Susan Rice warns American democracy is under attack 'from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'

President Barack Obama's former national security adviser warned Friday that American democracy is "under assault" and the "attack" is being waged from the White House.

Susan Rice, who also served as U.N. ambassador in the Obama administration, made the dire assessment on "CBS This Morning," responding to President Trump's comments Thursday that he would like China to look into the business dealings of presidential candidate Joe Biden's son.

"I couldn't believe it," Rice said about the comments, adding that Trump is welcoming an "adversary to intervene in our election, just as he did with Russia."

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"For the first time that I can remember, our democracy is under assault. Our country is, in effect, under attack ... and that attack is coming now from within. It's coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And for all of the security threats I saw as national security adviser, all the challenges we faced, I never thought I'd see that," said Rice.

Rice accused Trump of projecting an image of "chaos, insecurity, instability and chaos" to the world, claiming China could look to take advantage when it comes to ongoing disputes with the United States over trade, cybersecurity and the South China Sea.

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"You're thinking this man is not predictable, he's not stable, he's not playing with a full deck. And if they were being smart, and never discount the Chinese ability to be smart, they'd think maybe this is an opportunity to steal second base," she said.

Trump said Thursday that China should investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings, as he doubled down on his prior call for Ukraine to do the same. Trump struck a characteristically defiant tone while speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn, en route to Florida.

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In the controversial Juy 25 telephone call, President Trump requested his Ukrainian counterpart for help with a probe into Hunter Biden's dealings with gas company Burisma Holdings, where Hunter served on the board, and the elder Biden's role in ousting a prosecutor who had been looking into that company.

The phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prompted a whistleblower complaint and Democrats have deemed the request an impeachable offense.

Rice was asked whether Joe Biden "mishandled" the situation involving his son's business dealings and the prosecutor's removal.

"Joe Biden was doing what he was asked to do by the president of the United States consistent with serving our policy interests," she responded, adding Biden acted "transparently" and that the prosecutor was removed for failing to tackle corruption.

Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

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