brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, europe provides a reality check for britain's brexit renegotiation hopes. >> i have been wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it safely. brent: a special place in hell. europe's tempers fray as theresa may prepares to go yet again to brussels in search of a new

brexit deal. also coming up, signal at red. european regulators blocked the memerger of the e railway operas of g germany's siemens and france's alstom. and the annual event that no movie buff can afford to ignore. the berlin film festival, the berlinale, gets underway tomorrow. moviegoers are already lining up for this year's hot ticket in the race to see who wiwill win e golden bear. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. british prime minister theresa may, she heads to brussels tomorrow to talk brexit yet again. and the storm clouds are already gathering. today, the european council president donald tusk vented his frustration over the brexit

chaos by saying british eurosceptics, and i am quoting here, deserve a special place in hell. it is a sign of how frayed tempers and nerves have become in europe, and with brexit just over 50 days away, theresa may's hopes of reaching a new brexit deal could be doomed. reporter: only 50 days to go, and no solution in sight. fear of a hard brexit is growing day by day, and so is the frustration in brussels watching theresa may head towards a no-deal exit. >> i have been wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it safely. reporter: a provocative statement that irish prime minister leo varadkar predicted would not sit well with those it was aimed at. not only in the press. the response coming out of

westminster was fast and furious. >> i don't recacall, sir, any president insulting members of this hououse, members of the government, and the e british people in such a way. reporter: others took a step back to look at the bigger picture. >> welell, mr. speaker, sometims the truth hurts, doesn't it? reporter: for nigel farage, the former leader of the eurosceptic group, tusk's comment approved why they wanted to leave the eu in the first place. after brexit we will be free of unelected, arrogant bullies like you and run our own country. sounds more like heaven to me. heaven, hell, or somewhere in between. it is up to theresa may. after meetings in belfast totod, the british prime ministster wil be b bk in brussssels tomorrrrow seekeking fresesh concessions oe withdrawal agreement.

however, neither donald tusk nor european commission president jean-claude juncker are open to renegotiate the deal. brent: very strong words today. to talk about how the words, if they fell on deaf ears or friendly ears, we will pull in quentin peel. he's an associate fellow at the europe program at the think tank chatham house. and from brussels, our very own barbara wesel is standing by. to both of you, good evening. barbara, let me start with you. you were present at that press conference today. what was the reaction when mr. tusk said that, and who was he actually talking about? who does he think deserves that place in hell? barbara: there was of course a sort of audible gasp in the press room when this remark about a special place in hell for hardcore brexiteers came, and then furious tweeting started because everybody knew this was sort of like a little smoke grenade that donald tusk had been lobbing across the channel.

and also we know that this was not an off-the-cuff remark because we immediately received the verbal notes of tusk's remarks, and it was written there word by word. so this was very carefully thought out. this was something he was doing deliberately, because he obviously wanted to make quite clear to the other side of the negotiating table tomorrow that the insults flying back-and-forth, and we saw the leader of the conservatives in parliament sort of talking about european today, and that was the reason nothing would be moving and it was all the eu's fault, soso of course everybody in brussels was quite fed up with that. brent: quentin, we have been hearing today that mr. tusk was aiming those words directly at nigel farage and boris johnson. what do you say about that, and

what about the backlash to that in the u.k.? quentin: the backlash has cocome from precisely those people. and i think donald t tusk was entirely jusustified in saying theyey rushed into this entirere process wiwithout any clclear ia ofof how they werere going to go a sasafe landingng. so it is rather refrfreshing to hear that.t. having said that, the e problems ththat theresa m may and her govement i is still realally in exactly y the same position. they h have not got a united position. she has not got a solutition tht she is sure shshe can get throrh parliament. shshe has been desesperatelyryig to talalk to the northern irishh day to see whetherer she can get any movement thehere. and i fear that whwhen she t tos to brussels tomomorrow she wille hiding to nothing. and there is a problem behind this all. she has really been playing chicken with the idea that we may crash out with no deal. but the trouble is the people she is trying to frighten with

ththat actually y do not c care. pepeople like nigegel farage and boriris johnson and ththe otr hard-line brexiters,s, they rery do not mind if w we crash out wh no deal, and that's a nightmare. brent: yeah, that is a nightmare and it is becoming more likely with every passing day. barbara, we know that theresa may, she wants to get some sort of concession from the european union, preferably tomorrow when she is in brussels. whwhy do you think mr. tusk said what he did today? i mean, was he just venting, or does he have some other ulterior motive for tomorrow? barbara: h he was of course venting in a way because he is basically an anglophile. i mean, tusk was in london numerous times. he tried to talk to leading british politicians. he talked several times to theresa may. last year he was all about, "let's be friends and let's sort of resolve this in an amicable way."

but it seems that this all has been completely leading to nothing. this was just so much wasted time. and after two years of negotiations, the eu is now confronted with theresa may coming back another time with demands that are not realistic, that will not be given into at the moment, and just say "please help me over the hurdle." yes, but what tusk is telling her and her political friends and enemies in her own party, is the hurdle and the problems you are in, this is your own fault. you made this, you created this, and it is not up to us to resolve it for you. brent: that is a very good point. quentin, u.k. parliament is supposed to vote on this final brexit withdrawal plan on february 14. what do you think is going to happen if there is no progress to report from theresa may? does that increase the chances for us seeing new elections or a second referendum on brexit? quenentin: you k know, the troue

is everything is possible.e. the nighghtmare for theresa mays she has gone on and on and on trying to o deliver a a deal ths acceptable to her right wing, her hardrd-line brexiters, and also to the democraticic unionit paparty from n northern ireland. and it realllly does notot looks if there is any deal that is acceptable to them that is also acceptable to the 27 other memberers of the european union. they're saying, "look, get a cross-party deal with a softer form of f exit. you have a majorority of parliament thehen, and come babk with us." but that would split the conservavave party. so they do not want anan electin because they w would be going io it totally split. the labour p party says it w was an election, but they are alsoso spsplit. i do think that the possibility of another referendum is still out there, but even that does not have a majority in parliament at the moment. we're really in deadlock, which

is why there is growing fear in brussels, i think, that no d del might be the accidental outcome. brent: incredible. all right, quentin peel in london, barbara wesel in brussels. to both of you, thank you very much for your insights tonight. world bank critic david malpass has been nominated by u.s. president donald trump to lead that very institution. the decision is likely to spark concern among fellow members of the international lender, which is controlled by the world's wealthiest nations.. one of its biggest borrowers is china, which is embroiled in a trade dispute with the trump administration. ththe u.s. is the e biggest shareholder in the world banank and it has always picked the president. staying in washington, president donald trump last night delivered his second state of the union address in front of a packed, divided congress. the president made a plea for

unity while also berating his opponents and pushing his controversial policies on emotive subjects like immigration. it was a vintage trump performance, and in that sense it went down best with his republican base. take a look. reporter: it was an event watched by millions of americans. president donald trump's state of the union address. here in dedenver, coloradodo, trtraditionalllly a swing state, trump's speech delivered to his republican base. >> i always s feel like he has t our back. anand that is what his speechh represented once again tonight. and i love not only wawas he presidential, but i love when trump is trump. i love when he puts ouout there anand puts a little shock and a, and that is what the trump supporters voted for. and we need ththat. and it keeps the opposing views on their toes. reporter: in michigan, a state

trump won by a narrow margin in 2016, the address solidified one farmerer's supporort. >> i think president trump gave a great speech. it was a little more unifying than i might've expected. i would have liked to have had him hit on the wall little bit harder than he did, but overall it was a good speech. reporter: trump's speech was billed as bipartisan, but here in blue washington dc, trump faced an uphill battle. >> i have to grade him on a curve, because my expectations are so low. he is getting through it, so you got to give him an a for getting through it. but it is ridiculous and full of falsehoods, so that would give him an f. reporter: for one undocumented migrant in the democratic stronghold of california, trump's focus on illegal immigration was demoralizing. >> the first thing i would say

to himim is i am not a criminal. we came here legally, with a visa. we tried to fix it. we have to work with the system, but the system did not let us go and d we are here. living for almost 15 years. and we work like everybody else. reporter: trump may have called for unity, b but there is likely to be more divion n with nexext week's deadline to avoid anototr government shutdown overer his border wall. brent: back here in europe, macedonia has taken a big step towards becoming t the 30th memr of nato, the world's biggest military alliance. the government has signed a session papers a and now must wt for r it to be ratified by all nato members. the move comes after the resolution of a a year's long dispute with neighboring greece over macedonia's name. the former yugoslav republic will be renamed to north macedonia once athens, w which s also a nato member, endorses the session protocol.

macedonian foreign minister nikola dimitrov spoke to dw correspondent teri schultz today after that signing ceremony. teri: mr. foreign minister, thank you very much for making time on this very busy day. >> thanks for having me. teri: this is a very big day, an historic day for macedonia and also for t the alliance. one thing that stuck with me from what you said is that now macedonia will never walk alone. what do you mean by that? >> we have been lonely. we have been trying to j join fr years. the first declaration of our parliament dates back to 1993. and this is a quarter of a century now, and plus. and withth this step now as s te prprotocol signed today goes through, the 29 parliaments s of the allies, the member states,

we will be part of the family. and the journey is here, when you have friends around. so this is what i meant. teri: and do you think t that te sacrifice willll be worth it? i have friends who are pro-nato, pro-europe, and even they have mixed feelings autut what it took to get yoyou here t today. >> we have four major motivations, or results of the agreement, this whole e process. the first two are unlocking, getting out of the waiting room, both on nato and the eu. the third one -- and a all of tm are veryry important -- the thdd one is making a friend with our neigighbors, greece, which i thk is probably the fundamental purpose of any diplomacy. if there i is an issue, to resoe it, to build a bridge, to become closer, to become friends.

and the fourth one is i think also very important. and this is a historic reconciliation between the peoples in the region that is so rich in history but struggles to produce future. identity issues are always very difficult, very emototional, and it has been difficult on both sides of the border. macedonia was to some extent protected in the former yugogosv days as part of a bigger federation.. when yugoslavia fell apart when we declared our independence, we had these issues with our neighbors. so, i think it will tatake time and good faith implementation, but i think people will be

convnvinced, even those who oppe the agreement today, both from greece and from macedonia, that this was the right thing to do. brent: from military alliances to business mergers, the european commission has blocked a planned tie up between german engineering giant siemens and france's alstom. the two companies wanted to merge their railway businesses to take on bigger foreign rivals, but the eu antitrust office rejected a plan over what it called serious competition concerns. >> our investigation showed that the merger would significantly reduce competition in several signaling markets and from for high speed trains. the merged company would have become by far the largest player in europe and in some signaling markets, there would be no competition left. reporter: these two companies had planned to share a single track. on the left is the i.c.e. from siemens, and on the right, the

french tgv train from alstom. the german and french corporations as well as their government are on board with the merger. together they wanted to stand up to the chinese industry leader. and that's crrc, with an annual estimated turnover of 24 billion euros. together, siemens and alstom would've achieved just over half that figure. the canadian train manufacturer bombardier is lagging far behind. siemens and alstom warned of the overwhelming chinese competitor crrc, but in vain. >> the state-controlled supplier of trains in china, crrc, has more than 90% of its activities inside china. it has less success outside its home market. reporter: the bottom line, it's a no from brussels to both france and germany.

brent: for more on this i am joined by our very own steven beardsley. it is the first time he has been at the big table with me. it is good to see you. this is bad news for siemens and alstom, but this is bigger than these two companies. steven: it is much, much bigger, and i think that is the important thing to take away from this. this really goes into a debate about how europe stays competitive with the u.s. and china. the u.s. really having the lead on digital technology. china having massive amounts of money behind its state-backed firms. one of those biggest firms is crrc, which is the largest train manufacturer in the world. we actually have a graphic that goes through the numbebers and shows -- as yoyou can see herer, what alstom and siemens were hohoping to do togogether wouldy haveve amounted to actually half of the annual revenunue that crc clears in a yearar, at least in 2017. withthout that, theyey wermuchch further r behind, but evevenitht they would h have be b behind. and especially crrc leads in high-speed rail, and that is

where the future is going. they have 71% market share there. siemens and alstom do not see a way to compete without that. brent: if they are not able to merge, i mean, and when you look at the comparisons with china, what really then were the concerns of the commission? steven: the concerns were that by trying to increase competitiveness at a global level that they were going to stifle competitiveness at a domestic level. they said, "look, if we're going to put our thumbs on the scales then we're going to prevent real competition here." especially the area of signal technology. not to get too technical, this is something that this merged company would have really dominated and prices could have gone up. that was their concern. brent: and what does the rejection of this merger mean for european efforts to compete globally against china? steven: i think it is really going to spur this conversation further at the eu level. we are already seeing officials from france and germany say, "whoa, how are we going to compete globally if we cannot have these kind of mergers?"

others saying you have to encourage competition within the market here. it is important to note here, the economy minister has a strategy he introduced yesterday going for the same thing at a german level. so these conversations are happening now all over the place. how do we compete globally? and we're going to see them continuing. brent: steven beardsley, thank you very much. germany's leading politicians have marked the centenary of the nation's first democratic constitution at a cemetery in weimar. it was in the eastern city that the national summary founder the rerepublic -- national assembly founded the republic after imperial germany's calamitous defeat in world war i. lawmakers including german chancellor angela merkel attended a church service to commemorate the occasion. reporter: germany's first democratic constitution was drawn up in weimar's national theater. it was one of the most liberal and progressive ever penned at the time. german president frank-walter steinmeier pointed to its

lasting importance. >> we live in a time when historical achievements, including the separation of powers, the parliamentary system, and the rule of law, are being challenged and questioned, even here in europe. reporter: after the first free elections in january 1919, the national assembly met in weimar and created germany's first ever legal constitution, the so-called weimar constitution. it formalized the principles of sovereignty, separation of powewers, and women's suffrage. but the constitution also contained fatal flaws. the nation's president had considerable power and could even dissolve parliament in an emergency. that was a power hitler later used to destroy the young democracy. despite its shortcomings,

today's german president praised the weimar constitution's ideals. >> praising today's constitution does not mean its weimar predecessor was a bad one. on the contrary. much of what was created then lives on today. weimar's ideals of freedom and democracy, the rule of law, and the welfare state, have not failed. reporter: steinmeyer also warned of complacency, saying that while democracy is not meant to fail, it's not guaranteed to survive. brent: all right, from orchestras now to popcorn. it is the event that movie fans in berlin look forward to every year. tomorrow sees the start of the berlin film festival, the berlinale. this year, 17 films are competing for the festival's top prize, the golden bear.

the jury will be chaired by the french movie star juliette binoche, at a festival otherwise lacking in star power this year. that will not stop the fans, however. they are already lining up for the hottest tickets. reporter: the fans are what make the berlinale such a unique event. it attracts the largest t audiee of any film festival in the world. and anyone can get tickets here, as long as they get in line early enough. >> i read every single synopsis of every movie and made my choices, but i wasn't prepared for how difficult it is to get tickets at berlinale. >> yeah, we have to fit the movies, the timing. but you have to fit quick because there are a lot of ticket offices and they fly very quick. reporter: nearly 400 movies will be presented, and one thing is for sure, it is going to be a women's berlinale. french oscar-winner juliette

binoche will lead the jury, and british actress charlotte rampling will receive the award for lifetime achievement. and seven of the 17 movies running for the golden bear were directed by women. a berlinale record, and a milestone for an a-list festival. and it is a woman who is kicking off the movie marathon. danish d director lone schererfg will open the festivalal with hr film "the kindness off strangerers." in it, she tells the story of a group of people who meet d durig a cold new y york winter. >> i haven't been with anyone since four years now. reporter: this year's berlinale celebrates women. festival director dieter kosslick says it is a reaction to the gender equality debate. >> of course this is partially a result of the ongoing debate. our views have expanded and we'rere learning to queststion things.

but i have to stress that we did not include any films where we were not convinced of the quality. reporter: german films are also well represented at the berlinale. one powerful entry is by prize-winning director fatih akin. in "the golden glove," he profiles a notorious serial killer. and this manan will be lending e festival some hollllywood glama. christian bale playing former u.s. vice president dick cheney. the biographical film presents him as a power-hungry politician. >> bush approved all of this? >> we have an understanding. reporter: at the berlinale's main venue, the red carpet is being rolled out. this year it is environmentally friendly. it is made of recycled fishing nets.

green, and glamorous. brent: fishnet red carpet. don't know about that. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." tonight, reading donald trump's state of the union speech, and the woman and the women who stole the show. stay with us. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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