the leaders of the world two biggest economies meet for the first time. president donald trump is hosting chinese leader xi jinping at his florida retreat for a two-day summit. attacking china's economic policies the cornerstone of his election campaign and trade and north korea are expected to dominate talks. alexander hearst has the story. alexander: china was one of donald trump's targets on the campaign trail.

president trump: china, cihina, china. china! alexander: what the summit between trump and xi jinping will not be just two clashing agendas but also two men. xi, one of the most powerful chinese leaders is reserved and prefers highly scripted politics and diplomacy. contrast that with trump's rejection of diplomatic norms and unpredictable behavior, that often plays out in the full public on twitter. an unfiltered internet despite not appreciated by the chinese who worry the american poordent's anger at his polling number senate investigations into russia and failure on health care reform could be taken out on them. and that the luxurious mar-ala -lago. there has been no call. a game that xi has

pressured communist party leaders to stop playing. they are both unapologetic nationalist. xi has an authoritarian government. has expressed appreciation for authoritarian governments. earlier, i spoke to our washington correspondent. previouss how trump's statements on china could mean there could be a few moments of awkwardness during the next two days. reporter: there will be plenty of important subject matters. first of all, because they were discussed on the campaign itself by donald trump and he will now have to explain himself in a sense to xi jinping. one example, donald trump said during the campaign he would be a stronger leader that barack

obama when it came to facing the united states adversaries. north korea is one of those. and north korea has been watching quite a few test missiles recently. just the latest one a few days ago and a few days, of course, before the summit, there are many in washington who certainly believe that that timing was not a coincidence. criticize china for not being strong enough when it comes to raining and north in north- reining korea's nuclear program. those are things that xi jinping will expect to hear from donald trump your you mentioned trade. we will discuss trade between the two countries and the trade deficits that currently exist between united states and china. according to trump, this is "one-sided trade." that is something that will be at the center of discussions, and then, of course, there is the unpredictability as we just heard of donald trump. he could bring up anything he feels like bringing up. >> both men clearly have their own agendas.

who would you say has the most to gain or lose from this summit? reporter: that is a pretty good question. i think it is probably donald trumpw. who's got the most to lose. we do not know whether consciously, he is somebody that is trying to establish a political persona for himself, and position as somebody who does u.s. diplomacy on the very highest level. and that is where xi jinping comes in as are usually the most important bilateral relationship for the united states with china. and when you look at donald trump and how some of his -- past interactions with world leaders have gone, there is quite a lot that could go wrong. just one tweet that he might send one early morning or late at night from florida while xi jinping is there could make things very awkward indeed. this has happened in the past. one example, donald trump had a contentious phone call with the australian prime minister about refugee resettlement. this does not tend to happen

with the very first meeting or phone call with a new u.s. president. he is somebody who has insulted world leaders in the past and can do so again. that is the unpredictability of donald trump. so, quite a lot to lose here and a lot that could potentially go wrong. won't it does, we necessarily see it. during these 24 hours that seeking pain will spend at the mar-a-lago resort -- that xi jinping will spend there. there is no press conference. if there was a be a falling out, maybe we would find out a few days later. >> trump, meanwhile, is onto increasing pressure to clarify his position on syria after he set a chemical attack had changed his attitude towards l-assad.t a vladimir putin has criticized the west for what he called unfounded accusations and france's warning moscow against blocking a u.n. investigation

that calls for an official investigation. 27 children were among dozens of people who were gassed to death on tuesday. nadia: the u.s. may have revised his approach towards bashar al-assad after the deadly attack. president trump: my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. nadia: but russia has not revised its own position. standing by its ally, the kremlin says the americans are wrong to accuse assad, because there is no proof his forces carried out the attack. >> this was truly a there he dangerous and monstrous crime, but at the same time, in our opinion, it would be incorrect to accuse people hastily and hang labels. nadia: syria has an alternative explanation to what happened. it says its army never try to attack civilians but that chemicals were released beewhen it struck a rubble weapon depot.

conductedst air raid by the syrian army was at 11:30 of that date. it attacked an army depot belonging to the -- front, which contained chemical weapons. area: in short, the rebels responsible. the syrians are trying to stop an international investigation into the attack. several world powers have called for immediate action against the regime. >> meanwhile in iraq, residents suffering mosul are severe water shortages two months after u.s. backed forces took back control from islamic state. 300,000 people have fled the city says the campaign's ousted jihadist began last october. sharon: more than two months after iraqi forces declared y liberated,l full

residents have almost no access to piped water. queue es are forced to tw toto fill cans with water. it is not suitable for drinking but can be used for cleaning. >> i get out of the house every day in the first thing i do every day is get water.i get four cans. that should be enough for my family. honestly, i'm struggling a lot with this because i have to carry them and i can't do it all the time because i'm an old man and i have pain in my shoulders. united nations transports 2.3 million leaders of wat -- liters of water each day. most of the treatment plants and the city have been damaged. residents say the water policy is poor -- water quality is poor. >> there's a well by the hill. they claim that the water is thinkable, but it is not. we have to boil it.

and it leaves the player of -- layer of oil. we have to remove the oil before we can drink it. says watere u.n. shortages is the biggest manager in need in the city from where thousands of syrians continue to flee. 300,000 people have left their home since the campaign to liberate mosul began. >> to gambia now. it is being seen as a crucial step in the transition from -- promised by the new president adama barrow. gambians have to say about this exciting new chapter in their country's history. >> i'm a citizen of this country. i'm proud to be here today to vote for my people. we did it during the december election and now the

parliamentary. >> it is important because they are the ones that represent us in the permit. -- in the parliament. because of that, we have to vote for them. french soldier has been killed in mali after a clash with militants. the incident highlighting instability in the west african state. it brings to 19 the number of french soldiers killed there. barbier ajulien corporal of the sixth regiment. he was on a mission to the southeast of mali. near the border with tina faso. -- burkina faso. since march 17, along with other french soldiers, he has been battling militants. he often hides. while his unit was ambushed, assisting the crew of an armored

vehicle hit by an improvised explosive device. >> in the middle of this inspection, they opened fire on them from a to many. one of the bullets killed the corporal. reporter: another soldier was wounded. the situation was tense when several helicopters deployed to the area. the officers on the ground have been reacting to the attack. despite their sadness, they are determined to continue the fight against the jihadists. meanwhile, the body of the corporal has been repatriated to france. they paid tribute to the sacrifice of the soldier. 19i want to remind you that soldiers have been killed since the intervention in mali again. i would like to express my gratitude to all of the

soldiers, to say that for the family, this is a terrible pain thesee a son in conditions or partner or spouse or husband. reporter: 4000 french soldiers are deployed on malian soil. >> morocco has a new prime minister and government ending six months of political deadlock. islamist party won elections but has struggled to find coalition partners. namedrday king mohammed n the prime minister during a ceremony. a greeting from king mohammed vi and the new government is finally up and running. at the royal palace, the moroccan king named a coalition of islamist liberals and leftists. minister othmani is number two of the justice and development party. othmani's first priority is the

delayed 2017 budget. >> i was thinking about the ways we can help small and medium-sized businesses. we want to give them hope and to speed up the ratification of the budget. othmani's islamist party has ruled since 2011 when the king gave up some absolute control. the former prime minister struggle to form a majority after october selection. -- election. the politicians clashed over the closeness of some parties to the king and the pace of reforms. to match the expectations to reform the country. this coalition will continue reforming and democratization. coalitionthe new starts work after the longest ever blockade and morocco's history. with six parties and the government. -- in the government.

>> they may have never set foot in turkey but dutch citizens with turkish heritage of having their say over the country's future. 250,000 dutch turks are eligible to vote on whether to expand the powers of the turkish president erdogan. turkish nationals will have their say on april 16. the referendum was the source of a fierce dispute after dutch officials banned turkish politicians from campaigning in dutch towns and cities. french politics now and marine le pen is a fierce euro-skeptic. she wants france out of the common currency and out of the european union altogether. did manage the "frexit," what would it mean in practical terms? ♪ reporter: marine le pen's has never hidden her skepticism.

>> the european union is going to die. reporter: that includes her distrust of the common currency, the euro. for the national front, leaving not just the monetary union but the political one is about regaining national sovereignty. the national front's program is not just about getting out of the euro. it embraces all of the themes of governing a country. we havereal analysis, shown staying in the eurozone has is dangerous not just for the financial security of its members, including france, but to save us, too. reporter: in a post brexit world, le pen is taking a more gradual approach. she wants six months of talks followed by talks on a common currency. then she will put forward a referendum. however, with polls pointing towards a majority wishing not just to retain the euro but stay in the e.u., the cost could be huge.

>> it might be better to reform the eurozone and european treaties from within than to take a unilateral path i think will lead to an impasse. that is how you manage the financial risk of ditching the euro, which can lead to not only a major degradation and france's financial situation but those of the other financial member states. it is a huge dump into the unknown. -- jump into the on zone. reporter: moreover, even if le pen maintained a mandate, there is no legal president for doing so while remaining in the european union. >> the conservative candidate fillon isin strasberg today staging rallies in town across france seeking to overcome a corruption scandal that has him placed under official investigation. james creedon's tells us how in strasburg did not get off to a great start this thursday. bombed, but we

were inside this big event center near the european parliament. and the first i heard of it was online. it happened outside and inside the auditorium nobody knew anything about it. he was given this rousing welcome. the 2000 people gathered here were not aware of it. fillon managed to turn it around into how everyone is out to get him. yet he's still standing. it feeds into his discourse of somebody who has been the object of mud slinging possibly from the media and from hollande from the establishment. yet here he is still. bombing will only serve to strengthen that line of defense. it was his usual stump speech. apart from that, very much talking about removing the -- from the french economy. he keeps repeating at every speech that within five years he

wants to see full employment and within 10 years he wants france to be the top economy in europe. it is a very nationalist orientated discourse, talking about french language, culture and heritage, finding pride in defending the language. talking about quotas and immigration and people not getting social welfare. for over two years. it has clearly been pitched at the part of the electorate that might be tempted to vote far right to corner the nationalist voter, that are very much patriotic as nicholas sarkozy did in the past. >> a quick remind of our top stories this hour. two very different leaders looking to find some common ground. donald trump has welcomed the chinese leader to florida. trade and north korea are expected to dominate talks. to trump's under pressure

clarify his position on syria after saying that tuesday's chemical attack in idlib province had changed his attitude towards president bashar al-assad. in gambia, they are heading to the polls for the first parliamentary elections since country.d the the new president has promised to give parliamentarians a greater say. let's get an update on the business news. kate moody is with us in the studio. we are starting out with a teacher of france's oldest nuclear plant. has: the board of eds devoted to close down that site under certain conditions. will stay in service until a new generation power plant begins operating. that likely will not be until 2019 after hollande leaves office. the outgoing president promised lant because the p

of safety concerns. 75% of france's energy is nuclear. wants 58 reactors that it to replace with new generation plants and green energy sources. they have been protesting the closure and they say the dilution will help -- th decision to delay will help protect the 2000 employeese. reporter: it is a relief completely. >> it is a victory but the fight is not over. we know it is a political issue. it is not due to any maintenance problems. the plant is totally secure. kate: weeks after fighting off a bid fromakeover heinz, unilever is trying to reassure investors that a restructuring plan for the company which makes mayonnaise and dove soap would buy back 5 billion euros of share. brands could be worth 6 billion euros. it said it was also considering it's dual headquarters in the u

k and the netherlands looking to streamline the business to meet the challenges ahead. this announcement is likely to set off the struggle between the british and the dutch governments to keep the business. european indices mostly higher endingursday, the ftse in the red in london. after european central bank defended its stimulus program to keep supporting the eurozone economy as long as necessary. wall street trading slightly higher now as weekly jobless claims were lower than expected. march unemployment report is set to be released tomorrow. paring back to slater gains as the summit between donald trump ngping get underway. they will be tuning in for announcements about trade and investment. regions andf two cameroon have been without internet access since general. -- since january. in an effort to crack down on

protest. it has affected the startup scene prompting some entrepren eurs to pack their bags. reporter: how does their business survive with internet connection for three months? that is the challenge facing startups in cameroon after a follow between the government and two english speaking regions prompted authorities to pull the plug. it has cost the region through million -- three million euros and affected 23 million people, including startups. >> it is really difficult for us to keep working. now that the internet has been cut, it is not easy. companies are losing money. it is frustrating, and affecting everyone. been forced to relocate his office 50 kilometers down the road to a neighboring region to get online. fournuary, cameroon's internet providers told clients

it was out of their control. it comes after tensions last november between the government and the minority english-speaking regions had been calling for a federalist system or an independent state. other business headlines. a court in china has ruled in favor of a local producer in a patent dispute with samsung. units have been ordered to pay $11.5 million for infringing on its intellectual property rights. locked in ais number of similar legal disputes with lawsuits in china and the united states over elements of their respective smartphones. schools, airports and public transport and factories have shut down across argentine in the first general strike since the president took office last you. the walkout began admit that. labor unions are calling for higher wages and an end to government austerity measures. the governor of mexico's central bank has admitted that monetary policy was directly affected by donald trump's twitter feed.

the move to protect pesos that plunged in early january when the present elect tweeted about his plans for border wall. the peso hit an all-time low in january, but has since recovered his losses. selling $1says he is billion a year of his shares in the online retailer to find his rocket company blue origin for the firm is aiming to launch 11 minute space rides starting next year. it is facing tough combination -- competition. and elon jeff bezos musk, two heavyweights are gearing up for a full on space race. bezos wants to launch tours and robert -- into orbit while most cap his eyes on conquering mars. these billionaires are savvy businessmen and they are changing the game for space expiration by -- exploration by

investing bigger low-cost. the aerospace industry is worth 447 billion euros. toce-x and blue origin hope turn a profit from reusable rockets it could be used 10 times. this initiative has pushed the world's latest satellite launcher to announce its own program, between 40% and 50% for its new ariane six rocket. low-cost space travel will require cheaper rocket launchers. that is a key issue for bezos. if we can reduce the cost of launch by a factor of 10 and then by a factor of 100, and that will take time and a lot of hard work, but if we can do that, you would be living in a new world. it would be a golden age of space expiration. reporter: while ariane space invested 200 million euros in its latest rocket. while they may be grabbing

headlines, space-x and blue origin are relatively new to the game could to catch up, bezos is selling $1 billion per year of his amazon shares to find his company. he hopes to launch 11 minute space rides starting next year. >> old habits may diehard when it comes to catch. 15 years after the euro, there are 1.5 billion euros of french francs that have not been redeemed. more than half of that is in coins. bloomberg,o data by across the eurozone, their old currencies worth 15 billion euro redeemed.e never been germany has 6 billion deutsche marks that have yet to be exchanged. they do have a little bit more the germane because central bank says it will accept and reimburse people for those deutsche marks indefinitely. >> $6 billion worth of coins. or i the bed. that is it for the business.

more news and headlines for you right after this.

04/06/17 04/06/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trumpmp: i will tell you t has already happened, that my attitude toward syria and assad has chahanged very much. amy: as the death toll from monday's suspected chemical attack in syria rises to 86, president trump accuses the assad government of crossing many, many lines. lastly, the trump administration signaled it supported assad staying in power.