Barr Claims China Greatest Threat To Elections; China Resumes Flights from Certain Nations
VAUSE: The U.S. attorney general has echoed the false and misleading statements made by the president over mail-in ballots to play up an almost non-existent risk of voter fraud. William Barr spoke exclusively with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He said states which were looking -- were playing with fire, rather, when it came to the whole vote by mail thing.</s>WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is playing with fire, this is playing with fire. We're a very closely divided country here. And if people have to have confidence in the results of the election and the legitimacy of the government and people trying to change the rules to this methodology -- which, as a matter of logic, is very open to fraud and coercion -- is reckless and dangerous. And people are playing with fire.</s>VAUSE: Barr went on to say that absentee ballots were a good option for those concerned about COVID-19 and voting. But that's essentially the same thing as voting by mail. And when it comes to foreign interference in the coming U.S. election, Barr downplayed the well-documented efforts by Russia. Instead he pointed the finger to China.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: The intelligence community says Russia, China and Iran are seeking to interfere in the U.S. presidential election for various reasons. But mostly they want to sow dissent in our country, exacerbate racial tensions, et cetera [ph] like that. Of those three countries that the intelligence community has pointed to, Russia, China and Iran, which is the most assertive, the most aggressive in this area?</s>BARR: I believe it's China.</s>BLITZER: It's what?</s>BARR: China.</s>BLITZER: China more than Russia right now?</s>BARR: Yes.</s>BLITZER: Why do you say that?</s>BARR: Because I've seen the intelligence. That's what I've concluded.</s>BLITZER: What are they trying to do?</s>BARR: Well, I'm not going to discuss that.</s>VAUSE: That's convenient. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout live this hour in Hong Kong. And it's being kind of snarky there but this is an administration which has a very big credibility problem. If they're going to make accusations like that, surely there is sort of a responsibility to put the evidence up there. It's an easy one to knock down by Beijing if they don't.</s>KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. An administration also with a reputation of being tough on China. In fact it was just a few hours after William Barr made those comments we heard from Mike Pompeo who called China the single greatest threat to America. Look, we are still waiting for reaction from China to those explosive comments that came from Attorney General Barr claiming that China is a bigger election threat than Russia. And he said he had, quote "seen the evidence." He did not provide the evidence in that interview with Wolf Blitzer, nor did he do after the interview. And if the evidence exists, the U.S. intelligence community has yet to share it. Now according to a U.S. intelligence report on election security that was released early in August it says yes, China would prefer if U.S. President Donald Trump not win reelection, but the report did not mention any evidence that shows China is actively undermining or manipulating the election in order to weaken Donald Trump. Whereas Russia, according to this report, is actively interfering to undermine the candidacy of Joe Biden through its use of state actors using social media, using Russian state TV to boost the standing of Donald Trump. Now as we wait for reaction, official reaction from Beijing, to that claim by Attorney General Barr -- we know that China in the past has reacted to similar comments. In fact, it was back in in April when the spokesperson of ministry of affairs said that China regards the U.S. election as an internal matter, it's not interested in interference. And adding, quote: "We hope the people of the U.S. will not drag China into its election politics." John.</s>VAUSE: Well, with that in mind -- we're hearing this increasing tough rhetoric from members within this administration. It's not usual for, on the eve of an election for Republicans in particular, to make China the straw man, it's been happening for years. This time though it seems I guess a lot -- at a much stronger level, a much higher level, if you like. The talk is a lot tougher than it has been in the past.</s>STOUT: Yes, it is a lot tougher. We are a moment of unprecedented friction between the U.S. and China, a moment not seen since diplomatic relations were established in the Nixon era. And this is a cold war that's emerged on multiple fronts; geopolitical, economic, et cetera. But China also knows that there is an election year. So there is the pressure inside China to react with forceful rhetoric and with action but also the calculation being made inside China not to play into the hands of Donald Trump's campaign for reelection. John.</s>VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there live in Hong Kong. We'll take a short break. When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM, the Korean Peninsula getting typhoon Maysak and other major storm is already on its way.