. >> roberta jacobsen said the economy is in a tailspin that it was not a life line the u.s. deal with cuba but with venezuela, the main sponsor. talk about an economy in a tailspin they will not be able to support the cubans is it not a live line? >> worse case scenario let's imagine the venezuela life line is cut. it accounts for 100,000 oil per day. 25% of the g.d.p. if you take that away you are looking at a collapse which i don't think you want to see 90 miles off the shore. >> peno nieto was in washington. he spoke about how mexico could help the united states in the effort of bringing democracy to cuba. do you think there's a positive not just for change in the long temp but a stronger positive influence of the united states and the whole caribbean region because a lot have not been happy with the u.s. ostracising cuba. in that way do you think we could see a positive step? >> absolutely. whatever the risks are, this really recalibrate the relationship. brazil has been active trying to gain a foothold in cuba. the cuban - brazilian beer companies holds their beer compa

on the american side we have got roberta jacobsen and then for cubans josefina vidal. vidal has spent a lot of time in the united states but has a history of being a bit of a hard liner. >> the thing is we have two professional diplomats and it happens that they're both women which is nice. they both know the issues backwards and forwards. roberta jacobson is a true professional. she's worked in the bureau ever western hemisphere affairs almost all of her career . yostjosephina vidal has worked in this area almost her whole career. i have every dhafs what they are going to move ahead is the reestablishment of normal diplomatic relationships. that means the intersection in havana which is our old embassy will become an embassy once again. around theand the same thing on 16th street in washington d.c. the former cuban embassy now cuban intersection will once again become the embassy of cuba. >> you have said recently that cubans are going to move slowly that they're afraid of risk. cuban foreign ministry said that it should down play further break throughs this week. sho

roberta jacobsen will focus on how the u.s. and cuba can re-establish diplomatic relations. u.s.l it could happen quite quickly, perhaps even before april when raul castro and president obama are due to meet during the summit of the americas. cuban officials have a slightly longer wish list, pushing for more historic changes. we'll see how the negotiations play out. it's going to take a while. talking about dismantling decades of a very long-held u.s. policy towards cuba. >> already seen one handshake between raul castro and president obama. pretty historic to see the two of them meeting if when. i think a lot of americans what are watching this right now have a big question, when can i fly to cuba? can i use my american banking credit cards in cuba? how will it affect americans in the very short term? >> reporter: there's still an embargo and there are still travel restrictions. but both have been loosened. this travel restriction, some people say that basically president obama with a wink has done away with the travel restrictions. there are 12 categories that as of today if yo

second of state roberta jacobsen gave encouragement. hosted a breakfast for them, following ground breaking talks with cuban diplomates. jake on son says talks to reopen negotiations were productive. >> we also address continuing areas of deep disagreements between the united states and cuba. this includes our concern about progress in the area of freedom of expression and human rights. >> cuban government wants the u.s. to drop much of its support for the the dissidents on the island. >>> saudi arabia's newly crowned king salmon led pray's head of the burial of his predecessor and promised to continue his policies. the shrouded body of king abdullah was carried in the mosque where many people and prominent world leaders were gather. king abdullah died early friday after two decade in power. he was 90 years old. vice-president joe by up will lead a delegation to saudi arabia in the next few days or so. >>> the already large field of republicans who might make a bid for the white house in 2016 is expanding. marco rubio's camp confirms th

the assistant secretary of state, roberta jacobsen leads that discussion travel restrictions next on the agenda. the talk koss eventually bring american telecommunication companies to this island nation of 11 million. young cubans thirsty for unfiltered online access gather daily outside this art gallery in search of free wi-fi. this 16-year-old discovered facebook just last week. >> facebook. [ speaking in foreign language ] language ]. >> spectacular. >> reporter: in december the u.s. coast guard captured or turned away twice as many cubans as in december of 2013. u.s. officials believe the spike in the number of rafters attempting to reach florida is tied to the december announcement that both nations would begin to normalize diplomatic ties though the number has slowed in recent days. >> manuel thanks. if you have travel plans to head east in the next few days you may face big winter travel. a massive storm dumping snow on parts of the south this morning threatens much of the northwest this weekend. right now the system is moving across areas of new mexico texas and oklahoma. man