. >> well, i think that underscores what happened in the u.n. from once was a u.n. instigated thing but a u.s. instigated thing. barack obama had it in for israel from the beginning. now that he's gone out of office, he is letting him vent. john kerry goes along with what he is fed by the state bureaucracy which leaves in the two-state solution. gaza got withdrawal of israeli settlements a decade ago. it's a haven of warfare and missiles. i'm going to be blunt here, anti-settlement means jew free. we should not tolerate that anywhere in the world. >> well, frankly, bruce, what happened in 2005 when israel pulled out of gaza, they pulled all their settlements out of gaza, what happened? hamas came in and began lobbing missiles right into israel. >> well, this idea that president obama doesn't support israel is ridiculous. he signed a -- there's the funding to defend them as ten years a u.s. tax dollars what is it $38 billion the united states, it wasn't george bush who signed that. it wasn't -- it won't be donald trump. it was barack obama who signed a legislation to

what happened friday at the u.n. security council when israel was abandoned by the u.s., the palestinians celebrated. now they can come tell their people we should not go back to negotiate with the israelis about the state. we can get them to come back to the u.n., the security council. but we hope the new administration would make it clear that the only way to move forward is through direct negotiations. splt. >> i want to play what the secretary of state said coming from israeli officials in the israeli government that the united states had anything to do with last week's resolution. listen. recruit them as an alternative to bring it up to the u.n.? >> we recruited nobody as an alternative. those four countries that brought it to the floor did it on their own. i had no communication with the four countries and that process. >> ambassador, do you accept what secretary kerry has to say? >> no. absolutely not. when you -- >> so he's lying in your view? you don't believe what he's saying? >> let's review the facts. in

maybe could have done it without the u.n. but used u.n. to do it. dagen: meantime they're partying on our dime. move on. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren sparking early talk she may plan a white house run in four years as one top member of her party says that the class of 2020 is shaping up to be an old folks home. whether that is the case and what a warren run could mean for the democrats. ♪ taking a holiday in britain, are ya doll? well, the only place you need go... london's got the best of everything. cornwall's got the best of everything. sport sport nightlife nightlife (both) fashion adventure i'm tellin' ya, britain is the only place you really need go. expedia. everything you need to travel britain better. involve two parties discussing something? why not give you some say? or let your driving do the talking. liberty mutual righttrack® finally puts you in control. with savings of up to 30%, with an initial discount just for signing up. take control of your rates. visit a local office or call liberty mutual today at liberty stands wi

trump taking aim at the u.n. at the anti-israel resolution. saying this, the u.n. has great potential, but it is just a club for people to get together and talk and have a good time. so sad. >>> there is more. trump taking credit for the busy holiday shopping season. the world was a gloomy place before i won. there was no hope. now the market is up nearly 10% and christmas spending is over $1 trillion. no sourcing on that $1 trillion number. the national retail federation projects $655 billion. a go trump announcing plans to dissolve the charity and avoid any conflict of interest. i gave millions of dollars to djt foundation. raised and received millions more. all of which is given to charity and media won't report. the djt foundation, like most others never paid fees or rent or salaries. 100% of money goes to wonderful charities. trump, it's worth noting, has not donated to the foundation since 2008. a non tweeted development trump aides will write the inauguration speech. he wrote many during the campaign. the address will be similar to the stump and thank you sp

if the u.n. really stood for peace and stability, then yugoslavia wouldn't have happened, rwanda wouldn't have happened. the crisis in the middle east and syria wouldn't have happened. look at one thing today, kimberly, we now have 65 million refugees in the world. that's more than we had after world war ii ended in 1945. the world is in chaos. the u.n. should be doing something about it. because, it isn't being led by the values of the founding of this republic, by the white house, we have the disaster that we have today. the united nations no longer serves the purpose for which it was created. >> right after the u.n. was created, of course, the united states expressed to truman a democrat through and through was the first national -- international leader to recognize israel as being an independent nation and now they're wanting to give those places back. >> on that note, dr. gorka, what can president-elect donald trump do, if you can give me a quick thing on this to turn it around. >> i think t

action -- any u.n. action. we were the only administration since 1967 that had not allowed any resolution to pass that israel opposed. in fact, the only time in eight years the obama administration exercised its veto at the united nations was against a one-sided settlement resolution in 2011. and that resolution didn't mention incitement or violence. let's look at what happened since then. since then there have been over 30,000 settlement units advanced through some stage of the planning process. that's right. over 30,000 settlement units advanced notwithstanding the positions of the united states and other countries. if we had vetoed this resolution the other day, the united states would have been giving license to further unfettered settlement construction that we fundamentally oppose. so we reject the criticism that this vote abandons israel. on the contrary. it is not this resolution that is isolating israel. it is the permanent policy of settlement construction that risks making peace impossible. virtually

former u.n. ambassador john bolton is among our guests tonight, calls it president obama's parting betrayal of israel. >> a historic visit, japanese prime minister abe visiting pearl harbor memorial with president obama to pray but not apologize. who are these people? shopping malls nationwide in chaos, we'll have a full report. >> good evening, i am tom su sullivan in for lou dobbs. we begin with the historic meeting at pearl harbor, prime minister abe is not first prim japanese visit to visit pearl harbor but he is the first to acknowledge the past the aggression. >> a day for reflection, and reconciliation, but not for apologies. >> the prime minister of japan, i offer-- sincere and ever lasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here. reporter: japanese prime minister abe acknowledging japan's role in the deadly attacks at pearl harbor, 75 years ago this month but he stopped short of apologizing, he struck a tone similar to that of president obama who spoke at hiroshima ea

when asked if he wanted to leave or abandon the u.n., he said the u.n. was not living up to its potential following the row between israel and the united states about the expansion of settlements. donald trump has not taken questions from reporters for several. he has not held a press conference. of his plans and ideas are being sent out by tweets for fac -- or facebook. a very brief statement from donald trump. say they aregroups discussing a cease-fire deal with turkey, but it is too early to tell if it is a success. an official with the main rebel group said the sticking point was the exclusion of a rebel held area on the outskirts of damascus. this as moscow accuses rebels of firing 2 shells at its embassy in damascus. haveter: the russians announced there was an attack on its embassy in central damascus. it is a big embassy. have also heard from some residents that at least 2 rockets fell. one outside the embassy, one inside the embassy. we do not know who is to blame. the russians have said that this is going to affect any peace efforts. where russ

funding to the u.n. in the wake of the obama administration's anti-israel vote condemning israeli settlements as illegal. talking about a lot of stuff that both israel and the u.s. in the past did not agree to. so is it time to defund the united nations? here to weigh in, steve forbes, forbes media chairman. steve, does the u.n. do more harm than good? >> it has done a lot of harm. their peacekeepers, for example, introduced cholera into the country of haiti. there is abuse of population. agriculture, labor relations and like they're not doing it. so at very least we should get a real audit what they're doing. i believe you could find do everything they do for about 1/100 of the cost they spend. david: this thing things went beyond the pale. where our traditional closest ally was essentially humiliated from secretary of state, first by the country abstaining on the vote against israel and john kerry's long tirade israel, not mentioning that the resolution of the u.n. would have pushed back the border to

i condemn the u.n. passage of what she calls this one sided anti-israel resolution as well as the united states reckless abstention. bipartisan condemnation. >> what happened today is that the united states joined the jackals at the u.n. that was a phrase used by pat moynihan, the great democratic senator, the former u.s. ambassador who spoke for the united states standing up in the u.n. and to resist this kind of disgrace. to give you an idea of how appalling this resolution is, it declares that any jew who lives in the jewish quarter of jerusalem, the jewish quarter, inhabited for 1,000 years, is illegal, breaking international law, essentially an outlaw, can be hauled into the international court and international courts in europe. which is one of the consequences. the jewish quarter has been populated by jews for 1,000 years. in the war of independence from 1948, the arabs invaded israel to wipe it out. they did not succeed. the arab legion succeeded in concurring the jewish quarter. they expelled a

the u.n. for it to really have any teeth. that's where president-elect donald trump has promised to protect israel at the u.n. it could be at least four years, possibly more, possibly much more before it has any effect on the palestinian conflict. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said. he says he will re-evaluate the status of u.n. representatives here and canceling israeli funding totalling nearly $8 million and fired off one of the harshest criticisms we have ever seen from an israeli administration pointed as president barack obama. as have many others accused president obama of being anti-israel and allowing this to pass. many of the israeli ministers said, the right-wing said, the proper response should be more building in the settlements and annexation, for parts or all of the west bank. that would fly immediately in the face of the security council resolution. >> it sure would. it is an indication that perhaps it could backfire, which is what a lot of critics of the resolution are

has been planning to vote on this u.n. resolution, the u.n. security council resolution condemning the settlement activity illegal. usually the u.s. for years has kind of protected israel at the u.n. security council but we understand that president obama was prepared to let that resolution pass, either by abstaining or by voting in favor of it. the israelis have been watching what has been happening for weeks and they have been warning the obama administration not to do that, imploring them really. and said, listen, if you don't stop this resolution, if you plan on letting it go ahead, we're going to have no choice but to reach out to president-elect trump and an israeli official told me that's just what the israeli government did. they reached out to the president-elect, asked him to intervene. you saw today president-elect trump issuing a statement, calling on the u.s. to veto this resolution, saying it was not helpful to israel and we do understand that there was a call between president-elect trump and egyptian president fattah el sisi an

if you look at the u.n., all the programs in the u.n., i think a new president and congress that wants to make sure every penny of your money is going to something that protects and defends and advances u.s. interest, there's a lot of changes that can happen at the united nations. >> ron dermer, thank you for coming in. good to talk to you. >>> with a new administration coming in this new year, there comes a chance for new relations with israel. even as tensions seemed to be ratcheting up to 2016 -- as 2016 comes to a close. peter doocy is with the president-elect in palm beach, florida, tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. the president-elect is saying he thinks the u.n. made it harder to negotiate mideast piece. elaborating with a tweet that says -- the 44th president is making life hard for the 45th president on purpose. >> the president has deliberately tied the hands of his successor. it's going to make it harder for president trump to bring about peace. >> reporter: s as the foreign policy team sees this, his domestic team is looking at courts across the country wher

>> well, it's the move of the u.n. was really anti-peace and to affirm a two-state solution and the co-existence between the two cities and not to affirm the long-standing u.s. policy, i would understand your question. but it was to save us and israel and craft our way towards the future. if you read the resolution, will you find out that this is the best for both palestinians and israelis. the problem is that if netanyahu argues that the u.n. security council, the highest political and legal entity in the world, is the place that should not discuss international issues, then we should dismantle the u.n. altogether. >> well, the fact that you said that is -- it may not be dismant dismantled, the idea is being discussed, at least withholding funds from the u.s. which is a big chunk of their budget. i want to play something that lindsey graham said yesterday. saying he's not only going to withhold the charge to withhold money to the u.n. and to you, palestinians. he talked about a u.s. citizen in his home state. take a l

tom: pete said abstaining from u.n. vote is another example of president obama leading from behind, he will join me. also, president obama reportedly plans another parting shot, this time

the u.n. estimates 50,000 people are still trapped in aleppo. you can see some here trying to make their way through the streets. the u.n. secretary general says he's heard credible reports that pro-government troops are murdering civilians as they move through the area. and a u.n. commission says it learned of troops accusing people of crimes and carrying out deaths on the spot. the news continues with shep right after this. >>> topping the news, donald trump has ripped into the u.n. says it's no friend of the united states. he called it a political game and questioned whether it's worth the money we're spending. the u.n.'s incoming leader is looking to address some of donald trump's concerns. earlier this week the former portuguese prime minister antonio gutierrez took the oath of office to become the next leader of the u.n. he's promising to make the organization more efficient through management reform. diplomats are also telling "the new york times" newspaper the incoming secretary genera

ambassador to the u.n. power said basically this is long-standing, our policy has not changed in terms of that. i do want to bring up from lindsey graham said he would introduce a bill to pull u.s. funding for the u.n. unless the resolution is appealed. writing in a statement that the u.s. has empowered evil and been a poor friend of democracy. as a former director and ambassador, when other countries see this in fighting and see the fact that we have a president-elect speaking out on things while a current president is speaking out on things, how does that play when we see an administration and a country so publicly divided? >> well, you know, division and scrapping is kind of the nature of things for us. madison intended it that way. we've gone since the spring of 1789 every four years having elections and having a stable system and it's stable because we argue with one another all the time and we have checks and balances. i think what is really troubling here is not that we're arguing with one another, b

i condemn the u.n. passage of what she calls this one sided anti-israel resolution as well as the united states reckless abstention. bipartisan condemnation. >> what happened today is that the united states joined the jackals at the u.n. that was a phrase used by pat moynihan, the great democratic senator, the former u.s. ambassador who spoke for the united states standing up in the u.n. and to resist this kind of disgrace. to give you an idea of how appalling this resolution is, it declares that any jew who lives in the jewish quarter of jerusalem, the jewish quarter, inhabited for 1,000 years, is illegal, breaking international law, essentially an outlaw, can be hauled into the international court and international courts in europe. which is one of the consequences. the jewish quarter has been populated by jews for 1,000 years. in the war of independence from 1948, the arabs invaded israel to wipe it out. they did not succeed. the arab legion succeeded in concurring the jewish quarter. they expelled a

the u.n., made it clear they're trying to display this as a balanced speech and a balanced resolution. kerry criticized palestinian incitement to violence before criticizing israeli settlement buildi building. to netanyahu most of the criticism was directed at israeli settlement and he made it clear he doesn't agree with kerry. with the security council resolution it seems he doesn't agree with the rest of the world. his position has been that settlements are not the obstacle to peace. netanyahu said recently he doesn't see how removing the settlers from the west bank or jerusalem advances peace. he stands at odds there with secretary of state kerry and that was blatantly clear tonight. netanyahu was ready to springs as you pointed out and he very much did, making it clear that he can't wait for the next three weeks to be over. he wants to work with president trump to undo the damage of the resolution and this speech. >> he repeated his claim that the administration, the israeli government, ha

u.n. resolution ndemning israeli settlements. bill krystal is live here on msnbc. >>> i can tell you having seen it myself it is unequivocal that the obama administration, the united states was behind this united nations resolution, pushed for it, lobbied for it. and it is a real tragedy. we should be working together to advance peace. >> that was david keys, the spokesman for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu this morning on "morning joe" talking about friday's u.n. vote condemning the expansion of settlements into east jerusalem. joining me now is bill crystal, the editor at large at the weekly standard. nice to see you. appreciate you being here during the holidays. there is a question about the viability of a two-state solution. that seems to be what's being litigated here and whether under a trump administration we are potentially seeing the end of the possibility. >> i don't think that's the case. i think we could have -- there's not going to be a two-state solution. >> ambas

the other thing is, our u.n. ambassador, samantha powers, spent most of her explanation of the abstention explaining why the u.n. is exactly the wrong institution to be dealing with anything on israel -- that's the problem we have here, and that's why people are so enraged here. >> her original speech was a veto speech, and she changed some parts of it at the last minute. if you read the entire speech, it sounds to me like it was a speech designed to veto, and then she was told at the last minute no, we're pulling the prug and not vetoing. read the speech carefully. >> explain the timing and politics behind this, what is your view and what are lawmakers telling you the goal of the obama administration was doing this weeks away from the inauguration day when a president is coming in who has a different approach to israel than obama. >> the timing is not a coincidence. over a year ago, president obama himself asked staffers to come up with a list of possible things they could do on their way out on the israeli-pale

engineered that u.n. vote. joining me is bill neely. 3wi bill, kindly set the stage what led up to this. what do we know about the speech? >> yeah, good morning, chris. what we do know comes from john kerry's spokesman at the state department, mark toner. he said kerry would lay out a pr comprehensive vision. he feels it's his duty to lay out what he believes is a way to a peaceful two-state solution in the middle east. now many, of course, in the region and beyond believe that two-state solution is dying, if not already dead. the speech comes amid a sharp downturn in relations between the u.s. and israel after the u.s. abstained the u.n. security council vote. it was the first time in almost 40 years that the u.s. did not protect israel from a vote of this kind. now the state department says that would simply serve as a wake-up call to israel. it denies accusations that the u.s. colluded with palestinians and others to draft the language of that resolution. all of that, the curtain razor, for a speech that's a

the u.n. ambassador, spoke before the council after the vote, she said that what took place was not to diminish support for israel. she explained the roping behind why the u.s. -- the reason 'king why the us did which was abstain during the vote. >> the resolution is too narrow he focuses on settle. s when in the know that there are many a effectors. let us be clear, even if every single settlement were to be dismantled tomorrow, peace would not be obtain able without both sides acknowledging uncomfortable truths and making difficult choices. >> reporter: the language of the resolution demands and i quote, israel needly and cleatly cease all settlement activities in the poisan palestinian territory and east jerusalem. this was before the security council in 2011 but the u.s. ambassador, did mention there were a number of differences did underscored the fact there has been inincreased settle. activity in the last few years. as for the back story how that's resolution came before the security co

the u.n. security council has done things they very much like and maybe not everything they like, but donald trump will be well advised to get his briefings, understand the environment into which he's stepping and know that the eun e united nations is an organization that russia would like to have go away as well so if he doesn't want to play into the russians' hands, he needs to be real careful with his tweets. >> i actually disagree with steve. i used to work at the united nations. the only thing good about it is its cafeteria. the lasting legacy might be he's gotten republicans to seriously consider defunding it. we give 22% the united nations funding annually. >> you acknowledge there's value in having an intergovernmental organization where member nations -- >> absolutely, if it tackles the real problems. instead of tackling problems of syria, aleppo, other human rights crises, they've been trying to kick israel for years and that's not productive. we've had a long standing policy to not

without question with that u.n. security council resolution that is not the international consensus and definitely not the opinion of secretary kerry who pointed out that some of the expansion threatens the ability of putting together one palestinian state so i think we expected to hear that kind of response from netanyahu. he also talked about what he worries about next. he said he's afraid another move at the u.n. security council or by the international community, he worries that's still on the table and he urged the obama administration to say flat out it's not coming. that's a concern they voiced repeatedly over the last few days now that they're about three weeks left in obama's time in office. he also mentioned the president-elect and how he's looking forward to working with the next administration. these words were more civil than the other words we've heard exchanged but one other point, the accusation we've heard from many israelis including netanyahu himself, israeli officials here and there has been over

the u.n. to disadvantage israel. obama administration's -- is a reputing a of 50 years of bipartisan american policy it steps in to try to tilt scales in favor of palestinians against israel, and rejects this 50-year-old dock rain called land for peace, that israel gives baxter torrey -- territory it won in wars that were directed against it, it gets peace in exchange. i can't think of a worse way for the obama administration to go out, it will be a significant resolution, i think that trump dodge will havadministration will with to work hard to mitigate or reverse the consequences this is a needless tragedy. >> i don't expect you to understand why he did this, it just seems odd, you kind of go out gracefully, this does set up with an opportunity for donald trump to come in, and make a correction, make sure that policy is between u.s. and israel. >> i think that by definition, at noon on 20th of january, relation between u.s. and israel are going to improve dram at belie, the problem with the

so pretty dismissive there of the u.n. but i will say and we were talking this morning on "morning joe" with netanyahu's, the israel prime minister's spokesperson, the israelis are taking this seriously what happened as a very serious slight claiming they have information that the united states was behind the resolution even though they won't come out and show what that evidence is. they said his spokesman said they have some issues with what the united nations focused on in recent months but not as dismissive as donald trump was. >> they make the argument they're not doing enough on aleppo and syria, other places and singling out israel. how he could have done a better job, with barack obama, how is that being perceived by the clinton camp and has she responded to the stuff going on over the weekend? >> not as of yet. she sent out a message to her supporters saying thank you for everything that you did for me throughout the course of the year, but i will say that people who worked in clinton circle are watching very close

i think thankfully for u.n. members, diplomats have lain low, trying not to react, but i think there is some genuine concern from the international community about what they see as a president who doesn't really see the benefits of multilateral organizations like the u.n., like the european union. the union does count on u.s. leadership, but member states also don't take too well with the in your face approach. they've always done better at the u.n. when they try to work through consensus. now there is the israel issue. they slam on members to defund the u.n. so if that vote on settlements is not overturned, we could be headed to a showdown. is the security council going to back down and repeal the legislation? i don't know if they will. i tend to think neither will happen. >> i want to go to you because you're out with a piece today in the "new york times" saying trump shouldn't move the u.n. embassy in israel. trump has held a long number of policies and what that could mean for the next four years. >> i think

meantime, the u.n. security council is due to vote today on putting u.n. observers into aleppo to oversee the rest of the evacuations or it syria's ally, russia, had originally threatened to veto a first draft on the resolution introduced by france, but after four hours of closed-dork negotiations, -- of closed-door negotiations, russia has -- >> this resolution, if confirmed, will be by definition a starting point but in a very important beginning. there is a common wish to stop aleppo from turning into a new shrub anita -- into a new srebrenica. genie: also today in the united states, the electoral college is due to officially elect donald trump president. this final stage of the voting process is usually just a formality, but in this year's election, with hillary clinton winning a significant margin of the popular vote, millions have signed a petition urging the electoral college not to vote for trump. protest and the electoral college system itself. following an election in which the hillary clinton gained 2.8 million more votes than donald trump yet s

to veto the u.n. resolution. and before kerry's speech, he tweeted: "we cannot continue to let israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. stay strong israel, january 20th is fast approaching!" mr. trump has pledged to move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. and, he plans to nominate david friedman, a firm supporter of expanding settlements, as ambassador to israel. >> sreenivasan: for more on kerry's speech, the u.n. security council vote and the state of u.s. israel relations, we get the views of two men with extensive diplomatic experience in the middle east. retired ambassador james jeffrey was assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and was u.s. ambassador to iraq from 2010 to 2012. he's now at the washington institute for near east policy. ilan goldenberg was part of secretary kerry's negotiating team during the 2013-2014 final status talks. he's now at the center for a new american security. gentlemen, i want to ask you boitd, ilan goldenberg, i want to start with you

u.n. ambassador samantha powers did concede the u.n. has targeted israel in the past resolutions but said abstaining from the vote was in line with the president's policy and his belief that settlements harm peace talks. >> united states has been sending the message that the settlements must stop privately and publicly for nearly five decades. one cannot champion expanding sessionments and a viable two state solution that would end the conflict. one has to make a choice between settlements and separation. >> on capitol hill, president obama he receiving backlash from republicans and some democrats. house speaker paul ryan calling the vote shameful and saying a unified republican government will work to build relations with israel. prime minister netanyahu also said he looks forward to working with president-elect donald trump. abby, ed, peter? >> thanks lauren blanchard live in washington. appreciate it. >> ed, help break this down because obviously there are people up in arms. we had governor mike huckabee on this morning. and he was f

when the u.n. isn't addressing how many rights abuses, religious liberty abuses in china, when they say nothing about the slaughter of christians, even in egypt that help sponsor this. when they say nothing about what's happening in aleppo and do nothing to get involved. then what's the point. >> just a few seconds left here. what does the relationship look like under president trump. >> i think trump makes it very clear. the united nations is only going to be an international irrelevant bully and take sides with the most irrational radicals. give voice to the iranians when they walk in and speeches made on the floor that denies the haul cost. they've seen the last check from the united states. if they can operate, fine. figure out what country they would like to head quarter in. we're not going to tie up the traffic of manhattan any longer for their ridiculous abusive attitudes for peace and freedom. >> good to see you. i think i started my day with you on the fox business network this morning. ve

funding to the u.n. that's going to be a confrontation if the trump administration decides to join that battle. looks like they just might. we're going to be facing a period of contentiousness where the united states tries to pressure the u.n. into making big changes in the way it does business by withholding dues. the last time that happened it got very, very ugly. that's what we're looking at. >> certainly does not look like a party there over at the u.n. security council. josh rogin, rebecca berg, thank you, really appreciate it. >>> and still to come -- brawls breaking out at malls in a dozen states from colorado to connecticut. >>> a meltdown at malls across the country as brawls break out in several states. over a dozen incidents reported. several of them are forced to evacuate or lock down after false reports of shots fired sent shoppers running. our own sara sidner is live in los angeles. just tell us what's happening, ways going on. >> that's a good question, what the heck is going on. mayhem fr

not only at the u.n. and security council members who introduced this resolution but also at president barack obama for not vetoing this resolution. we have never seen criticism like this coming from benjamin netanyahu aimed at president obama. we knew these two didn't get along. this is a rapid deterioration of that administration. the obama administration not only failed to protect israel against this gangup at the u.n., it colluded with it behind the scenes. israel looking forward to working with president-elect trump and with all of our friends in congress, republicans and democrats alike to negate the harmful effects of this absurd resolution. netanyahu is saying that israel won't abide by the resolution. and has made it obvious he's done working with obama and is also looking forward to president-elect trump. the palestinian leadership is rejoicing at this resolution. they say it's long overdue to hold israel responsible for settlements in the west bank and eastern jerusalem. >> thank you for that r

the u.n. vote, u.n. security council vote was widely soon ee a parting shot from the obama administration. is this speech another parting shot? >> i don't know if it's entirely that petty or that sort of focused just on this moment but it is certainly a legacy statement. both president obama, john kerry, hillary clinton for that matter, architects of the obama foreign policy over the last eight years, they want to make a statement about what they intended and if you go back to the cairo speech from 2009, when he tried to reset, the president tried to reset the relationship, the entire muslim world, one part of that entire doctrine was to try and make the peace process move forward to try and take it off the table as an irritant, as a rallying point for jihad and radical extremists. that was what they wanted at a minimum. looks like they didn't even accomplish that minimum. i think they will try to make the case that what they did made sense and that while they failed, it wasn't entirely sort of a bad ide

was standing up for at the u.n. but frankly, what i look at this resolution as saying, the settlements are illegal. you cannot do it. it reaffirms an american policy that goes back to the beginning of the occupation and puts the u.s. in the same corner as the rest of the community and i hope donald trump doesn't act in a dangerous way to undo this or try to remove the u.s. from the u.n. >> thank you so much for your time. we greatly appreciate it. >>> with the inauguration day 25 days away, president-elect trump is trying to, according to his team, untangle some of the potential conflicts of interest over the weekend, trump announced he's dissolving his charitable foundation that came under fire over how its funds are used and joining me now, senior politics editor, sam stein and msnbc contributor. sam, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, happy holidays. >> happy holidays, these questions about conflicts of interest. and donald trump with his children, it's limitless here and you and i both know the stor

one, the u.n. resolution and the israelis pushing back really strongly against the obama administration for not vetoes it, and, two, the notion that in the view of secretary kerry and the obama administration, the netanyahu government says publicly they want a two-state solution, but when you look at their policies, and the settlements that have grown in the west bank, including outside areas that would be possibly part of israel in a land swap in any sort of peace process, they are undermining any ability to create a two-state solution by just demolishing the idea of any contiguous state there. is that not -- is that not legitimate? >> well, the -- israelis have, like i say, about five-sixth citizens. the others are arabs. nobody worries about continuity and consous state. they live in all sorts of different places, and it's -- it's two people that at least, in middle east terms, are getting along reasonably well with one another, and would it be that different if it was one-third palestinian and

bush allowed multiple u.n. resolutions -- >> that's all false. >> that's not false -- >> i am going to tell you the facts. my history goes back beyond brexit. what happened was in president bush's waning days of his administration there was a resolution that had to deal with the end of the war in gaza and israel acquiesced to that resolution. we're never happy with security council resolutions -- >> so you're saying it didn't happen? >> not only -- >> you're saying it didn't happen? it did happen. >> no i said that it did happen but israel acquiesced to it. look at the time what israel said in response to it, and you'll see -- >> so my question is -- >> the last time -- >> -- for president obama when it happened since 1967, technically since 1967, consecutive u.s. administrations starting with lyndon johnson and continuing through george w. bush they've made it clear to their opposition against the settlement. again the question is why do -- >> we're -- >> i will let you answer. why the ire for president obama

as we saw with the u.n. resolution just now with president-elect trump saying to benjamin netanyahu, look we have israel's back. i would not do this. forcing egypt to stand down as well. this is just another example of the dysfunctional and dangerous policies of president obama when it comes to foreign policy. those policies as dagen pointed out earlier of helping a country like iran who wants to bring death and destruction to israel. he says there will be no israel in the next 25 years. kennedy: i want to bring eboni in. we're running out of time. you were just in israel. is it possible to share jerusalem? is that possible? >> possible, sure in theoretical sense, from what i saw on the ground i don't see it happening. i think we get much more practical. we heard a speech about theory and what ifs. it will not happen that way. i want to say this you might not think president obama is the best friend israel ever had but gave him $38 billion. i heard several israelis appreciative for that component. kennedy: w

and what this resolution did would say that the u.n. is calling on israel to return to its pre-1967 borders. that's inconsistent with what had been u.s. policy under the bush administration. so that's incredibly controversial and kerry is wrong, it's not consistent with what had, the policy under the george w. bush administration. >> so much of the speech was spent talking about settlement construction, and not much time talking about the infauda, and thinks the palestinians have done to sabotage the peace process. >> you'll hear chuck schumer, what you heard benjamin netanyahu say, there was a lot of finger pointing at israel but no calls on the palestinians or any countries surrounding israel to do their part to make peace in the middle east, to recognize israel's existence, or to recognize israel as a jewish state. i think what has been widely recognized by people on both sides of the aisle was israel will have to -- in any peace settlele, israel will have to e cede land for peace and the palestinians will have to give up the right f

even with that u.n. security council vote israel is not backing down announcing it plans to move ahead with thousands of new homes in east jerusalem. joining me, george mitchell, former minority leader who served as the envoy for middle east peace with a new book called "a path to peace, a brief history of israeli palestinian negotiations and a way forward in the middle east." thank you very much for being with us today. plenty to discuss. that's for sure. israel strongly believes the u.s. was behind the security council resolution. as you know, administration officials denied they have anything to do with it, had anything to do with drafting it. they say they weren't involved at all. how do you see it impacting the relationship between the u.s. and israel moving forward, particularly given that president obama only has a few weeks left in office. sp >> there is a long history as we documented of hostile relations between the prime minister of israel and presidents of the united states. this is not new.

they're mounting a challenge against the u.n. and all of the countries that supported in resolution, and they're just going to wait for the trump administration. so why would they listen to john kerry when they can get better terms in only a month? >> josh rogin, thank you for your insights. >> any time. >>> and we turn to the political landscape in south korea now and some lawmakers there are quitting the ruling conservative party and forming their own. the 29 lawmakers were members of the president's party. >> they now say those who remain loyal to president park gun hay. the party will be called the newly formed conservative party. if you will remember, the president was impeached over a major corruption scandal. >>> to nigeria, after more than two years in boko haram captivity, 21 school girls will bring ring in the year with their family. >> they were kidnapped back in 2014. cnn has the exclusive story of the girls' journey back home. >> reporter: after almost two-and-a-half years in boko haram captivity, at last it is time

the u.n. vote and after and seeing that the u.s. took a pass on even participating in the vote, donald trump let it be known he was not happy about that, and this is one of the cases where the obama administration and donald trump staked out different positions. a divide between the president and president in waiting over israel. >> that the united states did not vote in favor of the resolution. >> reporter: friday when the united nations voted to rebuke israel the concern the ambassador to the u.n. told the world the obama administration would not get involved skipping the vote, and less than an hour later donald trump sent his own mess eupblg on twitter. some experts caution trump to wait his turn. >> now we have the very difficult situation of two people speaking for the united states. >> in palm beach, mixing work and play, and trump made no official appearances in florida but did not need to be seen to be heard. on foreign policy, trump's team released a congreatulations fro putin, and pu

the u.n. has such great potential but right now it is a club for people to get together, talk, have a good time. so sad. it will be back to business here at mar-a-lago. donald trump will be holding several meetings today. we're still waiting to hear who exactly he'll be meeting with. as we tick down the days towards the inauguration on january 20th, we're still looking at a few more key cabinet posts that donald trump needs to fill. we're looking at director of national intelligence that he still hasn't named his nominee for as well as secretaries for agriculture as well as veterans affairs. a bit to watch. poppy. >> keeping us on our toes. jessica schneider. thank you. >>> meantime, israel is temporarily suspending working ties with a dozen nations that voted in favor of the u.n. resolution condemning israeli settlements. this move comes amid increased tension from benjamin netanyahu and president obama. oren lieberman is live with us. what's the latest? >> reporter: prime minister benjamin n

what this u.n. security council resolution did is it basically ceded that territory to the palestinians. it says it's yours. so let me ask you, why would the palestinians negotiate with us if the world is saying all that territory is yours? >> in fact, there's a -- i'll read you a statement from the palestinian liberation organization. the minute the israeli government agrees to cease all settlement activities and agrees to implement side agreements, the palestinian leadership -- do you accept that -- >> the minute israel says that the western wall is occupied palestinian territory, they'll agree to sit down and negotiate. you have to understand this administration has been obsessed with the issue of settlements since day one. this is not new. kerry spoke about all these things that have happened. the israeli coalition, laws that were passed in the israeli knesset. i remember what happened in 2009. in the first months of this administration, they had a crisis with us on the issue of settlements, whi

is that a threat directed at the u.n. and if there are sanctions or if the issues with the u.n. removed. are there repercussions? >> i don't want to take a tweet and project policy implications off it. that got us into a lot of trouble in the past. you clearly have an outgoing administration with one agenda on the middle east and an incoming administration which is different. the u.n. resolution recently that was not vetoed by the u.s. tells the whole story. we had the speech yesterday by john kerry defending the idea of a two-party solution in the middle east. trump suggesting maybe not. it would be up ending an lo lot the way people viewed how to fix the middle east. >> donald trump never shy to pat himself on the back. he took a victory lap of sorts yesterday. he talked to reporters at mar-a-lago about jobs he says he brought back to the u.s. listen to what he said. >> so we had very good news because of what's happening and spirit and hope. i was just called by the head people at sprint and they will be bringing 5,000 jobs back to the united states. taking them from other co