our correspondent roslind jordan is there for us. what is the significance of this report? how is it compiled? >> well, first off adrian, we should note that there are four categories and not just three. and the category into which both malaysia and cuba have been moved is basically a warning category. one saying that it's not going to take much in the way of little or no effort in their reforms right now for them to fall right back to the bottom. they've made a little progress but not nearly enough to get into the second tier. certainly not enough to meet the minimum standard, which is the number one standard. what the u.s. government does is interview all the government's compiled in this report as well as ngos about the legal efforts about the prosecutions, rescues and rehab programs that these countries run to try to deal not just with sex trafficking but modern day slavery. workers who lose their passports to their employers who then control their comings and goings. people who whoa are not able to freely congregate with their country men and women if they happen to be

we were just listening to roslind jordan's report. she mentioned some of the stumbleing blocks that remain. the issue of guantanamo bay. is it perhaps pre- premature to start opening embassy when a lot of those stumbling blocks are not resolved? >> the opening of embassies and the restoration of diplomatic relations is the first critical key part in trying to deal with some of these outstanding issues. and so today is an historic day, and we're looking forward to moving forward in the relationship. >> the republicans are openly said that they're going to block funds for it. they vowed to do that. >> the embassy can be opened by order of the president, and it will be. and at some point this summer secretary kerry intends to travel down there and hold a formformal ceremony marking that. . the embassy can be opened, and we can start to have a restoration now of diplomatic relations with cuba. >> you mentioned naming the ambassador, but senator marco rubio the florida senator who is a candidate for president i said he would block any nomi

. >> al jazeera's roslind jordan has this update from washington, d.c. >> the obama administration is welcoming turkey's decision to allow the military to use two air bases near the turkish border with syria. that's going to make it a lot easier for u.s. fighters to actually launch air attacks on isil targets in northern syria. right now they're having to fly from much farther distances in the gulf as well as from aircraft carriers outside of saudi arabia in order to reach those targets. they say this is going to make the efforts of trying to degrade isil targets and praises much easier. now what is not clear is what actually happened in the negotiations between the u.s. and the turkish authorities to allow these air bases to be used. the turks have wanted to try to create, for example, a buffer zone inside of northern syria in order to protect its territory from isil. it also wanted to establish a former no-fly zone, something that u.s. officials have also said would be problematic at best and probably extremely difficult to carry out at worse. and then there is a question of whether

. >> that's roslind jordan at the state department. >>> the last victim of the chattanooga shootings was laid to rest today. he was bury in massachusetts. another victim skip wells was buried in woodstock georgia. they were among the four marines and a sailor shot dead by mohammed abdullah aziz. the police killed an abdullah aziz at the shoot out. twoout. >> two were killed when a gunman opened at the movie showing of "train wreck" last week. hundreds of people gathered in lyle illinois to remember the 28-year-old african-american woman. she died in a texas jail just days after being arrested during a routine traffic stop. officials say that the results of her showautopsy show that she committed suicide. >> all we have to do is look at the video and it's very easy to see that she was completely unfairly treated. i mean, there was an ask that the officer issued. he asked her to put out a cigarette. because she said well, i don't see i have to put my cigarette out he responded by way of opening her door and then forcing her out requiring her to get out. and i think that the reality of

and speak with roslind jordan. the past half hour or so we've had some kind of reaction from the u.s. tell us a little bit more. >> the deputy white house press secretary eric schultz simply said that the administration believes that the report of mullah omar's death is are credible. but when pressed a half hour into the briefing he said that intelligence officials here in the united states are reviewing those reports. so basically there is no confirmation from washington that mulla omar is alive or dead simply that they don't have any reason at this moment to doubt the credibility of the reports. so, of course, it races the next question what did u.s. intelligence know about mullah omar if anything, and when did they know it if they ever did know it, and mr. schultz has not been able to answer those questions during the daily white house press briefing. >> roslind, thank you. >>> a former pakistan high commissioner to the u.k. and he's with us in the studio. thank you for joining us here on al jazeera. very confus