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CNN Larry King Live

Containment Cap in Place After 84 Days; Haiti: Six Months Later

Aired July 12, 2010 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Haiti, six months after the devastating earthquake. What's life like there now for the more than 300,000 injured, the 1.5 million left homeless and a country in ruins? See what's happened to the survivors and the orphan children. Has anything changed for the better? We are there live.

And Haiti's own Wyclef Jean and actress Maria Bello, next on "Larry King Live."

Hi, everybody. Good evening, I'm Soledad O'Brien sitting in for Larry tonight. As you just heard, we're seeing where things stand six months after the big quake in Haiti.

But first, we've got some breaking news about the situation in the Gulf to get to BP has placed a new containment cap on the leaking oil well. It might completely contain the gushing oil. So let's go right to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's got the latest for us. Hey, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. Well, might is still the operative word here, but Admiral Thad Allen saying tonight that things are significantly moving in the right direction. BP has been saying that they are pleased with the way things are moving and we know that that containment cap is now in place.

There is still oil that is leaking from that cap. That's because there's a valve on top of it that they will begin to shut down. Testing begins on this containment cap tomorrow morning, on Tuesday morning. It is expected to take anywhere between 6 and 48 hours.

After that, we will really get a sense of whether or not this is going to be effective so a very critical moments here and obviously given everything that we have been through over the last three months, many people hoping that this is perhaps the first sign of a major breakthrough in this oil disaster - Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Everybody has got their fingers crossed. All right, Ed Lavandera for us. Ed, thanks for the update.

Now let's get right to the earthquake aftermath. Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta are in Port-Au-Prince tonight. They have seen a lot over the past six months and they join us for their perspectives. Hi, guys, thanks for joining us. Anderson, let's start with you. First, what are you seeing on the ground, how does it look?

ANDERSON COOPER: It looks a lot like it looks six months ago, to be honest, which is not to say there hasn't been progress. In fairness to the folks who have been working here very hard over the last six months, there has been no large, major outbreak of disease, which was a major concern, which Sanjay can speak to better than I can.

There's been no civil unrest and obviously, many, many people's lives were saved and had their lives improved with the hundreds of millions of dollars had been donated by many Americans and people around the world. So that is the progress, but it's not really progress you see.

And what you do see are just communities filled with rubble, which is pretty much what we saw six months ago. The tent cities, the one right behind us, right in front of the presidential palace, those are all still there, more than 1,300, more than 1.6 million people still living in those tent cities and no clear plan to get them out at this point.

Because of the rubble, there's no clear master plan to use large-scale machines and there's no funding at this point to do that clear the neighborhoods of rubble, the first step of getting people back into their own neighborhoods, and the idea of having people living outside the city that is an idea, which hasn't really been funded and hasn't made much progress.

The funding, as you know, Soledad, $5.3 billion pledged by countries around the world. Guess how much has been delivered? About 2 percent to 5 percent of that money has been delivered. They only -- that President Clinton and the commission that he is co-chairing with Haiti's prime minister, they don't have the money to distribute that they would like and that is going to be his focus over the next couple of weeks.

O'BRIEN: OK, so back up for a second because how can you say there is no funding for cleanup, which is step one when all that money raised, telethons are were done to raise a lot of money, everyone in America was watching and around the globe. Where's the money?

COOPER: Right. Well, hundreds of millions have been spent on, you know, shoring up emergency needs of people, getting water to people, getting food to people, supporting people for the last six months. I mean, you have complete support of people in these camps, little businesses that popped up, but I mean, they are getting food, they are getting their water.

You know, people are being paid to clear rubble by hand. They're getting $5 a day, but without the heavy equipment, it is just making a small dent. So that is how a lot of the money has been spent. A lot of NGOs have held onto their money, waiting for some sort of plan, some sort of reconstruction plan, which has not yet really appeared.

And so, a lot of NGOs still have money they are holding onto so that once there is a master plan for how to remove the rubble, once there is a master plan, they will be able to start to move forward. The big money, the millions need here, according to the World Bank, estimate $10 billion to $11 billion may be needed to rebuild that money is being pledged by governments around the world and that money has been very slow in coming. O'BRIEN: All right. So Sanjay on the medical front, is there a plan that seems to be in any kind of shape?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, sort of building a little bit on what Anderson was saying, when you talk about the money in medicine you sort of divide things into the acute phase, the immediate phase, the intermediate phase and the long-term phase.

I think, you know, we all saw, Soledad, you as well when you were down here the acute phase, stopping the bleeding, trying to save people's lives, doing the million operations, that -- a lot of that was done, not fast enough as we talked about for so long.

But I think is interesting, and again what Anderson said is that a lot of money is sort of being held onto for the longer term plan when it comes to the medical infrastructure as well so, this idea their going to create critical care hospitals throughout the country and infrastructure that really hasn't existed in Haiti probably ever.

But the problem is that if you save so much money for the long term, for that rehabilitation phase, hospitals die in the interim. We see hospitals that are shutting down that have absolutely no resources and also patients die as well that probably didn't need to.

So, it is a very tough situation. Money is getting here, I think, but so much of it is being hung onto in hopes that there's going to be a long-term plan here.

O'BRIEN: Former President Bill Clinton, a special envoy to Haiti is making his sixth trip to Port-Au-Prince since the quake. I know, Anderson that you interviewed him. He suggested that in spite of all that you are saying this is actually time of opportunity, a time of challenge for Haiti. Take a look at what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Because of the scale, if we do it right and they do it right, I think they will be much better off when the rebuilding is done, economically and socially than they are now.

I think they will have universal education for the first time, I think they will have a health care system for the first time. I think they will have a competitive economic investment climate for the first time with good infrastructure and airports and ports won't have to cost an arm and a leg to use because they will have other ways of raising revenue.

So, and they will be able to get more and more investment. It might become the first energy-independent place in the entire Caribbean, which will be pretty impressive.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Anderson, we only have about a minute left. The former president with a kind of rosy perspective on how it looks from this moment forward, you know, the key word being when the rebuilding happens, which is kind of a big when, is this realistic?

COOPER: You know, it's certainly optimistic and I think the president will be the first to say look, he is not satisfied with what they have been able to accomplish over this time.

Just a couple weeks ago, they finally seated this 26-member commission that he and the prime minister are chairing. There is an awful lot of work that needs to be done and nobody here, I haven't met anybody who is satisfied with the pace of things here on the ground, especially the Haitian people themselves, long-suffering, who are stuck in these camps, some of them very well run are.

But, you know, there is security issues in the camps. There's health issue. There are safety issues, and people want their lives to begin and people's lives are on hold here right now.

O'BRIEN: Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta for us this evening. Gentlemen, thanks very much for the update. We really appreciate it.

We're going to take a short break, Wyclef Jean and Maria Bello join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

O'BRIEN: That is Wyclef Jean. He's Grammy-award winning musician. He's also the founder of Yelle Haiti and he was singing there a song that he did for us, which we appreciate for our documentary about Haitian orphans called "Rescued."

He joins us tonight from Port-Au-Prince to talk about the tragedy in his homeland. He's got some young friends with him as well. We'll talk about them in just a sec.

Maria Bello is an actress. She's on the advisory board of Artist for Peace and Justice, which has been working with Saint Damians Pediatric Hospital in Port-Au-Prince.

You've been to Haiti, what about half a dozen times, right, since the earthquake struck, seen the devastation firsthand. Welcome both to the show. Wyclef, let's begin with you first. I don't know if he can hear me.

WYCLEF JEAN: How are you?

O'BRIEN: There you are. I'm great. Tell me who your friends are that we can see with you.

JEAN: These are -- actually hundreds of them, we could only fit five, from one of the orphanages that Yelle Haiti support and this is a special force in Haiti. They are a great choir, you know, so we support the whole orphanage, from education, rebuilding of schools and of course, the music program, which we support a lot. So this is the new Fugees.

O'BRIEN: All right, we like to hear that. Listen, tell me, you know, we just talked to Anderson and Sanjay and they listed a lot of the obstacles that some of the folks who are both working and living in Haiti are facing. What are some of the obstacles you're facing with Yelle Haiti?

JEAN: I think you know, the main obstacle is basically, there is not enough to go around, which means you can give tons of food every day. You can give water every day.

The problem is so big that you have to just basically shrink it down. The way that you shrink it down for these kids, it would be the focus of education, one, and how do we come one some form of job creation, too.

O'BRIEN: You know, it's been interesting to hear about the pledging of money. I was so surprised to learn that only about 2 percent of the money that was pledged has actually made its way into Haiti. Are you seeing a similar thing with your foundation? Do you find that people who pledge money to you actually aren't delivering on it?

JEAN: No, I think the difference with Yelle Haiti, we are a grass roots organization. As the money is coming in, we are spending it. So whether if it's water, if it's food, or whether if it's medicine, the difference with us, is that we are not that big of an organization yet so we are not that organization that collects $250 million.

But what we are able to do what we collect is still take care of thousands of people a day, but that is still not enough when you are six months into a quake and barely rubble is lifted from the ground behind us. As you can see, millions of people are still in tents.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that was is a big surprise, Maria Bello, to me, when I was in Haiti about three weeks ago. None of the rubble has moved. I mean, not at all.

MARIA BELLO, ACTRESS AND HUMANITARIAN: No, everyone on the ground says, one of my girlfriends is here from Haiti tonight and today is a really emotional day for all of our Haitian friends, that what the needs were six moments ago, the day after the earthquake, the week after when I was there are the same now.

People still need water, food and shelter and rubble removal. And it's shocking to me, like you were talking about the 2 percent of money. You really see that the people are getting really frustrated. Everyone is asking where is this aid? Where is all this money that has been promised?

O'BRIEN: In a way, you're sort of, you go in but you're out here. What do people say on the outside who gave that aid? People ask me all the time, so you know, where's the money going?

BELLO: You know, I really agree with what Wyclef said when he talks about Yelle. The grass roots organizations, Artist for Peace and Justice had been there for 22 years with Father Rick. There are smaller organizations who are on the ground and they put the money exactly where it goes, where it should go and in a timely manner.

And I think when you -- if you have given money to bigger organizations, it's our -- it's our duty to find out where that money went and where it's going in Haiti and to pressure our government, to pressure Clinton and the NGOs that we have given money to spend it now. There is an immediate need right now.

O'BRIEN: Anderson described everybody sort of holding on, waiting for some kind of a plan. Wyclef, let me ask you a quick question before we run out of time here, people who are concerned can the money is not going to the people they want to help.

What do you tell them? I mean, those of us in the United States who wrote a check, promised money, they say if you are not seeing the help had, why am I sending the money?

JEAN: I would say today, President Clinton was in Haiti. One of the things that I heard he said in the sound bites is NGOs have to start working more together and basically, I remember the prime minister saying there was $5.2 billion that was pledged through donors. If we are going to see any kind of reaction in Haiti, we need to what we say in Creole (inaudible). It means start to unblock money and start to put the people to work.

O'BRIEN: It definitely feels like the unblocking of money has to be the first step. I was really surprised, Maria, that there were not -- I thought I would see bulldozers on the street, at least a couple and there was none.

BELLO: So did I, but you probably noticed as well, there is -- people talk about the resilience of the Haitian people, but that the communities have taken over the camps and they started jobs and communities and you see moving towards this new election in November that there's a real opportunity here after this horrible circumstance.

O'BRIEN: Which is what President Clinton said. Opportunity, opportunity is the word. All right, thanks very much, we're going to check back in with Maria in just a moment.

And we're going to be hearing a song that Wyclef Jean wrote about his country a little bit later. He's also composed something very special for our blog as well, you can go to cnn.com/larryking to read it.

Maria is going to stick around with us. Wyclef, we thank you very much and we will have more on the orphans straight ahead. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cindy is very private, not real trusting, very smart, very intelligent kid. She is also very silly, goofy and totally crazy sometimes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill (Menastero) remembers when he began to break through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the day she grabs my hand and I just held onto her hand and I just closed my eyes and I just -- I couldn't -- I just didn't want to let go of her. I didn't want to let go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a big step for her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was huge. It was huge for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So what's the situation with so many of Haiti's children? Pastor Pierre Alexis is the director of the Mason Des Enfants, the House of the Children God Orphanage, which is in Port-Au-Prince and Suzette and Bill (Manassero) are the founders of Child Hope International's Light House Orphanage, Mason Des (Lomier) in Haiti as well.

My CNN documentary called it "Rescued" focused on their work and the stories of two children helped by the Light House. The Haiti orphan stories touched me so much. They're part of my upcoming book, which is called "The Next Big Story, My Journey through the Land of Possibilities."

So let's begin with Pierre Alexis. Pierre, when we saw you last, we visited your orphanage right after earthquake. You had 120, 30 kids who, lots of them infants, living in a truck and you are trying to get them out of the country. Were you able to get the bulk of those children adopted out?

PIERRE ALEXIS, DIRECTOR, HOUSE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD ORPHANAGE: I had I think -- I can't remember 130 at the orphanage and we had 110 that flew to America, Canada and Argentina. So most of them through home and they were evacuated by -- U.S. government which was amazing for us and we were so happy and this brought joy to the American family, the Canadian family and the Argentina family and that's why is wonderful.

O'BRIEN: So 110 out of 130 some odd kids were removed, left for other places, did you fill up the orphanage again, have you replaced everybody's spot, basically? What's happened since the earthquake?

ALEXIS: Since the earthquake, we had some missionaries that came and rebuild all our walls and we were blessed by a well, which help us to serve the community and we had some missionaries that came and do disaster preparedness, which was very important for us because we expect we can have another earthquake, aftershocks.

We have some doctors that came to do kind of therapy for the children because, you know, we were outside for a long time and everybody was scared to be back inside. Now, after the training, after the therapy we get back inside and everybody is fine right now. We have some progress that made and we are so thankful for all the people helping us to take care of these children.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn to Suzette and Bill Manassero, as I mentioned they were the focus of our documentary, "Rescued." Nice to see you guys again, it's only been a couple weeks since I was there. We brought my daughter, Sophia who is 9 years old, really wanted to teach her about the power of giving, of selflessness. Have you guys seen an increase in volunteers? What are you seeing?

BILL MANNASSERO, CHILD HOPE INTERNATIONAL'S LIGHTHOUSE ORPHANAGE: Yes. I mean, we -- this is amazing. It has been just really response to prayer. Just so many people have come that have had a heart to want to help the people of Haiti, starting with the children.

That's who we interfaced with the most and it has just been a blessing. Every week, we are seeing new visitors that are coming and some are you know, building things. Some are, you know, just loving on the kids and helping them get through this time.

O'BRIEN: In the documentary, as you guys well know, we focused on two of your kids, Cindy who is 6 years old, Meckenson, who is 21 years old. You do not adopt out the children in your orphanage.

What do you realistically think, now six months past this earthquake. You have heard everybody talk about the ridiculously slow progress, what do you think is the options for Cindy, who we are looking at here or Meckenson, what is their future going to be like?

MANASSERO: Well, we have seen a real change in our kids. I know kids when you were out, the first time when you're filming the documentary, a lot of the children just wanted to leave. They just felt that there was no hope in Haiti.

And one thing that's just happened, and really, I think within the last three months or so, is there's been a -- just a change of heart in a lot of our children and you know, children of faith. They really feel that there's hope for Haiti in the years to come and that actually, there's probably going to be more opportunity now than there's been in Haiti in decades, with the rebuilding that's going on and so forth.

Our children all speak English, for example, so, they believe that a lot of the English-speaking nations that are coming to help that they might have opportunity to work with them and assist in a construction capacity, computers or some other area they might be able to help in the rebuild efforts. They are pretty enthusiastic.

O'BRIEN: I'm going to bring Pierre back in so I can ask the same question to all of you. Bill, I'm not sure if Suzette is having a hard time with her ear piece, so maybe you can repeat this question to her. Why do you stay? Why do you do this? This has got to be the hardest job on the planet right now. What motivates you? Pierre?

ALEXIS: Personally, yes, yes. Personally, I know that it's a hard job and very challenging, even financially and physically, but I think what -- is the life of the children. I think every child counts and I think they are also the future of the country and if we are neglecting them, I believe we are neglecting the future of the country.

O'BRIEN: And Susette -- ALEXIS: And so I think we need to -- we need to take care of them and I think they deserve that.

O'BRIEN: And Susette, what do you think?

SUSETTE MANASSERO, CHILD HOPE INTERNATIONAL'S LIGHTHOUSE ORPHANAGE: Hi, it's good to hear your voice again. You know me, I'm hopeful. I believe these kids can accomplish much because they have great faith. And I've seen a turnaround, just like Bill said, as you know, right after the earthquake, many of them wanted to hit the high road and move to the states and it's been six months.

I was just saying to Bill, even this morning, it's so surreal to even believe that it actually even happened it seems like yesterday and yet I can't believe it happened and it has already been six months. But I feel like -- I just see a turnaround in the children's hearts.

I feel hopeful. Like Bill was saying, it's like never before, I haven't seen so much support in this country. I know things are slow and they might remain slow for a while, but I am hopeful. I see a lot a lot of people, a lot of concern for this nation like I've never seen before. So I continue to stay hopeful.

O'BRIEN: It is nice to see all of you hopeful. I'm sure that's the way it has to be. Susette and Bill Manassero and Pierre Alexis, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it, guys. Thank you and good luck to you.

Our correspondents Ivan Watson and Gary Tuchman are going to be just ahead. They have been on the front lines, so to speak. They are up next when "Larry King live" continues. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back to LARRY KING LIVE, I'm Soledad O'Brien, sitting in for Larry tonight. We are talking about Haiti six months after the earthquake.

First, though, I want to get you an update on the breaking news about the oil spill in the Gulf. Here is Ed Lavandera with the latest that the new cap that BP has just placed on that leaking well. How is it looking, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's significant progress tonight. It really sets the stage for tomorrow, as we look forward to what they're calling the integrity testing of this new containment cap that we confirm has been put into place tonight.

So federal officials and BP officials are saying that the testing on this cap will begin tomorrow. And then a variety of things can happen. Either this cap can work by itself, essentially cutting off the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It might need some help, in terms of using pipes to bring the oil up tot he surface of -- the vessels that are on the surface of the water. Or it might not work at all, and they might have to return to the old containment system, that was removed on Saturday. So a wide variety of things. But you can imagine that in these control rooms across BP company head quarters, that there is a great sense of anticipation as to what exactly they are going to learn tomorrow. Three months of devastating news all across the Gulf Coast, and it seems like we could be on the verge of a breakthrough here.

The tone of optimism is significant, coming from Thad Allen and about BP officials tonight, saying that significant progress has been made. So there's a great deal of hope that this containment cap will work, and at least be able to stem the flow of oil into the Gulf, while those relief wells continue to be drilled as well.

O'BRIEN: I'm not a particularly cynical person, but we have heard that a lot. We've heard that today might be day, tomorrow might be the day. It looks very hopeful. When will they know? At what point tomorrow can they say, guess what everybody, it actually did work?

LAVANDERA: This -- they say anywhere between six and 48 hours. So we will -- perhaps by this time tomorrow night, they might have an indication to what degree if it does do -- this containment cap work. But there is no question, we have been down this road before. All of this is engineering that has been essentially kind of created and done on the fly. We've seen -- coming back to May, when we've seen these first containment caps put into place. The hope is -- it has been a roller coaster ride, as you have seen the hope build that one of these things might work.

But I sense in this tone of optimism that we are hearing from officials tonight that perhaps they know something or they are anticipating something that might be at least some sort of significant breakthrough for them that they haven't seen so far.

O'BRIEN: Well, everybody is certainly hoping for that. Ed Lavandera for us. Ed, thank you for the update. I appreciate that.

Let's turn to now to Ivan Watson and Gary Tuchman, our CNN correspondents, both who have reported extensively on Haiti and the aftermath of the catastrophe. They're both in Port-Au-Prince tonight.

Ivan, let's begin with you. I know you have been spending a lot of time with people in the camps. What are you seeing?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think we are seeing that the struggle to survive has just really begun. Six months on, these people are living in difficult, atrocious conditions. Some of the optimism and the excitement from the international attention has faded. People are asking questions like, hey, six months now, I'm living under a tarp; it's raining; it's leaking; there are bugs here; I have no assistance from the international community or from the Haitian government. I think people are very frustrated. Some of them are quite angry at the situation right now, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Gary, I know you had followed a number of kids out of the orphanages in Haiti and to the United States. How are they doing? How are they adjusting to life in the U.S.? GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When we were here six months ago, Soledad, two days afterwards, we were at an orphanage that partially collapsed. The children survived because they were in the part of the orphanage that did not collapse. We met several of the kids and we followed them as they were going to the United States with adopted parents, parents who applied for adoption before the earthquake.

Just a couple days ago, we were in Washington, D.C., visiting a little girl named Jenna. She is two years old with her mother Elizabeth. They're just having a great life together. She's a great mother, a great little girl. What's interesting and noteworthy and poignant is that they are having some discipline issues with the little girl right now. She gets very upset. She hits. She bites. She pinches. Sure, there's the terrible twos. She's two years old.

But the thought with Elizabeth and lots of experts is that so much trauma these children went through and that, perhaps, is what this little girl is going through right now. So it's very upsetting for the mother. But she's a great mother and she says we will make it work.

O'BRIEN: Gosh, we certainly hope so. Ivan, I was in Haiti about three weeks ago. I took my nine-year-old daughter. One thing that we both noticed was that the tents seem to feel more permanent. The tent cities seem to be sort of more organized. Then I heard that people were actually moving out of their homes, even their homes that weren't damaged by the earthquakes, and moving into the tent cities, which seems to be everything sliding the wrong direction.

Have you seen that same thing?

WATSON: That is one scenario that some aid workers have talked about, that there are some services in the tent cities and that may be drawing people out of communities that never had, for instance, daily access to clean water or basic medical care. But certainly your observation is correct. If you look over our shoulder -- and I think Gary would with agree -- we were seeing shelters, tents made out of bed sheets and towels six months ago here. These structures, while very flimsy and certainly vulnerable if a hurricane hits Haiti, as has been known to happen in the past with deadly results -- these are more permanent. You're seeing people scavenging from the ruins that are all over this city and building slightly more sturdy shelters to live in.

And that's big concern, because these are some sprawling camps that seem to be getting more permanent. And some of them are even set up on private land, on government-owned land. And it's going to create complications down the road if and when it's time for people to move off that land and out of these structures.

O'BRIEN: That has to be a challenging dynamic. Gary -- and we should also mention hurricane season beginning right about now. So when you talk to people who have adopted their children out of Haiti, are those adoptions complete? Some case I have heard about, paperwork is only half done, partially done. What are people telling you? TUCHMAN: For example, this woman, Elizabeth, who has adopted Jenna, not totally complete yet. There is a few more things they have to do before she becomes an official U.S. citizen. Very important, the process started way before the earthquake. An issue that's taking place right now is there are a lot of children, at least 2,500 children registered here in Haiti who are new orphans, or who are separated from their parents; they just can't find their parents.

Those children weren't under any process of adoption from international residents. Therefore, they are not going to the United States or Canada or Great Britain. The people here, international aid groups, are trying to find their parents. If they can't find the parents of these 2,500 kids, they will look for grandparents, aunts and uncles. If they don't find them, only then do they pursue international adoptions for those children.

O'BRIEN: Gary Tuchman and Ivan Watson for us tonight. Gentlemen, thanks for the update. Certainly appreciate that.

Ahead tonight, a survivor; she lost part of her leg in the earthquake. She is going to join us up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Christa Brelsford was in Haiti doing volunteer work when the earthquake struck. Part of her right leg had to be amputated due to the injuries she suffered. Maria Bello joins us and stays with us here in New York. And Christa, who was a guest on the show back in January, following her medical evacuation from Port-Au-prince to Miami, joins us now. Here is little bit of that interview that was done right after the earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: What part of the leg was removed?

CHRISTA BRELSFORD, QUAKE SURVIVOR: The -- my leg was caught between cement a staircase and the concrete roof that fell on top of it. So the shin bone was clean broken through. So I think they said there is about six inches of bone left below my knee.

KING: How are you dealing with it emotionally?

BELSFORD: I'm so thankful that I'm alive that one foot is a pretty small price to pay. I've got two arms that work and one good leg, and that's lot more than a lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Christa, thanks for being with us. It was so interesting to watch you smile through that entire interview with Larry and to see you still smiling. How have the last six months been?

BELSFORD: Say that again.

O'BRIEN: How have the last six moments been for you? BELSFORD: They've -- it's actually been a pretty easy and pretty quick recovery process for me physically. I'm walking. I'm driving. I'm running. I'm rock climbing. I'm pretty now back to everything I wanted to be doing. And I'm thankful for that.

O'BRIEN: You have gotten a prosthetic leg, is that right?

BELSFORD: Yeah. Yeah.

O'BRIEN: And what have the doctors --

BELSFORD: I have actually been through three.

O'BRIEN: Oh, really? Why three?

BELSFORD: Yeah, because initially there was a whole lot of swelling. And then as the swelling went down, my -- the rest of my remaining leg shrunk. And so the sockets got too big. So I had to get smaller and smaller ones as my calf muscles atrophy.

O'BRIEN: Wow. All right.

BELSFORD: And now I have a --

O'BRIEN: Yeah?

BELSFORD: Now I have a fancy carbon fiber leg that will last me a little while. Yeah.

O'BRIEN: So, what have the doctors told you about your prognosis? It sounds like you are back to doing almost everything you were before.

BELSFORD: Yeah. I told one person that they could call me disabled if they could come up with something that I can't do. If you want to, you can do anything want to, even with only one foot.

O'BRIEN: I bet that's the attitude that's getting you through. Listen, I know that there were two guys who were really responsible for saving your life. And they are in Haiti. Have you seen them? Have you talked to them at all?

BELSFORD: I haven't been back to Haiti, so I haven't seen them. But I have talked to them both on the phone. They -- we have made sure that their homes have been rebuilt and they are doing great. Ferald (ph) is working really hard every day to make sure his community is rebuilt. And Wensons, the younger, he is an 18-year-old who tagged along behind us before the earthquake and wanted to learn English and now after -- now in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, he dug me out of a house, gave Julian the shirt off his back, held me on the back of a motorcycle ride, and sat with me all night in the cold and the rain until we figured out what we were doing next. So really, he saved my life.

And what we are trying to do for him is bring him to the U.S. for a college education.

O'BRIEN: Do you want to go back to Haiti? Is it just too painful to think about?

BELSFORD: I do. I think -- sometimes -- sometimes in your life something happens and it ties to you a place forever. And for me, this is the Haiti earthquake. I -- I do plan on spending a lot of time and everything I know how to do to try to help this community -- this community and this nation rebuild.

O'BRIEN: Do you worry that it's out of the focus of the nation?

BELSFORD: Yeah. I mean, disasters come. It's hard to -- when you're not there, it's hard to understand the magnitude of destruction that went on in Haiti. It's hard to understand why things are going so slow. But when the government loses 17 percent of their employees and the Haitian equivalent of the White House, it's hard. it's hard. It's complicated. And it's a lot of work.

So, I'm not surprised it is going slow. And the only way we are going to move forward is step by step. All you have to do to keep going is stand up one more time than you fall down.

O'BRIEN: Told by a woman who would know. Christa Belsford, nice to see you doing so well. When you are about to make your trip back to Haiti or when you are there, we hope we get to talk to you again. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.

Coming up next, he was buried alive in the rubble, but he lived to tell about his ordeal. Another incredible survivor story is up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Miami. Tarmo and Mamie Joeveer are with us tonight. Tarmo was a U.N. security officer. He was buried alive in the earthquake rubble for nearly 40 hours. Their twins, three- year-old twins, are joining us as well. Tarmo, how are you doing? How are you doing emotionally? How are you doing physically? Are you OK?

TARMO JOEVEER, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: Physically, I'm OK right now. Emotionally, it's been quite a tough ride for me. I was in Haiti, at the point -=- had already been there for five and a half years, a lot of time away from my family. It was almost made permanent. Now I'm been back with my family. It's been great to be with my family. What happened there is, of course, still with me in my heart.

O'BRIEN: Mamie, I know that you were in Miami with the twins. You had a conversation with your husband right before the earthquake struck. How long before you knew he was OK?

MAMIE JOEVEER, WIFE OF TARMO JOEVEER: You know, that was the time of uncertainty. It was probably about 38 hours that he was trapped. And I got word maybe within 26 hours or something that -- not from him -- but that he was OK. He was trapped, but they could hear him.

O'BRIEN: When you look back now, does it feel like you had a miracle? Is that how you feel about -- M. JOEVEER: You know what? It's definitely a miracle for our family. It's -- we are so thankful. We're so grateful. But at the same time, I carry Haiti with me in my heart. It's the place where my husband and I met. I work there, and visited there with my children. Some of our most precious memories were there. So it's been a tough journey for us moving forward. We continue to support and pray and remember Haiti.

O'BRIEN: Maria Bello is with me in New York. I know you feel like you had a miracle as well. The orphanages you support, the hospital that you support, people survived?

BELLO: That's right. So many people survived. And for us right now, it's all about reconstructing, bringing this normalcy back to the kids. APJ focuses on education. We have temporary schools now. Now, we're starting to rebuild the other schools. So it's about stepping forward. It's true. Once you've stepped in Haiti, you can never get it out of your system. It's such an incredible country, such resilient people, that we know, moving forward, it's going to be extraordinary. We can't forget. it's all about not forgetting. We can't forget Haiti.

O'BRIEN: Tarmo, I have a last question for you. Do you feel like you could ever bring yourself to go back to Haiti to see the site where you were eventually dug out?

T. JOEVEER: Well, right now I have not been back. I've been home. I went to Estonia, where my family lives. I recently arrived back. And now the U.N. is deciding where to post me next. But, of course, Haiti's always with me and will always be with me.

O'BRIEN: Mamie, would you ever support him going back to Haiti, just to visit?

M. JOEVEER: You know what, I would support him, because, like I said, this is a country that has tied us together and I think the support of everybody, no matter how small, is going to help keep pushing this country forward. And so we continue to live in the moment and take things day by day.

O'BRIEN: I thank you both for joining us. We also want to mention that many folks gave generously to help the people of Haiti. We're going to take a look at the event that raised over nine million dollars for those who need it most. Plus, Wyclef Jean is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Just days after the earthquake, LARRY KING LIVE produced a telethon that, thanks to you and our celebrity guests, raised over nine million dollars for Unicef, the Red Cross, to help the people of Haiti. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Mick Jagger, Jennifer Lopez, Ringo Starr, Seal, Ben Stiller and many others are here to say thank you, because your money is going to the American Red Cross and the U.S. Fund for Unicef.

(SINGING)

MICK JAGGER, SINGER: It's very, very sad when you see this happening to somewhere where you have been, you've enjoyed, where people have been welcoming, where people have been lovely to you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This sachet costs 10 cents. And a family can stir this water for about 30 minutes. And all of a sudden, you may drink.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Herbal Grand (ph) says Larry should auction off his suspenders tonight. I'll start the bidding at 100 dollars. I'm at 250.

(CROSS TALK)

RYAN SEACREST, "AMERICAN IDOL": We're at 1,000. We'll hold at 1,000.

KING: I've got to bring more suspenders in, 1,000 dollars a pair. Call in, you get them.

(SINGING)

BEN STILLER, ACTOR: The tough thing is a month, two months, six months down the line, when people aren't doing specialists on it, when the news cycle has moved on.

JENNIFER LOPEZ, ACTRESS: To think that that much money was raised in an hour just shows you how big hearted people are.

KING: To be in a position where we in the media can give back by helping. And the people, of course -- these contributions are enormous.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The money you donated is being used right now for nutrition programs, immunization drives, rebuilding schools and health centers and clean water. But as you've seen during the past hour, the people of Haiti continue to need help, better sanitation systems, housing, hurricane preparedness. If you would like to contribute, you can go to CNN.com/LarryKing, where you can link to various charities.

O'BRIEN: We leave you tonight with a moving salute to the people of Haiti by Wyclef Jean. It's a song called "The Day After." Thanks for joining us. Anderson and "AC 360," from Haiti, is up next.

(SINGING)