening ceremony there was a dinner reception hosted by president moon and reports say that vice president penn's pretty much showed up and said hi to some people and avoided the north korean delegation before leaving so certainly in a leading up to the olympics north korea had said it had no interest in talking with the americans vice president and also was not entirely clear if

for him to take a tougher line while earlier he spoke to journalist jason strother in seoul and we asked him if this puts moon in a difficult position. this was one of the hallmarks of moon's presidency ever since he took office just less than a year ago you know after a very. rhetoric filled year in two thousand and seventeen where we saw all most daily diatribes going back and forth between washington and pee on young president moon has succeeded in bringing north korea to the punch on the lympics and frankly it's been a real reprieve ever since kim jong un announced his intention to join the games however now talk of the sanctions a new sanctions we don't know what exactly the trumpet ministration might have in mind that i'm sure is not going over well here in seoul who just i believe president just wants everyone to come the pm jiang and play nice for the next few weeks jason strother there reporting earlier away from the political posturing the athletes at the winter olympics are raring to go or some of them at least thirteen russians have failed with appeals to the court of arbitra

and correspondent jason strother isn't going knowing outside of pyong chang for us hi jason how is that kim jong as agenda going so far. oh i mean the images being splashed around south korean media is president moon jay and shaking hands with her absolutely unprecedented this is the first time that a member of the ruling north korean kim family has called below the thirty eighth parallel certainly a momentous occasion here a momentous occasion chasten but what do you think this diplomatic show means why is that so important. we have to remember that north and south korea are still technically at a state of war and last year the tensions were very high here on the peninsula though mostly the rhetoric was between washington and pyongyang in seoul was more or less stuck in between but soon as soon as north korean ruler kim jong un announced his intentions to send athletes to the games here there has been a reprieve in the tension in the tensions and president moon j.n. has done all he could to accommodate the north koreans and make sure that they participate as best as they can here in. w

well correspondent jason strother is in china for us today jason what is on kim jong un's sister's agenda during their visit at the winter games. i wish i knew what she had been on her mind right now but i can tell you what everyone is talking about here. miss kim you know jiang and vice president mike pence actually speak to one another when they are having dinner hosted by south korean president moon j.n. . right before the opening ceremony this formal gathering is the app and already the north koreans have said they're not interested in talking to the americans mike pence right saying that the trumpet ministration is ready to put new sanctions against the regime has indicated that there could be some womb for him to speak with the north so there could be some real tension at that dinner where you have high level north korean and american officials in the same room very unusual what does kim appearance mean jason for relations between the two koreas. certainly it's a big move for appealing young to send someone within the kim family to south korea as you noted there's never been. a repr

all right journalist jason strother reporting for us from seoul thank you jason thank you. we've heard it's day one of the olympics we have jonathan crane from sports with us here in studio to talk about the games they haven't officially opened yet jonathan but tell us what the big story of the day has been so far the big story simmias the story that's really overshadowed the build up to these games as it did really in rio two years ago and that's the question of russian participation now today cast the court of arbitration for sport has turned down the pier the forty seven russian athletes and coaches to be able to compete in the games now where they've been banned by the i.o.c. over state sponsored doping in sochi four years ago so this decision really is a vindication really for the i.o.c. at least it really draws the line in this episode because the russians have argued that their athletes should be allowed to compete and they were questioning the iron seas and legibility criteria for these athletes because not all of them have been banned for doping some haven't had th

athletes from the two countries will walk side by side under a unity flag while correspondent jason strother is in china and covering the olympics for us jason hello to you what is on the agenda for kim and sister during her momentous visit. a ride well there's speculation here that kim jong il is bringing some sort of message with her to deliver to south korean president. or big brother now of course everyone was surprised in the beginning of this year when kim jong il said that he wanted the north to participate in the pyong china lympics and since then seoul has done all it can to accommodate the north we're expecting. north and south korean athletes marching in at the opening ceremony they're also fielding a unified korean women's ice hockey team so so far there's been a lot of good wesh and good will gesture generated during the get up leading up to the start of these games what does commute appearance mean jason for relations between the two koreas politically. it's certainly significant there has never been a member of the ruling kim family visiting south korea however what everyone i

joining me now is correspondent jason strother in seoul south korea just in today was the final session in this luck irruption guest tell us about the significance of this trial and what kind of a verdict is expected. i mean i think many south koreans feel this was an example of people power as your reporter indicated for months millions of south koreans came out onto the streets to call for her ouster and they got it pretty much and to them it was you know it was a long overdue correction of what they many people see as the corrupt ties between the political and business elites and as for what kind of a verdict that we can expect when the judge rules it's hard to say prosecutors have asked for much to for penalties for the samsung chairman lee j. young as well as jason shilled the woman at the center of the corruption scandal but in the end the judges always give in less than what the prosecution has asked although we have to remember that lien j. young the samsung heir who was given a five year jail term last summer was let out just recently after spending less than a year behind bars

our correspondent jason strother is in outside of chang for us hi jason how is that kim your drawings agenda going so far. well i mean the big images here were. the younger sister of ruler kim jong moon shaking hands with south korean president moon j.n. an absolutely unprecedented there's never been a member of north korea's ruling family to come south of the d.m.z. so it kind of it underlies president moon's attempts to brand the winter olympics as the pisa lympics and i think this will be a theme that we will that he will turn that south korea will turn back to throughout the games how important do you think this diplomatic overture is to have kim jong un sr at the opening ceremonies. certainly there's some hope that kim jong il is bringing with her a message from her big brother. but of course not everything is worked out perhaps as president moon as hoped there had that he had arranged a dinner between some world leaders including kim jong un the rest of the north korean delegation as well as the american delegation led by vice president mike pence but according to reports here p

well correspondent jason strother is in china for us and joins us now jason tell us more about kim you joy and why her visit to south korea is so significant. i mean it's unprecedented that a member of the ruling kim family has come to south korea and i think there is some expectation or perhaps hope that she is bringing with her a message from her big brother ruler kim jong loon of course. the world was surprised earlier this year when kim announced that he wanted north korea to participate in the peeling chong olympics and ever since then president moon j.n. here in south korea has done all he can to accommodate the north koreans. but now we're getting ready for the opening ceremony there's a lot of expectations what's going to happen not only tonight but throughout the games with north korean athletes compete including a joint women's hockey team that is formed with south korean athletes it was so much attention being given to the north korean delegation there at the olympic games are at the posts in the south not concerned that the political dimension will overshadow the athletic c

journalist jason strother reporting for us from seoul jason good to talk to you. now some other stories making news around the world the former prime minister of bangladesh has been sentenced to five years in jail for corruption the courts in the bangladeshi capital dhaka found a seventy one year old swindled funds from a charity into her personal accounts. eight people have died in three others are missing after all growed collapsed in southern china local media report that a sudden leak inside a subway station construction site caused a major road to cave in. and deadly flooding and mudslides have swept bolivia following days of heavy rains homes and cars have been damaged by mud and rubble a state of emergency has been declared in several regions. now germany's two biggest political groups have agreed on a deal to form a coalition government a midianites mint in berlin yesterday after another grueling game of give and take more than four months after the country's elections chance on america from the conservatives and martin schultz from the social democrats an

and let's cross over to correspondent jason strother he's in ghana going outside of a young chang for us hi jason good to see you so tell us more about the significance of jong visiting south korea. all right i mean it's unprecedented that a member of north korea's ruling family would come here to south korea and i guess she's the second best thing to rule there kim jong il and her big brother you know i the whole world was shocked to begin with when kim jong un announced earlier this year that he was going to participate in the olympics at all and ever since then south korean president moon j.n. as as done his best to try to make north korea's participation in this libya had go smoothly as possible and just how the south koreans been reacting to the fact that north korea is participating in these games. well certainly i think many people here are happy for the reprieve that the olympics have brought to the peninsula last year we had missile tests after missile tests we had transit in trump and washington threatening to totally destroy north korea we had many tirades coming from john

seoul has accomplished will not be good news here to the president jason thank you very much jason strother there in seoul thank you the u.s. government could shut her all non-essential operations at midnight on thursday if congress fails to pass its latest budget the senate republican and democratic leadership agreed on a deal to keep the government running yesterday but they're facing office ition in the house of representatives house democratic leader nancy pelosi delivered a record breaking eight hour speech on wednesday the democratic lawmaker opposes the senate deal because. that it does not because it doesn't protect the so-called dreamers their young immigrants brought us illegally as children. are washington correspondent carolina should more went to capitol hill to find out if a shutdown is likely from the man who in two thousand and sixteen became the first formally undocumented immigrant to be elected to the u.s. congress. we are in the house of representatives with congressman ariana's thank you so much for this and they have years of us wealth and it seems to be pretty close w