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Obama Urges Dems To Put AI At Center Of Their Agenda; Democrats Trying To Prevail In State Trump Won Three Times; Puerto Rico Residents Scramble For Clean Water. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 13, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:24]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Will A.I. write the future of humanity or end it? That question has been addressed by two presidents, house leaders and tech executives in just the last two days.

Former President Barack Obama is urging his party to put A.I. regulation at the top and make it the core of the Democratic agenda. At a fundraiser Thursday, Obama warned the technology could be dangerous if, in his words, we don't get on top of it.

This follows high profile incidents, including A.I. agents working together to hack into other companies. And just days ago, A.I. company Anthropic says it has blocked multiple accounts that use the company's A.I. models in ways that could support the development of biological weapons.

This comes as a former Anthropic researcher quit last week, warning there is a chance A.I. will wipe out humanity by the end of the decade. The company's CEO is proposing the entire tech industry slow the pace of development. He spoke exclusively about it with our Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Obviously, the reason we are talking is these headlines that have come out. Jacob Coxon, who recently resigned from Anthropic, made headlines last week saying, "... the people building A.I. earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." There is a current employee, Evan Hubinger, an alignment science lead. He agreed, saying, "... we really do earnestly believe A.I. could kill all humans. I personally think it is greater than 10 percent chance within the next decade."

Do you believe -- earnestly believe that A.I. could kill all humans? And what percent chance do you think it is?

DARIO AMODEI, CEO, ANTHROPIC: So, you know, I -- you know, it is funny, I agree with Jacob much more than I disagree with him, you know, and it is -- you know, it is an interesting resignation because when he left, he said, you know, I think Anthropic is the most responsible player, right? I think Anthropic is the most aware of these issues.

He wasn't calling out us. He was calling out the dynamic of the industry as a whole moving too fast. Now, you know, I think I already said, you know, these sort of unconditional probabilities, you know, I used to kind of talk in that way because it is kind of an easy way to express, I think there is some chance that things go wrong. But, you know, but -- you know, but it is not all that high.

But again, I think it is more illuminating to think in terms of, you know, how do you decompose those probabilities? What are the paths in which things go well? And what are the paths in which things go poorly?

And so instead of saying, you know, it is a 10 percent chance, that sounds like it is a roll of the dice. I think it is much more illuminating to say, well, that forks into different paths and if we take the right paths, then the chance of something going wrong is very low. If we take the wrong path, then the chance of something going wrong could be even higher than that.

And so let's focus on our agency and our ability to take the right paths instead of the wrong paths, and I think that the way to take the right paths is for the industry to work together, again, you know, we will talk about the proposal that I've put out today. But at the end of the day, the industry has to work together and it is harder, but to some extent, the world has to work together.

If we go too slow, I still believe that the wrong people will be in charge of the technology. And you know that again, will bring the probability of things going wrong very high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:05:10]

WHITFIELD: Republicans, including the President and House Speaker Mike Johnson, believe too much regulation will put the U.S. behind other countries like China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are leading China in A.I. we are the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins A.I. wins. And we can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up, and they're bringing up things that won't happen.

But whoever wins with A.I. wins, you know, it is an expression that I came up with, and it is true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's get some perspective on this now. We are joined by Gary Marcus, professor emeritus at NYU and author of the Substack, "Marcus on A.I." and Melanie Mitchel, artificial intelligence and cognitive science expert from the Santa Fe Institute.

Great to see both of you.

GARY MARCUS, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Great to be here.

MELANIE MITCHELL, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE EXPERT, SANTA FE INSTITUTE: Hello!

WHITFIELD: So, Gary, let me begin with you. I mean, do you agree with what is being said that A.I. could kill all humans by the end of the decade?

MARCUS: Very, very unlikely. The reality is that we are geographically distributed, we are genetically diverse, and we would fight back and all of these scenarios that I see about extinction don't really take that into account. So I think there is a lot to worry about here, especially putting the current generation A.I., which is not that reliable out there on the internet to let it wreak havoc. So there is a lot to worry about.

I don't think extinction is something that people should stay up nights about.

WHITFIELD: So then I wonder, you know, Melanie, do you agree with Amodei who says things need to slow down because it is important to slow down and be more thoughtful so that rogue agents and actors don't take over?

MITCHELL: I agree, it is important to slow down and be thoughtful. I worry about the kinds of framing we have seen in the media and by these big companies of these computer programs as "rogue agents" and OpenAI losing control. I feel like these are metaphors that are often misinterpreted and cause a lot of alarm that probably is not as appropriate as people think.

So I worry about that quite a bit.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, you know, Melanie, when you hear whether its Amodei or others who are leading this A.I. industry who say, we need to come together, meaning the A.I. artificial intelligence leaders need to come together and work, I guess with the same goals in mind in order to make sure that there is better control, do you believe that that is feasible? Is it possible? And is this a good starting point?

MITCHELL: It is a good starting point. You know, everyone always says the devil is in the details and I think that's true here. How would that -- what would coming together mean exactly and how would it present, you know, a safer version of the A.I. that we've seen?

I haven't heard those details and I think that not only do the A.I. companies need to come together, but they also need to come together with a lot of other people in our society who have had not much of a voice in how these technologies are being developed and how they're being used and how they are kind of being forced on us.

WHITFIELD: So Gary, I don't think anybody thought it would be coming so quickly, but then when you hear these leaders saying, let's come together, let's slow things down. I mean, is it even possible to do that at this point? You know, meaning, the genie is already out of the bottle, so to speak. Right?

MARCUS: Well, there are some genies that are out of the bottle. There are other genies that haven't been developed yet. The A.I. industry likes to make it seem like were on the verge of artificial general intelligence, and we are not really, in a lot of ways, this is a dress rehearsal. There will be even more sophisticated technology that we perhaps need to worry about even more yet to come.

What we have seen is actually people have been concerned before and then nothing happened. I testified in front of the U.S. Senate in May of 2023, everybody was panicked then, everybody in the Senate said they'd do something and no serious legislation was actually brought to fore.

Even though I think some of the claims right now are overstated and I think I agree with every word that Melanie said, we do need to have serious regulation. We need to have something like the FDA deciding with some independent voices in there, whether any given technology is actually worth the risk. If we can get that through now because people are panicked, even if they're not quite thinking about it the right way, I think that that's good.

[15:10:10]

There are also traditional things we should be considering like product liability. The current A.I. companies are doing a terrible job, in my opinion, cybersecurity, they are partly distracting about other things rather than facing the reality of the limits in how their own software is working.

And if we held them liable for that, that would change things and there is one particular technology of A.I. agents that goes out on the internet, we actually need something like a product recall for them saying, take this back to the factory, and when it works better, you can rerelease it.

And so we shouldn't just rely on the companies to make deals with each other. The government should take a strong role and I hope that the current environment will lead to that.

WHITFIELD: So when you've got, Melanie, several tech leaders, including OpenAI's Sam Altman, you've got Elon Musk agreeing with Amodei that yes, they need to work together or slow it down, but then contrast that with you have the President of the United States, you've got other leadership in government, in Congress that is saying, you know, whoever gets there first wins. You know, and this is an A.I. race.

And at least from President Trump and even the House Speaker, you know, they don't want China to win. So can you have this kind of consortium of leadership working together, slowing things down, and then government leadership, saying the opposite? How does that work?

MITCHELL: Very good question. You know, I think we have to ask win what? What are we -- what is it that we are trying to win and is it worth the price? I don't know how this all can happen when we have an administration that is so opposed to all regulation and I think that's -- we are in a very unfortunate situation that way.

WHITFIELD: And then, Gary, that issue of --

MARCUS: I think being this hawkish --

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

MARCUS: I think being this hawkish towards China is not really helping. I think in the end we need to make a deal with them. And, we should stop thinking about A.I. as zero sum. We should say how can we collaborate to do things that benefit the whole world?

The race is just going to be a tie. It has cost both countries, I think economically we are vulnerable right now. Nobody is actually going to win this race, and we need to rethink the dynamic altogether into something that's much less zero sum.

WHITFIELD: And then as it pertains to regulation, while you've got, you know, the former Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, who resigned last week. He told "Meet the Press" this morning, you know, kind of underscored that A.I. companies should be allowed to regulate themselves before Congress puts a regulatory body in place. Is that wise, Melanie? I mean, and there is also the advantage of obviously the people who are working in A.I. understand the potential, understand the dynamics of what it is to build A.I., whereas a lot of members of Congress probably don't.

I mean, maybe they don't -- they wouldn't know how to put regulations in place.

MITCHELL: Yes, I think there has to be a collaboration. You know, we've had many years of A.I. companies 'regulating themselves" and it hasn't gone well. In many cases, they have ended up firing their own ethics boards and their own safety teams because they didn't fit with the current commercial goals of the company. I am a little worried that that's how we would end up with the current proposals.

But, you know, again, as you say, members of Congress don't understand the technology. They don't understand a lot of the ramifications and what is hype and what's not.

And maybe the A.I. companies are not the best ones to educate them because they have their own kind of commercial and financial incentives that drive what they're saying, you know, to some degree, at least.

WHITFIELD: And then Gary, last word on that because I did hear Amodei say, you know, consider possibly a third party. What do you think?

MARCS: I mean, I think third party is great, but you know, he sort of named the place that's this body is that lives in his social circles and we really need independent scientists like the two you have on the line here and there are many others aside from just the sort of handpicked San Francisco Bay Area organization that he happens to be friendly with, maybe he just gave that as an example. But the reality is, we need to have a lot of independent scientists without a stake in the outcome who are not part of that social orbit also bring some perspective to the table.

WHITFIELD: All makes sense, all right, Gary Marcus, Melanie Mitchell, thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

MITCHELL: Thank you.

MARCUS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And of course, you can watch Anderson's full interview with Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei tomorrow at 8:00 P.M. Eastern on "Anderson Cooper: 360," or you can stream it with your all-access subscription.

Coming up, North Carolina could be a key battleground in the fight for control of the Senate.

[15:15:10]

Candidates there trying to make this race more about North Carolina and less about their political parties.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ISABEL ROSALES speaking in foreign language.)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been going 139 days without water this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: No water to cook, shower or flush the toilet. The growing crisis in Puerto Rico and the Americans who say they are being left to fend for themselves.

Plus, the people around us and the circumstances we are in many times shape who we become. Well look at what we can change, what we need to embrace, and how to navigate all of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:33]

WHITFIELD: As Democrats campaign to take control of the Senate in November, North Carolina is viewed as a prime opportunity to flip a state blue, but the Democrats prized recruit in the Tar Heel State is warning this election is turning into a dog fight.

Former Governor Roy Cooper is facing a GOP onslaught to boost Republican Michael Whatley in a state that President Trump has won three times. And this week, Trump himself is heading south to rally with Whatley.

CNN's Manu Raju traveled to North Carolina for a closer look at this critical battle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Roy Cooper is one of the top Democratic recruits in the country. Many Democrats believe that he will easily flip a critical Senate seat that is central to their hopes of recapturing the majority.

But on the ground, the reality is a little bit different. Remember, North Carolina is a state that Donald Trump won three times. There has not been a Democrat who has won statewide as a Senate candidate there since 2008, and Roy Cooper himself knows that the Democratic brand is damaged and that he is trying to separate himself from the national Democrats, trying to position himself more as a moderate, more mainstream candidate, someone who can work across the aisle hammering Michael Whatley, the Republican candidate, on issues of affordability, such as dealing with the Iran War and dealing with terrorists.

But Republicans have been spending an enormous amount of money going after Cooper on the issue of crime. Cooper himself, as governor, had to cut a deal with Civil Rights groups that was ordered by the court that reduced the prison population, and that has caused -- it had been central to the Republican attack ads against him, roughly $50 million on the GOP side alone will be spent between now and Election Day, more than almost every other state in the entire country, showing you that Republicans think they still have a chance to defeat Roy Cooper.

I caught up with Cooper, and I asked him about the Democratic brand, about whether his party's shift to the left could hurt him in a state like North Carolina.

How damaged is the Democratic brand here in North Dakota?

GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): I think that there are enough people in North Carolina who are skeptical of national Democrats, and that's why we have more success in electing Democrats as governor and attorney general and secretary of state than we do sending them to Washington.

RAJU: We've seen this shift to the left, particularly this election cycle. These Democratic Socialist candidates winning in a number of primaries. Does that concern you?

R. COOPER: Well, I can work within the party and across the aisle with the other party. And that's what I've had to do here in North Carolina.

RAJU: Now, remember, North Carolina is central to the Democrats' quest to recapture the Senate. They have to pick up a net of four seats and North Carolina, is in every single calculation. If they don't win North Carolina, that could all but end their chances of reclaiming power here, which is why Republicans hope to block that by pulling off an upset in North Carolina.

President Trump himself headed to North Carolina to campaign with Michael Whatley this week. But Michael Whatley himself has to deal with questions about affordability, questions about the Iran War, questions about tariff. I tried to press him on those questions. He sidestepped when I asked him directly about whether he was 100 percent behind Trump on those issues just showing you how complicated those questions of affordability are in this campaign season.

Manu Raju, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you, Manu.

Coming up, a federal judge rules that the Trump administration's massive cuts to FEMA staffing were illegal. We will have more on that decision and its impact straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New today, Ukrainian officials say a Russian drone hit a gas station near the country's border with Poland.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WHITFIELD: Ukrainian authorities say it is just the latest in a series of targeted attacks on gas stations, as both sides escalate their air war. According to a Polish official, the drone struck just hundreds of yards from Poland's border. The crossing is a key transit point for aid flowing into Ukraine. No injuries were reported.

The Trump administration's order to fire FEMA staffers earlier this year was illegal. That's what a federal judge said in a ruling, Friday.

The Department of Homeland Security did not have the authority to block the contract renewals of thousands of disaster response workers who help FEMA respond to hurricanes, wildfires and other emergencies.

The judge also criticized FEMA and Homeland Security officials for deleting Signal messages that could have been evidence in the case.

All right, life without running water: That's the daily reality hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are facing as they struggle to find clean water on the island.

Residents are blaming severe drought, aging infrastructure and mismanagement for the widespread service outages.

CNN's Isabel Rosales takes us inside this deepening water crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES (on camera): Right now we're entering Luis Llorens Torres. This is the largest public housing complex in Puerto Rico. There's over 2,000 apartments here.

[15:30:10]

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

(ISABEL ROSALES speaking in foreign language.)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES (voice over): Hundreds of thousands of Americans in Puerto Rico have been without reliable water for months.

(CARMEN NIEVES, SAN JUAN RESIDENT speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: She tells me that she has been under this water crisis for over two months. How do you shower?

(CARMEN NIEVES speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: She says she throws the gallon of water over her head. That's how she showers -- cold water.

(CARMEN NIEVES speaking in foreign language.)

(ISABEL ROSALES speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: There's no water for her to flush.

(CARMEN NIEVES speaking in foreign language.)

(ISABEL ROSALES speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES (voice over): The government has mandated a water rationing plan for 180,000 households in the San Juan metro area. Two days on, two days off. But the water doesn't always come back when it's supposed to.

(CARMEN NIEVES speaking in foreign language.)

(ISABEL ROSALES speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: She's saying this is an abuse. And you would think that right now, based on the government's rationing schedule, that she would have water. But as we saw, she turned on the faucet, and there was nothing.

ROSALES (voice over): And it gets worse. In some neighborhoods, when the water stops, homeowners call in water delivery trucks.

ROSALES: So we see a potable water truck up ahead. We're hearing that they're filling up the water tanks in some of these homes. So we're going to go and check this out.

ROSALES (voice over): Luis called them to make sure his aging parents had water for the day.

(LUIS BLONDET, PINONES RESIDENT speaking in foreign language.) ROSALES: Yes, you can't imagine that they'd be under these circumstances. It's critical, he says.

ROSALES (voice over): This team says it's been covering as many as 80 homes per day.

(PETER PAVON, WATER TRUCK DRIVER speaking in foreign language)

ROSALES: He now knows these neighbors very well. And he's given his phone number out to everyone. And when they need some water, they're just ringing him up.

ROSALES (voice over): Puerto Rico's Governor Jennifer Gonzalez has been blaming the severe drought for the water shortage. The level of the water reservoir serving San Juan has been low. The capital recorded its driest July on record in more than 120 years.

But many Puerto Ricans told me the drought is only half the story. Pointing the finger at the government, their anger more visible by the day.

ROSALES: Check this out!

(ISABEL ROSALES speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: We've been going 139 days without water this year.

ALFREDO CUYAR, ACTIVIST, EXIGIMOS AGUA COALITION: There's a drought. The drought started in June. And we are having problems with the water distribution since July 2025.

ROSALES: How does that happen?

CUYAR: Because they have leaks that they have not fixed for years. The real issue is not even the damage they have caused. It's that they don't know how to bring water to the people.

ROSALES: So you're saying mismanagement.

CUYAR: It's mismanagement.

ROSALES (voice over): The governor has said at least $7 billion has been committed to water infrastructure improvement projects. Her office did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. Meanwhile, the water shortage is putting small businesses at risk.

HECTOR ROSA, BUSINESS OWNER: Tomorrow morning, we are going to be out of water. We need to you know, put waters in the tanks tomorrow morning.

ROSALES: Including Hector Rosa's restaurant.

ROSA: And the water goes up and we just fill up the tank in the room.

We train every single employee with this.

ROSALES: Do you feel like an American citizen having to do all this?

ROSA: Oh no, definitely no, no, no. I feel like a Puerto Rican.

ROSALES (voice over): A private water supplier --

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

(HECTOR ROSA speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: -- is keeping Rosa's restaurant alive.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: It costs Hector roughly $3,000.00 per week. But without it, he says he'd have closed days ago.

ROSALES: How much is this about to cost you?

ROSA: At least $400.00 every time he comes. We've been without water for eight straight days. And that's a lot of water.

ROSALES: How long can you keep going like this? Like a year?

ROSA: No, no, no, no, no. Maybe two or three more weeks.

I don't know if these people know the real struggle that we have every single day with these situations.

ROSALES: So you blame the government?

ROSA: Oh yes, completely. A hundred percent. These people in a different country that we live.

We live in Puerto Rico. These people live in Fortaleza.

ROSALES (voice over): Back in Llorens Torres, some of Carmen's neighbors are left to fill up jugs and bottles from a water tank.

ROSALES: This water tank was just dropped off an hour ago. And we have encountered Sandra right here who just backed up her car.

She has this trunk full of these bleach bottles that she's now taking up over here. And you can see that she's filling up the water. You can see the effort that people are going to.

The manual labor to make sure that they have water inside of their homes.

ROSALES (voice over): And as Sandra is about to leave.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES: Her neighbor, her neighbor just shouted out, hey, the water's coming. The pressure is being turned on.

ROSALES (voice over): Isabel Rosales, CNN, Puerto Rico. (END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:39:58]

WHITFIELD: All right, a moment now to pause and think in a different way. We all face struggles in our lives, right? And we all have barriers to success and realizing our goals. So how do some people succeed and overcome it while others don't?

[15:40:13]

In a very popular TED Talk, author and psychologist, Angela Duckworth said, for everyone, including young people, it came down to one thing in particular.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA DUCKWORTH, AUTHOR AND PSYCHOLOGIST: Grit is passion and perseverance for very long term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Her book "Grit," became a huge bestseller, and now she has written a new book, "Situated" about "How changing your situation can change your life."

Angela Duckworth is also professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She is joining us right now. Congratulations on your new book.

DUCKWORTH: Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here.

WHITFIELD: And great to have you.

So in your -- if we can look back because you can't get past "Grit," you know, in your book "Grit," you helped underscore the importance of determination, passion and perseverance. We just saw it in the TED Talk. Well, now you want to underscore the importance of, shall we say, kind of assessing your predicament, for starters, or how would you put it?

DUCKWORTH: So having spent the first half of my career trying to understand the importance of individual effort and grit in achieving your goals, I have spent the second half of my career kind of widening the aperture to a wide angle lens and asking, what are the common denominators of successful situations?

In other words, what are the situations in which all of that effort pays off?

WHITFIELD: Because, you know, it is important, I guess, to recognize this no matter where you are in your life, you know, as an adult. And of course, even as a child, recognizing, you know, I am in a predicament here. Not sure what to do.

So, you know, say in, for instance, you're in a troublesome spot, perhaps calling for help or needing help, you know, can also be a strength if you would only allow yourself to recognize that. Why is it important, you know, especially for young people, for them to know that it is actually okay when you're in a rough spot or you're in a corner, but it is even more important to say, I need help.

DUCKWORTH: Many of us, including myself, were raised not to complain about the situation. If you're struggling, if you're stuck, for me, the advice was try harder and if that's not working, try even harder. And if that's not working, try harder still.

And what I want to say in this book is that if you actually look at the lifetimes of people who do achieve their potential, they actually don't just try harder. They ask two questions: Where can I be better? And who can help me get better? They take a wide angle lens on their success, and I think the danger of just trying harder is, frankly, it leads to burnout and exhaustion, and when you're in a losing situation, you just think you're a loser.

The advice I have is not to consider the situation to be fixed, not to always assume that circumstances are beyond your control.

WHITFIELD: So is there a relationship between your book "Grit" and this new one "Situated"?

DUCKWORTH: There is. Let me just give you one story that I think makes the point. You could study the swimmer, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete in history. You could take him as a case study in passion and perseverance for long term goals. He was a 365- day swimmer, never missed a practice. He had a 20-year career.

So you could write a whole book about Michael Phelps and his grit. But if you want the complete story of Michael Phelps, you have to understand, for example, that he was not able to do it alone. He had a world class coach named, Bob Bowman. And when I gave you that advice to ask, where can I be better? And who can help me get better? That is a verbatim quote from Coach Bob Bowman.

He taught Michael how to swim. He taught Michael how to handle pressure. He taught Michael how to handle the Olympics. He taught Michael how to handle fame. It wasn't of course, just that he had a world class team of other swimmers. He had one of the best moms in the world, Debbie Phelps, who recognized that her son with ADHD could concentrate, focus and work hard when he was in the pool, so she brought him there every single day.

My point is that "Grit" is essential to achieving great things, but so is a situation that supports you.

WHITFIELD: And then was there also an epiphany for you? Because I kind of read in your op-ed where you talked about, you know, you were a pretty good swimmer. Your mom was a good swimmer. You all are out enjoying yourselves.

You know, this is again, on the swimming kind of note, you're out enjoying yourselves.

[15:45:10]

Your mom gets into trouble. You know, you thought you could handle it, but then realized, wait a minute, this is -- this moment is bigger than all that I can give and you allowed yourself to ask for help.

I mean, tell me why that was an important moment or realization for you, and that there are so many other, I guess, you know, parallels to that.

DUCKWORTH: Well, my mom and I were not swimming in a pool. We were out in the Atlantic Ocean. We were snorkeling. It was, first of all, a lapse of situational awareness right there. Who takes their 86-year- old mother snorkeling in the Atlantic Ocean? But when we were in that situation, the one critical decision that I made that I think saved her life and my own was to stop just trying harder.

I mean, first, that's what I did, I tried to swim her to safety and I couldn't. The current was simply too strong. And I stopped, I started treading water. I waved my arm in the air and I quite literally cried for help.

And to me, the ocean is the perfect metaphor for the situation. It is so strong. Its force. Though invisible though you can maybe neglect it, is always there. Your situation pushes you and pulls you in one direction or another. And if that situation isn't right for you, I think what you need to do is stop just kicking and thrashing and try to change it. And for many of us, it really is asking another person to help us.

This message to me is what we need to hear. It is not just trying harder that will get you to where you want to go.

WHITFIELD: And a really powerful message for kids, right? Our kids to hear and understand, because sometimes they just feel like, you know, there is just a mountain, you know, right on top of them and how am I going to get out of this by myself? But really, it is okay to say, you know what, I need a little help. I need a little assistance. I've got my listening ears on, as they say.

DUCKWORTH: Well, you could play your kids The Beatles' song, "Help," you know, "Help! I need someone. Help!"

WHITFIELD: That's right.

DUCKWORTH: And then if they listen to the lyrics, it is like when I was younger, so much younger than today, I didn't think I needed help in any way. And so let's listen to The Beatles and let's learn that lesson as soon as we can.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful! Angela Duckworth, what a pleasure having you. I really have been enjoying the -- I am still getting through it, but I've gotten a chance to read some of the chapters. I really do like it. It is very inspiring, very good and reassuring. A nice little pat on the back, we should allow ourselves all the time. Thank you.

DUCKWORTH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up. All right, it is all coming back to her now. Celine Dion back on stage after years away. The emotional return for one of music's biggest stars.

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[15:51:56]

WHITFIELD: Singer, Celine Dion made a triumphant return to the concert stage after six years. She has been battling a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome, which put a pause on her career. The singer behind "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" teared up as she kicked off her sold out Paris residency. The concert drew fans from all over the world who couldn't be happier to see one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Two women who traveled from Britain described the show this way.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it was just so emotional. She had tears in her eyes when she first came on. The whole concert, she gave it her all and we were all behind her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she didn't shy away from what she had suffered. And she shared it with her audience and her fans. And not only that, she wanted to inspire the whole audience and encourage us all to dream.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dream big!

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WHITFIELD: All right, super fans there. Celine Dion is set to perform a series of 26 shows over the next eight months in Paris.

All right, the American Midwest, it is not exactly famous for surfing, but along the shores of Lake Michigan, one Wisconsin city has turned unpredictable waves and freezing water into a surfing destination and a community that's proud to call it home. Here is Will Ripley.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surfing can be like whatever you want it to be at that moment. You can have the moments of solitude, you can have the community.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hundreds of miles from the ocean, a small city on the edge of Wisconsin has built a surf culture that feels entirely at home in the Midwest.

This is Sheboygan. Sometimes called the Malibu of the Midwest.

ANDREW JAKUS, OWNER, EOS SURF SHOP: Sheboygan is kind of set up as this perfect little amphitheater for surf, right? We have our harbor structure in the middle, right? That kind of drops out to the piers. Then you have almost two bays on the north and the south side. Right? So what that does is it creates little pockets to receive clean surf.

RIPLEY (voice over): Lake Michigan can go from glass to chop with little warning, and locals make the most of the conditions even on smaller days. For surfers, that unpredictability is part of the appeal.

JAKUS: You're watching wind maps, you're watching pressure systems, you're watching all of these things, creating a hypothesis of like, I believe that with these conditions, if I go to this spot, I'm going to be able to surf well, I'm going to have a good surf. And sometimes you totally score. Sometimes you're like, I'm glad I'm not a meteorologist by profession.

RIPLEY (voice over): As winter brings icy waters and biting winds, some here face the cold head on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you keep going under more or getting flushed more, you start to build like ice. It doesn't really stick to your face, but it like hangs off like my beard.

RIPLEY (voice over): Surf season runs September through March. And while at crowded breaks around the world, a good wave is something to fight over. Here in Sheboygan apparently there's room for everyone.

JAKUS: We're excited to see you. Right? Normally, we wish there was more people with us.

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[15:55:06]

WHITFIELD: Surfs up, Will Ripley, thank you.

All right, coming up, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is slowing to a trickle as more vessels come under attack. And now a new strike in Saudi Arabia is raising concerns about another front opening in this war.

Plus, a former worker says A.I. technology could kill us all, as some company leaders call for a slowdown. Today, President Trump paints a different picture.

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TRUMP: They are bringing up things that won't happen. But whoever wins with A.I. wins.

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WHITFIELD: And from the Mississippi Delta to a new generation of fans, the blues is getting a fresh spotlight. I will talk to actor, Morgan Freeman on the magic of the music, and the hope that he finds in his new blues album, "Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience."

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