American Missionary Released in Haiti
COOPER: A lot of you have been asking on our blog at AC360.com about the latest news from Haiti. We're, of course, committed to covering all the developments as the country struggles to rebuild. Tonight, a major development in the case of American missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 Haitian kids in January. Charisa Coulter released today. Laura Silsby, the woman believed to be the leader of the group, however, remains in custody. Meanwhile, President Obama plans to meet with the president of Haiti, Rene Preval, at the White House on Wednesday. This as conditions at the camps where hundreds of thousands of Haitians are living have gone from bad to worse. Matt Marek is coordinator for the American Red Cross. He joins us now via Skype from Port-au-Prince. Matt, we talked to some people from Doctors without Borders today. And they mentioned a camp they'd been to about 8,000 to 10,000 people in it. The camp had no running water, no access to water, no toilets, very few structures, and it hadn't been seen -- really seen any hope at all. And their sense was that there are a lot of camps like this. What have you found? What's the situation for hundreds of thousands of people?</s>MATT MAREK, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Well, I would have to agree that there's probably a lot of people that have yet to fully receive everything they should have at this point. But the amount of people that we've been able to reach so far has been equally as great, greater. If we look at just the target numbers that the Red Cross is looking at, looking to meet the needs of about 400,000 people. That's a half a million people. And to this point we've received or distributed, OK, approximately 40 percent -- 44 percent of the needs of those individuals that are in our target group. So certainly there are gaps, but we're certainly moving ahead and getting to the people that need to get the resources they need to receive.</s>COOPER: But Matt, I mean, the rains have already come, and it's only going to get worse in the weeks ahead. And I mean, this is a really serious situation. Haiti is prone to mudslides, even in years where there hasn't been this earthquake. You now have hundreds of thousands of people living in these tent encampments, literally just drenched in rain. We're looking at people kind of bailing themselves out. They're like in a sinking life ship. Life raft. But that's -- these are their tented camps. With the rains coming now and getting worse in the weeks ahead, what's the biggest concern in terms of disease, in terms of living conditions? What's your greatest concern?</s>MAREK: Certainly. For me, having spent a lot of time in the camps throughout the past, you know, few months, living conditions, they're an extreme concern of mine for the individual comfort of these individuals. And the risk, the risk of the children. Haiti has a history of mudslides and floods throughout the country, and often it results in death. And we, you know, see how more vulnerable the individuals in Port-au-Prince are these days, as from years in the past when hurricane seasons have hit hard in his island country. And that vulnerability really concerns us. We do not want to see more victims of any type of natural disaster.</s>COOPER: Bottom line, though: is there a plan as to what's going to happen to these hundreds of thousands of people? I mean, if they don't have homes to go back to, they don't have structures or the structures are not safe, they don't own the land that they were living or squatting on anyway, what's going to happen to them? Is there a plan yet?</s>MAREK: There's -- there are a number of plans that are place, Anderson. And I know we're moving forward on ours, and that is to continue to get people from camps back into -- either into transitional shelters or back into a more permanent living condition in some -- some form. In the meantime, we have to continue to meet the immediate needs that are out there for these individuals.</s>COOPER: It -- it feels overwhelming. It's going to take years. But Matt, I appreciate you talking to us -- talking to us about an update. Thanks very much, Matt.</s>MAREK: Thank you, Anderson.</s>COOPER: Just a desperate situation, still. Coming up next, a spending spree. Using taxpayers' millions to buy flat-screen TVs, new cars, even office furniture. All this in a state that's supposed to be broke. We're "Keeping Them Honest," ahead.