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Hi, and welcome to NTD News. My name is Dan Alfjorden. Here are our headlines. The US election is coming to an end. Trump wants 200% toll for Chinese cars built in Mexico. First pending judgment according to a new security law in Hong Kong. China acquits bankers and confiscates passports. California approves a law that protects artists from AI-generated deepfakes. The US election is now entering the final phase of the election cycle. There are only five weeks left. Let's take a look at what's happening now, and what will happen until and after November 5. Two assassination attempts on a presidential candidate and another candidate who suddenly jumps off the race. This election season has been dramatic so far, and now it's entering the final phase. The pre-election has already begun in several states. On October 1, the two vice presidential candidates will debate. Republican Senator J.D. Vance and Democratic Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz will meet at CBS. This will probably be the last time the two sides will meet on stage before the election. The race between Vice President Harris and former President Trump is even. Opinion polls do not show that any of them have a significant advantage over the other. Opinion polls will probably be conducted in a handful of major states, which will probably decide the election. Even when the election is over, there are things to keep an eye on. On November 26, the judgment will be made in Trump's courtroom in New York. Judge Jean Merchan made it to this date because, as he expressed it, avoiding it would look like the trial would affect the presidential election. Trump was accused of falsifying business deals to hide payments to the porn movie actor Gunstorm in Daniels. Another Trump case for alleged election interference in Georgia may continue after the election. The question of whether this case will be brought up is set for December 5. On December 17, the election committee will meet to vote. A candidate needs at least 270 voters to win. When the new year begins, the Congress leaders will be sworn in. On January 3, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the leaders will vote on the rules of the House of Representatives for the new term of office. On January 6, the Congress officially counts the electoral votes from each state. And finally, on January 20, more than two months after the election, the new president and vice president will be sworn in. Trump or Harris, which president candidate stands for greater change? And is the United States on the right track right now? NTRS Sam Wong was at National Mall in Washington DC to hear what the voters think. You know, that's a really good question. I think Trump should just sit down and talk logically about what he did already and what he will do specifically. And let Harris just gobble away saying nothing about nothing. Well, I think she's going to work really hard on uniting us as a country instead of what we're seeing now as countrymen versus countrymen. What kind of changes do you think Trump is going to bring about? I'm hoping that he's going to close the border and I'm hoping that he reduces our crime. And I'm hoping that he gets our economy up and running again. He's just want to do what's right for America as evidenced by the last four years. He's very concerned about China and Russia. Do you think the country is heading into the right direction right now? The economy? No. But as far as, you know, maybe not so divided, I hope. I just think we've been kind of in decline the last three to four years. I think it is not. It will be if Trump gets in. If it doesn't, if Harris wins, I don't know. For my grandkids, my kids, my grandkids, I'm very concerned about their future. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a meeting in Pittsburgh, where she gave more information about her economic plan. She will also do her first solo interview on TV. Entry's Jason Blair reports. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke more about what she intends to do for the economy if elected president. We need to restore basic economic security for middle class families. Harris gave her first talk highlighting the economy about six weeks ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she unveiled what she named her opportunity economy plan. On Wednesday, she made her most lengthy and detailed speech on the subject since becoming the Democratic nominee. I am a capitalist. I believe in free and fair markets. Harris said her first pillar of her opportunity economy plan is lowering costs. She said she'd give tax breaks to the middle class, including her previously mentioned $6,000 tax cut to new parents during the first year of their child's life. We'll also cut the cost of child care and elder care. Harris said the second pillar of her plan is investing in American innovation and entrepreneurship. I believe the source of our success is the ingenuity, the dynamism and enterprising spirit of the American people. And she said her third pillar is leading the world in the industries of the future. And making sure America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century. And while Harris is in Pittsburgh, she will also be sitting down with Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC. It will be Harris' first one-on-one network interview since being at the top of the Democratic ticket. It's scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Eastern the same day. And Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance responded to MSNBC's announcement about Harris' interview on X, saying Ruhle has explicitly endorsed Harris. She won't ask hard cues. And Vance also has a debate scheduled with Harris' running mate Tim Walz coming up October 1. So far it is the only one scheduled for the vice presidential nominees. It will be moderated by Nora O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. Democratic and Republican groups are fighting over the rules for mail voting. The Democrats complain that the rules are too strict. The Republicans claim that the whole system is corrupt. Our legal correspondent Arlene Richards analyzes the growing moods on both sides. Pennsylvania is an important state that is crucial for the presidential nominee's chances of winning in November. With 19 electoral votes, one of the highest among all states, Pennsylvania is among the most polluted. As in other states, Republicans and Democrats stand against each other in dozens of moods this year. Their biggest disagreement? Mail voting. This fight has been going on since the 2020 election. Now both sides are armed with groups of lawyers who cover Pennsylvania's court proceedings in several counties. Last month, a panel of state judges decided that two of the state's largest counties can't throw away wrongly dated mail votes. The decision is a violation of an election law that flags ballots with wrongly dated envelopes. Liberal groups claim that the decision means that voters lose their right to vote. The judge said that even if the date has been discussed in many moods, this is the first to claim that it violates Pennsylvania's constitution. Some of the plaintiffs in this case filed a similar appeal to the federal court. In March, a shared federal appeal court decided that the decision does not violate federal laws on civil rights. But the judge in the federal court, Ellen Ziesler, wrote that since the date on the envelope is not used to determine that a ballot is in the right time, that a voter is entitled to vote, or that it is a fraud, the defendant refuses to count it against the basic right to vote. Governor Josh Shapiro said in a statement that it was a victory for Pennsylvania's basic right to vote. But Pennsylvania's Supreme Court decided on Friday, September 13, that mail votes must have the right date to be counted. In 2020, former President Trump questioned the validity of mail votes. The Supreme Court of the state then decided that citizens should not be deprived of their right to vote if there is no evidence of fraud. At the same time, a large panel of judges in the federal appeal court refused to re-examine the citizen's right to vote at that time. The case from 2020 is now back in the lower court to be tried according to the Constitution's clause on equal protection. In 2020, 1.7 million Democrats in Pennsylvania sent in their ballots by mail, compared to about 600,000 Republicans. Despite Trump's doubts, Republican groups in Pennsylvania are rallying their voters to accept mail-in voting. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans advanced a bill in March to eliminate election drop boxes. And in June, Pennsylvania voters sued the state and federal court, claiming the entire election system is flawed. The legal action, called a writ of mandamus, asked the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to require state and federal agencies to address what they believe is mass fraud in the election system. Department of State Secretary Al Schmitt, Attorney General Michelle Henry, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and several state offices are also named as defendants, along with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Department of Justice. Arlene Richards, NTD News. Former President Trump exposed the threat from China's electric car industry at an election meeting in Michigan on September 17. In his first public appearance since the apparent second assassination attempt, Trump had an important warning for the wave master state. China dominates the electric vehicle industry. The country sells almost 60% of all electric cars in the world. China-based company CATL is the world's largest battery manufacturer for electric vehicles. In the U.S. there are now more than 30 factories for electric car batteries that are planned or in operation, stimulated by incitement from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. Trump questioned the U.S. position in the race for electric car dominance. What we have is a thing called gasoline. We have gasoline. We have so much gasoline, we don't know what to do. They don't have gasoline. So why are we making a product that they dominate? They're gonna dominate. You will not have a car industry left, not even a little bit of a car industry. China was the second largest importer of American oil last year. This week, Trump said he would introduce a 200% toll on Chinese-made cars that enter the U.S. via Mexico. This is because some passengers in China are trying to avoid tolls by building cars in Mexico and sending them over the border. Trump introduced a 25% toll to keep Chinese electric cars away during his term. President Biden kept this policy and increased the figure to 100%, which came into force later this month. Trump also said that he would introduce a mutual trade tax on Chinese products. The rapid development of Chinese electric cars has shaken the heights in the American car industry. Ford's CEO called Chinese electric vehicles, quote, an existential threat, after having returned from China. Tesla's Elon Musk said that the Chinese manufacturers are the most competitive in the world. Washington is doubling efforts to eradicate a Chinese threat hidden in smart cars. The U.S. Department of Commerce proposed a new rule on September 23. It aims to ban Chinese technology in smart cars or connected vehicles. Biden administration officials said that the technology can collect a lot of data about American drivers. Details such as where they live, where their children go to school and their health information. In extreme situations, opponents could block roads and cause crashes by turning off the vehicle at a distance. Smart cars can also collect information about critical infrastructure. Infrastructure such as water treatment plants, fuel lines and power grids are already among Beijing's goals. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan pointed out that China has already planted harmful code in the U.S.'s critical infrastructure. He added that with potential millions of vehicles on the roads, the risk of disruption and sabotage increases dramatically. Let's zoom out again. The White House said that Chinese manufacturers want to dominate smart car technologies in the U.S. and around the world. A 25% toll tax from the Trump era has kept Chinese electric vehicles away from the American market. And President Biden increased that investment to 100%, which will take effect on September 27. If the new rule for smart cars gets green light, the administration will start banning Chinese software by 2027 and hardware by 2030. It would affect cars, trucks and buses, but it would not apply to cars that are already on the road and have Chinese software installed. China has become Mexico's leading car supplier, with an export of a total of $4.6 billion in 2023, according to Mexico's Secretary of Economy. The Chinese car manufacturer BYD has grown to be the 7th largest car manufacturer globally, past Honda and Nissan, driven by a growing demand for their affordable electric vehicles. Will China conquer the American market next? She joins us now. Lauren, how are you doing today? I'm great, thank you. So tell us what you mean. Did you mean that exactly, that China is taking over the auto industry? They are, and how they're doing it is actually very creative and very intelligent. They've been working on this for a long time. If you can create a need for electric batteries, and you tell everyone before you make that move that you purchase all of the mines, or at least the bulk of the mines around the world, and then say, oh yeah, there's a problem with the environment, we need to push this, everyone needs to go with electric cars, and then who's the first one to come up with the electric car? Well, they are, although Elon Musk is the first one here. And now they're pushing the fact that if you need these batteries, you need to get the components and the parts from us, and we've offshored so many components and parts to China that belong in domestic cars, German cars, Japanese, Korean cars, that before we can even go out on our own and produce these products, the problem is that China's already got a stronghold, and once you blaze a trail in any industry, it's very difficult to get in front of the leader, and they know that. So they're controlling the market and they're controlling what's out there, and if you want to build in China, great, we'll be thrilled to have your plant. But here's the thing, Don, you have to give half of the ownership up to the Chinese government. The Spaniard changes his attitude to the proposed tolls on China-made electric vehicles. The country's prime minister says that the EU should review further tolls. He made the statement after a four-day trip to China, where he met Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Here's more of what he said. We don't need another war, in this case a trade war. I think that we need to bring breaches between the European Union and China and from Spain. What we will do is to be constructive and to try to find a solution, a compromise between China and the European Commission. According to the EU, the extra tolls on Chinese companies unfairly draw benefit from subsidies and flood the market. And it damages European manufacturers. Earlier this year, Spain had expressed its support for the tolls. China responded by initiating an anti-dumping survey of late cognac, meijerie and pork products. Spain is Europe's largest exporter of pork. So tolls on European pork could damage Spain. The EU will end the order on electric vehicles at the end of October. This on the condition that it is not blocked by a qualified majority of EU members, for which 15 countries are needed. Hong Kong judged its first inhabitant according to the new law on national security. A man named Cho Kai-pong admitted guilty of deviation for wearing a T-shirt with protest slogans. Here's more. The slogan was to liberate Hong Kong, our time revolution. And on a yellow mask was another slogan. Five demands, not one less. Cho said he wore the T-shirt to remind people of the protests. He can get up to 10 years in prison. Demonstrators often chanted these slogans during the massive pro-democratic protests in 2019. Great Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. With a promise that Beijing would maintain freedom of speech and press for 50 years. But the Chinese regime introduced the national security law in 2020. Which, according to critics, dramatically undermined Hong Kong's freedom. In March this year, the city adopted a new security law that extends the national security law. China's latest corruption investigation focuses on the country's financial sector. Since August, several bankers have been imprisoned and many have received their passports confiscated. At the same time, more than 1,100 managers at Chinese stock exchanges have spoken up in recent weeks. Beijing's audit of the country's almost 9,000 investment banks is increasing. Now they focus on the corruption probe in the financial sector. With some bankers being investigated and banned from traveling abroad. Many of them transfer their wealth overseas. To prevent this, their passports and travel plans require approval from the authorities. This is to stop them from leaving China with the money. Most of them from financial institutions. Du Wen is a former legal advisor to a part of the provincial government in China. Under the Chinese Communist Party. He has previously fled China and now lives in Belgium. Wen wrote on X that managers are quick to cause serious market problems. Now they are leaving a lot. This indicates that a total collapse of the financial system in China could be just around the corner. The pop icon Taylor Swift did not support the former president Trump. But a copy of her did. AI is becoming more and more common in the entertainment industry. And California has adopted a law that aims to protect artists from getting their pictures stolen. Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more common in the entertainment industry. And the legislation is coming to an end. According to a new bill, California has defined a digital replica as a computer-generated, very realistic electronic representation. Which can easily be identified as an individual's voice or visual likeness. Another proposal does the same for depraved artists. And gives the right to their depictions to the one who has their copyright. Only with their consent can a digital copy of the actor be created for commercial use. California Governor Gavin Newsom says that the bill will help fight the use of deepfakes in political ads and other content. Newsom signed the bill together with the chairman of SAG-AFTRA. The union has long striven to provide legal protection against unnecessary use of AI to create actors, artists and actors in scenes where the real person does not exist. AI has been used to reproduce depraved actors in movies like Star Wars Rogue One. And even recreated the voice of actors who have lost their ability to speak. Like Val Kilmer in Top Gun Maverick. After three days of competition, two singers won the gold prize and $10,000 each. In NTD's 9th International Chinese Vocal Competition. What makes the competition unique is that it requires the singers to perform a song in Chinese. In Italian bel canto style. One of the first place winners, mezzo-soprano Chunqing Zhang, said she was both thrilled and nervous. I really didn't expect this. I was also very nervous and never thought about how it would turn out. To promote traditional vocal arts, NTD's competition requires all contestants to sing in bel canto. An Italian opera singing style known for its beautiful melodies. On top of that, singers have to perform a song in Chinese. Zhang said the Chinese song she picked proved challenging. What I performed today was the original version and its pitch is very high. It's a very big challenge for a mezzo-soprano like me, which is why I was nervous. But the chance is a rare one. As a professional opera singer touring around the world, she never had the opportunity to perform bel canto in the Chinese language. My biggest takeaway this time is that it turns out I can use my mezzo-soprano voice to interpret traditional Chinese culture, which is so beautiful. And this trophy means I made it. Another gold award winner, soprano Yue Li, said she was honored to win the top award. It has always been my dream to sing Chinese songs on a world stage. And this competition gave us a chance to promote traditional Chinese culture. The silver award winner said she was grateful for the opportunity. This is a good start for me. The award gave me a lot of confidence and encouragement. Lucy Zhou, director of NTD competitions, congratulated all the singers. Standing on NTD's stage and contributing to the important mission of reviving traditional vocal arts, they're truly remarkable. Zhou said she hopes contestants can help spread traditional vocal arts throughout the world after returning to their home countries. The vocal competition is one of a series of arts and culture events held by NTD, aimed at preserving traditional culture. Coming up in October, NTD's international piano competition. Stay tuned, we'll be bringing you more event coverage. Reporting from New York, Juliet Song, NTD News. Thank you for watching, and goodbye.