berlin. tonight defying donald trump. more than 100 countries vote in favor of a you and resolution calling for the -- u.n. resolution calling for the united states to reverse its decision about jerusalem. we will get reactions from our correspondence in washington and jerusalem. also coming up, counting the votes in catalonia's crucial election. exit polls are predicting an absolute majority for the pro-independence parties. what would that mean for madrid's hopes of putting to rest what is a political crisis? ♪ brent: i'm brent goff, it is

good and happy you with us. we start in new york tonight where the u.n. general assembly has overwhelmingly passed a resolution asking the united states to withdraw its decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. at an emergency session thursday, 128 of the 193 member states voted in favor of the motion with only eight countries voting with the u.s. that is despite a threat by u.s. president donald trump to cut u.s. aid to countries that backed the measure. palestinian president mahmoud abbas hailed the decision as a victory for his people. and for more on that now we are joined by our correspondent in washington and our correspondent in israel, tonya kramer. good evening to both of you. let me start with you. the u.s. has been embarrassed in this vote.

what now? >> the trump administration is dampening down on its decision for jerusalem as to be expected. there have been no other statements from the president himself so far, but vice president mike pence just tweeted under president trump the u.s. expects our allies to stand with us. thank you to the countries that recognize our right to determine where we put our embassy. he echoed some points that nikki haley did, u.s. ambassador to the u.n. earlier today, and which she said this was whether countries respect or disrespect the united they. i don't guess that really to be honest because of course the u.s. has the right to decide where its embassy to israel is located but also other countries have the right to disagree and to criticize this move.

if you look at the countries that was with the united states here, is not very impressive. we have guatemala, honduras, micronesia, the marshall islands, as of course israel. this is not a very impressive coalition. brent: and tonya, speaking of israel, the prime minister benjamin netanyahu has commented on the outcome of the vote today . let's listen to what he had to say. >> israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution. jerusalem is our capital, always was, always will be. i appreciate the fact a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd. i appreciate that and especially i want to express our thanks to president trump and ambassador haley for their stalwart defense of israel and their stalwart defense of the truth. brent: so he rejects the vote.

what next for israel? tonya: mr. netanyahu does not sound worried. the resolution that was passed was expected and he made it clear in this video, he called it a theater of the absurd, pointing out countries that abstained were not as what the officials were looking at at the moment. quite a few, the official line was in the past couple of days it does not matter. it is a nonbinding resolution and some israeli officials called it a felicity -- felicity stunned by the palestinians. you should look at it from an international point of view and save the israel and u.s. have isolated themselves further, but there might not be in the implications -- be any implications that follow them on the ground. brent: netanyahu mentioned those

countries that abstained. to the u.s. prior to the vote, if you think those threats had some influence on some countries? >> it probably did, as some countries probably did not want to offend the united states mainly because they might depend on u.s. support in other fields or because they felt particularly close like canada and mexico, u.s. neighbors who also abstained. some countries did not show up for the vote and did not want to make a stand there. but this number might be bigger than it used to be on other occasions. very few countries went with the united states, and this included countries that voted for this resolution included european allies like germany, france, britain. so the bottom line is this is a very embarrassing defeat for the

americans, and this america first foreign policy means in this case america almost alone. brent: that is a good point. what about the palestinians? we heard mahmoud abbas saying this was a good victory for his people. how much support to the palestinians, how much support can they pull out of this vote today? tonya: that is an important question a lot of palestinians ask themselves now. officials here say they want to keep this momentum. we also understand they want to keep lobbying international organizations and bringing this further. the problem is everybody knows this is a symbolic resolution, reaffirming a long-standing human position on jerusalem -- u.n. position on jerusalem. when you talk to palestinians here, their expectations are very low.

they are skeptical because there have been u.n. resolutions before that were not implemented, and they don't know what this will mean here on the ground. so they don't really expect that much, and they see israel above international law. they don't see any changes here on the ground. brent: our correspondent in israel and i'm washington, thank you to both of you. -- in washington, thank you. we move now to europe. the full have closed in catalonia after an election seen as a gauge of support for independence from spain. while the votes are being counted, official data has revealed the turnout was exceptionally high. the election comes two months after the region declared independence following a referendum which was opposed by madrid. spanish authorities have called this snap election in the hope

this will put an end to the political crisis. but will it? let's go to barcelona where barbara basil and lisa lewisre following the latest developments for us. good evening to you. lisa, you are at a celebration for independence supporters. how is the mood there? lisa: for the moment it is not a celebration. people are waiting for the results. one present have already been counted but that -- percent have already been counted but that is not significant. people have told me they are hoping their camp will win. they are aware of the fact that even if they won these elections , it would be very complicated to become actually independent after all that happened here in spain. brent: let me ask you, what

about their leader, mr. carlos? he did not just his boat personally. he is still in this self-imposed exile in belgium. how much influence does he really have in absentia? lisa: he is not here, and if he came back he would have to go to prison. some of the people here are aware of that, and some of them are saying if we win these elections with a high margin, that would mean there would be so much popular pressure on the central government he could come back and become our leader really. brent: barbara, if you could, let's take a look at the anti-independence camp. you are there with the supporters. what do they expect from this vote? barbara: we are at the

inner-city birth -- barcelona hotel where they have made their election hq. same picture here, everybody waiting because the hand-counted votes are coming so very slowly. it is dripping, nothing to say yet. the liberal party, whose leader, who was with the shooting star of this election really, carrying the party up, going strongly against the independent side, she really hopes to become the strongest party in catalonia , as she times to form a government. she wants to form a government that she collects the all and ties, secessionist forces on her side, but we know it is a neck and neck election and nothing to really party about yet. brent: before we let you go, our viewers know you report a lot on

the european union, from brussels. what is at stake tonight for the european union in this election in catalonia? barbara: the european union of course wants a peaceful resolution of this. it wants a political solution that people find together, tt they learn to talk to each other again, stop hating each other and sort of begin at political process here because the well-known catalog -- catalan rider, he said it is like northern ireland with the intensity of hatred, the emotion of the two camps against each other, only without the violence. the e.u. wants for this to go away. it is one conflict it does not need. there are so many other things to concentrate on. brent: that is certainly the case. what are you hearing in your

respective places? what can we expect? lisa, what are you hearing? lisa: we understand that the first results are coming in ri the definite results might actually only be known by wednesday next week. so they are counting the results bit by bit and publishing them which is a bit of the bizarre situation. you have this tv screen in the back in that room behind me, and people are watching results coming in. these are not representative at all for the time being. the definite results will be published wednesday and when all of the votes from other countries have come in. there are 30,000 people waiting from other countries. brent: this is a good point, the balance -- ballots are being counted by hand. that is one reason why the numbers are coming in at a

trickle pace. both of you in marcelina -- barcelona on the story, thank you. we'll be back as the numbers come in. you are watching dw news live from berlin. still to come, fast tracking your way to the job, germany's highest peak gets a new cable way, and is record-breaking in more ways than one. oh my goodness. the on-again off-again pilot strike is back on. can't pilots and companies just get along? >> i wish they could. pilots in germany walking off the job for four hours. the union accuses the airline of a publicity stunt. it promised to recognize unions for the first time to avert a strike, but at yesterday's talks, ryanair pulled out of negotiations because it did not like to of the union officials

taking part. reporter: ryan air head michael o'leary will bend over backwards to make a buck, and that is enough to make ryan air of force to be reckoned with on the european market. the refining the ultra low-cost model pioneered by southwest, o'leary cut ticket prices in favor of onboard shopping and other secondary revenue streams. that ran him afoul of many unions. they objected to what they described as substandard pay, poor working conditions and bad labor contracts. many pilots left ryanair, and the airline announced it will be forced to cancel some 20,000 flights through march of next year. to stave off a threatened strike in some european territories over the holidays, management announced it would finally enter into talks with unions. >> we have got to make a change,

and in this case because it was christmas, we called on the union's to call office actions of people could take away that uncertainty and get home for christmas. reporter: it seems not everyone was convinced michael o'leary had changed his tune. germany's pilot union is calling for a four hour warning strike this friday. if they carry through with the threat, it would be the first strike in ryanair history. barbara: ben: we have got the union spokesman. thanks for joining us. where did it all go wrong? can you give us an explanation of what happened to your union campaign at ryanair? you have just managed to clinch it. >> that is what we thought as well but when we traveled to dublin yesterday and met the ryanair officials, the first thing they wanted to do was to

decide and to dictate even with whom they want to negotiate and with whom they said two of our five team, our members were not of their liking. they said, those two guys have to leave and the other can stay. they did not like the look of them were basically -- barbara: what was wrong with them? >> they said they are our in a legal dispute with ryanair. one of them got fired. he announced he is part of the negotiation team, ryanair fired him, leading to illegal conflict. they said we don't talk to people who we are in a legal conflicts with. ben: must be a frustrating situation. >> definitely it is because the situation for the ryanair pilot is pretty bad. hundreds of them leave ryanair and say, they hope for a better

contract in the future and for such basic things like a good holiday regulation, like good payments. even those basic things, ryanair says, we don't put them into contract. we are not interested in discussing with them. ben: are your pilots really treated like janitors? >> say that again. ben: are they really treated like cleaning personnel as some of the pilots actually accuse the airline? >> most of them actually are. if they want to drink a bottle of water during the 12 day, 12 hour day, working day, they have to pay for this water. if they dare to stand up and say, this can be the right way, they get fired right away. this is not the way an employer should treat his employee. ben: tell me about the treatment

of passengers. you guys are calling a strike at a very inconvenient time, christmas. >> yeah, that is perfectly true. but we on purpose decided to limit the strike to four hours in the morning. there were probably 16 flights affected. this is just to keep the consequences for the passengers as small as possible. but if there is a pilot strike, there will be planes not flying, thus automatically affecting passengers. we regret that but there is no other choice. ben: i am glad i am taking a train. thank you. is donald trumps tax bill really a christmas gift to the american people? economists say most of the benefits go to corporations and the wealthy. trump will not sign it until next month. that would delay potentially

painful spending cuts until midterm elections. reporter: the business world is celebrating the massive tax cuts, and many companies are passing along the savings to their employees. boeing said it will provide an additional $300 million for job training, facility upgrades, and charitable giving. wells fargo is boosting its minimum wage to $15 an hour and donating $400 million to nonprofit and community organizations. during his victory lap, donald trump cited at&t as an example of the upbeat mood. the company promised a $1000 bonus to 200,000 employees when the tax bill is signed into law. republicans argue cutting this corporate tax rate will entice companies to step up investment and create new jobs. analysts say that has not been the case with previous tax cuts. >> the united states has tried to cut taxes on corporations and

individuals and expect growth. it has not happened yet. this is another experiment to see if it works this time. history is not a good guy for that. reporter: if the tax reform fails to pull growth, the deficit could spiral and increase pressure on washington to cut social programs. the strong economy and new full employment have led many analysts to question the need for this tax overhaul. ben: back to brett. brent: here are other stories making headlines around the world. a fire in south korea has left 29 people dead. the blaze engulfed in a story building in the city of jeh johnson -- jaechon . the victims were found in a sauna. the fire is start to have started in a parking lot.

raul castro will step down in april 2018 when his successor is chosen. their parliament extended the legislative time until april, delaying the historic transition by two months. castro, in his -- and his late older brother have ruled the country nearly 60 years. the former german chancellor said his social democrats should quickly agreed to terms with the chancellor angela merkel's conservatives in forming a new government. he made this comment in an exclusive interview to dw news. he was recently elected chrman of the russian state-controlled oil giant ross net, also defended the german-russian pipeline project known as north stream two. >> i believe any future government will see this as a good business and will support it just as the current chancellor and the current

foreign minister do. i have no worries on that scope. >> don't you see the danger because of this power vacuum in berlin, germany interests in brussels -- >> that could be the case. that is why i am one that say let's get a move on. let's act as soon as possible. >> what is your advice to the party? >> drop the dramatics and get on with the grand coalition. >> do you think governments will always take so long to form? >> it is difficult. this is the first time we have a x party parliament. two of them are not seeing as potential coalition partners. they are incapable. the left and the afd. it will be more difficult, so i am telling my party very frankly there is no way around it, you have to take on this responsibility.

you have to convince the party members this is necessary and do it quickly. europe needs it. europe needs a stable france which they have with macron, and europe needs a stable germany. i believe the sensible thing to do is to form a government quickly. and as things stand, the only option is a grand coalition. that is what we should do. no one profits from new elections, and no one profits from playing around with other ideas like case-by-case corporation or whatever. that will not get us anywhere. >> which cost should the new government take on russia? what do you advise? >> cooperatives -- cooperation rather than confrontation. we need the new policy of detente. it is high time. i am in favor of the step by step removal of sanctions depending on how things go.

we should not always be talking about escalation. when there are prisoner exchanges, when the has been weapons are withdrawn, verified and simple guide by the appropriate people, then we should go ahead and say, we see there is goodwill, and we want to reward this by dismantling sanctions step-by-step. and by the way as the economic research institutes tell us, the sanctions do the most damage to germany. brent: that was the former german chancellor gerhard schroeder. if you have ever been to this peak, you may have had a long wait to get to the top. that is a thing of the past because the mountain now has a brand-new cable car, capable of transporting 500 people an hour to the summit. it is record-breaking in other ways as well. let's take a ride.

reporter: the weather here was not playing bald, but as the gondola was christened, the sun decided to shine. that was the end of this giant construction projects, one of the world's biggest. the cables to the top or 4.5 kilometers long. there is only one support pillar along the way. it is described as an engineering marvel. >> is a very unique project in many regards, but particularly the final stages. if you had been here two or three weeks ago you would not have believed we would finish it in time. we are happy we made it. >> crews worked in all weather conditions at the top of the highest peak to get the job done . despite the tough conditions, the 50 million euro cable car system was finished on time and on budget. the bavarian interior minister thinks it is an engineering

wonder. >> it is possible to plan well, finish well and work on time without spending extra. reporter: the new cable car will carry 500 people an hour to the summit. half a million visitors make their way to the top every year, and this lift is sure to make that journey easier. brent: at the ski cross world cup race in italy thursday, a swiss skier managed to fend off his austrian competition. he led the race almost from the start aircraft the finish line ahead of kristof. this puts him in the lead of the ski cross world cup series. in the women's race, this woman came away victorious. she finished ahead of a woman from canada, overtaking her close to the end. she goes and hangs onto her lead

in the overall standings. good for her. here is a reminder of top stories we are following. turnout is high in catalonia's election for a new independence. after a short break, i will take you through the day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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