dememracy in america. voters in the u.s. decide who they think should lead the country. one man has spent the past four years reshaping how americans see their country and how america is seen around the world. u.s. president barack obama took the wheel of an economy that resisted efforts to write it. now voters are deciding whether to stick with him or whether his republican opponent mitt romney deserves the job. eyewitness news line will focus all day on the race for president. millions of americans are still voting. millions are already making their choices and already we're

getting some hints about who they chose. our partners at abc news project barack obama will capture 3 electoral votes and mitt romney 33. let's take a look at the projections state by state. the states in blue are for obama. the runs in red for romney. romney in south carolina, indiana, and kentucky. the projections give obama 3 electoral votes and they hope the number adds up to 270 or more needed to win the election. obama and the first lady arrived at home in chicago. the president wrapped hip his campaign with a visit to ohio and other swing states and criticized his opponents economic policies. he said romney would only increase the gap between rich and moor. romney voted in belmont, massachusetts. he, too, visited ohio and other swing states at the end of the campaign.

he told voters obama failed in his efforts to fix the economy. we're drawing on the projections of our partners at u.s. broadcaster abc news. before the ballots are counted they're using exit polls to project the results state by state and analyze the counting and feed that into the model. we'll update the electoral votes projected for each candidate and we're starting to see those tick up. millions of americans get their say in who becomes president. what happens after that seems like a riddle to some. thanks for joining us. how do election officials determine a winner? >> yes, katherine. well, today 50 states in the u.s. and district of columbia, washington, thats, will be voting. the pern that receives the post

popular vote wins that state or the district and the winner gets all the electoral votes assigned to that state. there are 538 total electoral votes and you need 270 to be the next president. 270 is the magic number. >> winner takes all electoral college system. >> yes. >> except for two states, nebraska and maine. >> that is correct. they are blue states like vermont, new york, california, and there are red states, kentucky, south carolina, and indiana, and i think abc has already reported or called those three states winner of one by romney, by the way, and then there are the swing states or the toss-up states or some people call them the battleground states, virginia, florida, ohio, colorado, iowa, new hampshire, and wisconsin and you need to win votes from electoral votes from these swing

states to get to that magic number of 270. the latest poll indicates that before we went into this election day 243 electoral votes secured by obama versus 206 secured by romney, so there are 89 toss-up electoral votes from seven states. we have to wait until either side reaches 270. >> that's why we saw the two men campaigning hard over the last few days to get those swing states. i am going to ask you to hold on awhile. we'll get back to you in a moment. now, president obama says his biggest mistake in his first term was how he communicated. he says he needed to tell americans a story that gave them a sense of unity, especially during tough times. >> america can change. our union can be perfected. >> many persons have grown tired

of what their country had come to represent under george w. bush. obama promised change at home and abroad. he brought an end to the war in iraq. he said u.s. combat forces would pull out of afghanistan by the end of 2014. he promised to decimate al qaeda. >> after a fire fight they killed osama bin laden and took custody of his body. we can say to the families that lost loved ones to al qaeda's terror justice has been done. >> some argue obama had not met expectations in the middle east. he states persistent trouble with a dominant player in the region and refocused foreign policy to make it more multi lateral, part of what he calls a broader shift. >> after a decade in which we fought two wars that cost us dearly and blood and treasure, the united states is turning our attention to the vast potential

of the asia pacific region. >> obama turned his attention at home to pushing through health care reform, something president after president had tried to do. he succeeded with what became known as obama care, the most significant overhaul since medicare and medicaid in the 1960s. he pushed to shore up banks after the financial crisis. congress passed legislation two years ago imposing stricter regulations on financial institutions and giving more protection to consumers. reforming the nation's finances has proved more difficult. republicans criticize obama for the mounting national debt, and they say the unemployment rate, 7.9%, is unacceptably high. >> mike has followed obama's successes and his setbacks. he teaches political science and international affairs at george washington university. he joins us from our studio in

new york. thanks very much for joining us now. professor, president obama says he has restored america's standing across the globe. how do you rate his foreign policy? >> i think on the whole i would rate president obama quite high. i think he has really restored the reputation, the stature of the united states and because he basically personifies what is great about the united states and although he was a novice in foreign affairs, he has executed foreign policy with a lot of thoughtfulness, intelligence, and moderation. i think i would also give him high marks because of some of his successes. he has brought an end to our long military intervention in iraq and winding down our involvement in afghanistan and the united states was able to kill osama bin laden and weaken al qaeda.

he also was behind a historic arms control agreement with russia which has reduced the number of nuclear weapons that are actively deployed, and he has rebalanced and refocused american foreign policy to the most important region of the world, the asia pacific region. on the whole i would have to give him a very high marks. >> i see. how would you assess romney's approach to foreign policy? >> well, that's a good question. it is not clear what will be romney's approach to foreign policy because i think there are two romneys. there is the hawkish romney who seems to be wanting to pursue a policy that considers certain states as enemies, where military action may be seriously contemplated and he has referred to nuclear iran and syria,

russia, as a big adversaries and then there is the other romney that we saw in the presidential debate and this romney was a romney that was much more moderate, realistic, and a presidential candidate who used the word peace so many times and much more than president obama. so we will know until he takes office who will not true romney in terms of foreign policy. >> all right. thanks very much, professor. yota has been standing by and let's bring him back into the conversation. the polls throughout the campaign pointed toward a closer contest than the one four years ago. how do you think the dynamic has changed? >> i think the dynamic has changed a tremendously compared to 2008 and all because of the economy, number two because of obama's inability to energize

the independents, because of diminishing charisma and, three, obama's substandard performance at the first debate that gave romney momentum. when an incumbent is running for re-election it is between him, a chance to turn the page. history suggests it is very difficult for an incumbent president to win when the economy is in bad shape, and trajectory of economy right now is not clear. last four-year period was about recession, stimulus, bailouts and painfully slow recovery. unemployment rates, obama's administration started january 2009 when the rate was 7.8%. it topped 10% ten months later. now it is 7.9%. almost right back where we started from. the important question is that

everyone is asking is did obama do good enough job or is it still unsatisfactory? which way are we heading? you can see other numbers are improving like gdp, dow average, and deficit numbers are still over $1 trillion. so there is sort of mixed signs and interesting fact is that there is no incumbent has won re-election in the post war period when the unemployment rate was over 7% except ronald reagan, but the economy was clearly showing an upward trend at the time, so it is difficult to compare 2012 with that time. all things considered, i think ratings are surprisingly good for obama in spite of the sluggish economy. romney has not been able to capitalize and take advantage of the bad economy that has been the main issue of 2012 race. so obama is being helped by romney's inability to seal the

deal if you will. >> we'll have to see if an incumbent president can be re-elected even though the unemployment rate is above 7%. >> yes. >> thanks very much. thank you very much. we'll be back again with us next hour with more insights. we're still in the early stages but we're already seeing some glimmers of the choices americans are making. our partners at abc news projected barack obama will capture 57 electoral votes and mitt romney up to 40 now. let's look at how the projections play out state by state. the states in blue are for obama, the ones in red for romney. obama is now projected to win in illinois, massachusetts, maryland, and elsewhere. romney in oklahoma, south carolina, and west virginia among others. again, the projections give obama 57 electoral votes to romney's 40. again, they both hope their number will add up to at least 270. we'll start to see the numbers

add up. we'll bring you the latest later in the program. let's check on how the people in the financial sector are looking at the election. >> as investors are welcoming the end of the election race, regardless of who wins because uncertainties will no longer dampen the market and this pushed up tuesday's new york stock prices. buying orders were placed on a wide range of shares and the dow jones industrial average rose over 170 points at one stage and a key index and ended the day at 13,245. that's up 1% from monday's close. president obama's victory would probably mean continued monetary easing to support a recovery, and if republican contender mitt romney wins, he will likely

deregulate banking and other industries. either way, the u.s. economy would get a boost and that would be a positive factor for share prices. market watchers say many participants have stayed put to see who will become the next president. that capped the dow's upside. let's check on the markets here in tokyo for this wednesday morning. first to stocks. the nikkei index is currently trading at 8,973. that's just slightly down .02% from tuesday. investors are placing buy orders after a rally in new york but many are refraining from aggressive moves to see the outcome of the u.s. presidential election. currencies on the tokyo foreign exchange the dollar is little changed against the yen, dollar/yen is changing at 80.18 to 26 and currency investors are staying on the sidelines as they wait for the results of a tightly fought race to the white house. the euro/yen is currently

changing hands. to other markets in asia pacific regions, the kospi is down a quarter percent and trading at 1,923 and in australia the benchmark index there is up about a quarter percent and trading right now at 4,495. and moving onto europe, workers in greece have begun a general strike, tens of thousands of greeks have taken to the streets to protest the new austerity bill. this includes pensions and public servant salaries and the plan will be put to a vote in parliament on wednesday. police say about 60,000 protesters took part in the demonstrations. extra officers are guarding the particlement and government buildings. trains and buses stopped running as workers walked out in the 48-hour strike. flights were also canceled or delayed as aviation controllers temporarily boycotted their

jobs. greece has to reduce its spending by 13.5 billion euros over two years to receive bailout funds from the european union and other lenders. the aid is essential to avoid the depletion of its coffers. the bill's fate remains unclear. even some members of the ruling coalition are against the bill saying further cuts will create harsher conditions for greek workers. meanwhile, france announces plans to ease labor costs by a tax credits to businesses as it looks for improved competitiveness of its firms and financed by spending cuts and sales tax hiekds. prime minister john air rose said on tuesday the credit will be implemented in phases over three years beginning next year. the funding will come from an increase of the value-added tax from the current 19.6% to 20%. sales tax at restaurants will be raised from 7% to 10%. the minimum rate on food and

other basics will be cut to 5% from 5.5% to help low income earners. back here in japan tokyo electric power company asked the government to cover part of the cleanup and compensation costs after the fukushima nuclear crisis. it says the work will be too costly for a single company to afford. the operator of the fukushima daiichi plant is expected to make the request in the new management plan covering the next two fiscal years. tepco will announce the plan on wednesday. toek yes electric says it will set up a new office in the fukushima prefecture to transfer some of its functions of the head office and assign more than 4,000 staff to work there. the utility says they will make an all-out effort to clean up radioactive materials from the crippled plant and to compensate people affected by the accident. tepco says compensation and decontamination costs could add up to more than $120 billion. the company will ask the

government to review the current framework for supporting the utility and foot part of the costs. it asks for a new plant to be formulated by next spring. that is all for me for now. i will leave you with the markets across asia. we bring you other news now. a pakistani woman talked to nhk about an attack she survived last month. an armed group went after her and other students with guns and acid. the group was on its way home from university in northwest pakistan when the attackers stopped their van. about 20 students were on board.

>> translator: our van was attacked by an armed group and my brother and i were urn burned. they targeted us because they're against girls getting an education. >> the attackers threw what appeared to be acid and fired shots. the women's berka cloaks melted and they suffered burns to their faces and bodies. >> translator: they commit such brutality because they're ig nornt. i would rather die than lose our right to education. >> no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. some people in parts of the country organized rallies opposes the militant pakistani taliban. the attack happened only days after the taliban government shot 15-year-old malala on october 9th. she is a campaigner for girls' education. she is recovering from her wounds in britain. a corruption case in russia brought down a top government official. president putin fired his

defense minister. he is under suspicion for alleged involvement in a massive fraud case. putin appointed the moscow governor as a new defense minister. the president referred to an on going probe into alleged fraud at a defense ministry affiliate. he said he decided to fire sergio cough to create conditions for an objective investigation into all matters. it involves the sale of ministry property allegedly at prices far below market value. the transaction resulted in losses of more than $93 million. authorities are questioning one of serge cough's aids, a if he female executive. he reduced military personnel and mainly officers. the military criticized him for it. putin hopes to improve public support for the government by replacing him with the popular shoig. presidential hopefuls have agreed to choose a single

candidate for next month's presidential election and betting it will be a winning strategy. the candidate for the democratic united party and the independent contender held the first talks. the ruling candidate has gained the lead in opinion polls. >> the people want a unified opposition candidate to bring about a change of power. >> i hope to make the talks the first step in creating a new type of politics. are for the sake of the notion. >> officials of the camp say moon and ahn will issue a joint declaration. they say they agreed to pick a single candidate before registration begins on november 25th. check weather conditions around the world. people on the east coast are dealing with stormy conditions.

sa yak amohr i tells us the latest. >> lots of heavy rain and strong winds and even snow showers falling in the appalachians due to a strengthening low pressure system over the atlantic. it will ride parallel to the eastern seaboard into thursday and storm surge is going to be a main concern because hurricane sandy devastated the coastal areas and further coastal erosion and a beach erosion highly likely. rain will be confined to the coastal areas including washington, d.c. and new york city. these locations will start to see rain on wednesday and new england states will see rain from your wednesday afternoon because frigid air is blanketing parts of the eastern half of the u.s. and rain may change over to snow in areas like new york city, massachusetts, and southern quebec into your thursday. out towards the west then we have another low pressure system which is weakening over the western great lakes region and that is producing rain and snow

and the system will weaken and move towards the southeast so chicago will turn dry as we head into wednesday. back behind another storm system is moving into british columbia in the pacific northwest bringing coastal rain and heavy mountain snow and they will see an additional 20 centimeters of snowfall. to the south dry conditions and temperatures on the mild side, 24 degrees expected in los angeles, 23 in denver, and on the other hand very chilly, only 6 degrees in new york city, 7 in washington, d.c., and millions of households are without electricity so this is definitely critical situation. moving into japan then, dry conditions have returned to much of the southern half of japan including tokyo but stormy weather will continue in northern japan. definitely record amounts of rain and additional 250 millimeters likely in eastern parts of hakaido in the next 24

hours. flooding and landslides a big concern and unstable weather continues into friday. waves could hit as high as 5 meters today. back behind snow showers continuing northeastern china as well as southeastern russia and an additional 10 centimeters likely. towards the south rain spreading over southern china and funan seeing the heaviest rain today. temperatures quite chilly. only 1 degree and actually a couple of degrees higher than seasonal. tokyo getting up to 20 degrees. we'll see the same figure into the next three days. finally, let's go over to europe then, a parade of low pressure systems has been dumping rain and strong winds across the northern parts of europe. we're seeing snow showers in the scandinavian peninsula and finland and northwestern russia because this cold front is swinging blue the black sea region and expecting to see the heaviest rain today. back behind us a new system formed south of the iberian

peninsula spreading rain in much of portugal and southern france. this area is still dealing with the aftermath of flooding situation that occurred last weekend, so any slight amount of rain could worsen the situation. temperatures are in the single digits in the east, 5 degrees in warsaw, 4 degrees in moscow and back to 10 degrees in london and warmer than average in athens, 24 degrees. here is the extended forecast.

before we go we want to check what's happening in the u.s. presidential election. we should caution that it is still early going. we're filling in some of the pieces of the puzzle. our partners at abc news project

barack obama will capture 57 electoral votes. they project mitt romney will capture 40. let's go to our state by state map. the areas in blue represent support for obama. the ones in red for romney. obama's projected to win in illinois, massachusetts, maryland, among other places. romney in oklahoma, south carolina, and west virginia and elsewhere. the projections again give barack obama 57 electoral votes, mitt romney 40. the magic number is 270. election officials across the u.s. are sending in their results, so we'll have a lot more as the numbers add up. we'll be back with the latest news and analysis at the top of the hour. i amckobachi in tokyo. thank you for joining us.