Tonight, Microsoft's warning
that China
is using artificial intelligence
to mimic American voters
and Stoke Division ahead of the election.
Creating images like this,
one of the Statue of Liberty
warning democracy
and freedom is being thrown away
and real Americans are reposting.
It comes as
China is increasingly buying up
more and more of America's farmland,
raising concerns
about what
the Communist Party plans to do.
David Culver has this story
that you will see.
First, OUTFRONT
just a couple of hours
into our drive from Seattle.
We start to see the markings
of American Pride,
Stars and Stripes
lining the highways of rural
Washington state.
This is part of the agricultural backbone
that keeps us fed.
But as we look
closer here,
we find what might be for America
is in some cases not American.
This is something
we've kind of woken up to
and thought we should do something.
Dan Newhouse splits his time
between Sunnyside,
Washington, working as a hops farmer
and the other Washington,
where he serves
on Congress,
has recently created select
committee on the CCP.
I think a lot of folks, Congressman,
would look at where we are and say,
how does that relate to the committee
that focuses
on the Chinese Communist Party?
I think there's a huge connection.
We've seen a tremendous increase
in the number of acres,
for instance, being purchased
by Chinese businesses.
The increase in the investments
has grown by a factor of ten
over the last decade.
A sharp rise, he worries, will continue.
But the one thing that people need to
understand is China is not an ally.
They're an adversary.
Lawmakers on both sides
fear that with control of U.S.
farmland, China could manipulate U.S.
food supply,
surveil sensitive military sites,
or even steal valuable
intellectual property.
China's foreign ministry says the U.S.
is playing off of unwarranted
national security fears to discriminate.
We drive
about an hour
from sunny
side to see how close
the business ties to China are.
You're about to see the sign.
It's called Syngenta.
This is a seed and pesticide
manufacturer.
It's one of the largest in the world.
And let me show you something else
as you look from the outside here.
Nothing about this suggests
that it's foreign owned
fact.
You can even see look right there.
It's an American flag that's flying.
Syngenta is headquartered in Switzerland,
but owned by Chem China,
which is 100% Chinese state controlled
and designated last year
by the Defense Department
as a military company.
Its CEO,
a former government
official and member
of the Chinese Communist Party,
Syngenta is operating here legally,
and neither it
nor its parent company
have been accused of wrongdoing.
In a statement to CNN,
they stressed
that Syngenta has approximately 4400 U.S.
employees in 43 states
and all its activities are conducted on
fields and farms in the U.S.
to benefit American farmers.
New House is sponsoring a House bill
that would heavily vet
and restrict future investment
from Chinese entities.
A similar effort
passed the Senate in July,
and more than two dozen states
have either passed
or proposed their own restrictions
on foreign ownership. Of land.
They were all family owned.
Now there's no families left.
The restrictions on certain
foreign investment
could mean fewer options
for family farms
facing increased
financial pressures and needing to sell.
Would you be hesitant in selling to
any certain foreign group
that's coming in,
even if it was a Chinese owned company?
I wouldn't like it.
But money's money.
If they're the only check that got,
what are you going to do?
The legislation
could also have wider consequences.
One of the biggest counterarguments is,
Oh, that's going to lead to xenophobia,
right? That's going to create a prejudice
to that.
You say,
I think we can make
that distinction between
the Chinese people
in the Chinese Communist Party,
and we're not looking
at trying to create an anti-Chinese
sediment in our country.
We're just trying to be smart
about how we respond to the
communist Chinese.
I'm I mean, this is incredible.
So that you're driving by.
Syngenta is one of
the most important
seed chemical companies in the world.
And never mind that
it's Swiss headquartered, right? Right.
You showed those flags,
the American flag,
and you wouldn't even know
it was Swiss headquartered. Right.
But 100% owned by Chinese state
owned company
that's designated by the United States
as a military company.
And that's just fine.
And totally linked to the CCP.
Yeah. And and they're operating here
legally they've done nothing wrong.
And I think that's part of the concern
from lawmakers
is if they're able to do that
and they're able to continue,
you know, really unvetted
with future investments.
How long does that pursue?
And so if you look at the total number,
though, Erin,
it's quite small when we're talking about
how much of the foreign owned land in
this country
is controlled
by Chinese businesses
or Chinese nationals, it's less than 1%.
But in recent years,
the trajectory
has increased significantly.
And that's the worry going forward.
And that's why you see what is very rare
in Washington, bipartisan support.
You got both sides who are honest.
And as that farmer said to you,
it would want to sell to China,
but money is money ultimately
That's the reality liability. Right.
All right.
Incredible. David, thank you very much.