and we went straight to helman and nimruz province. very complex dynamic environment that we were operating in but before i begin it talk to you about the operational picture, i just want to give you a snapshot of afghanistan. when we got there i want to set the frame here so you understand what we're dealing with. afghanistan ranged 180th out of 1 86 on the world bank list of developed countries. 20 percent of the babies won't reach their first year of life. there is a 44 year life span for your average citizen. it has a less than 20 percent literacy rate and girls in afghanistan will marry by the time they are 15 and will likely birth their second child by the time they are 20. so this is the long-term effects of violence and civil wars within a failed state by every measure. the marines who are currently still in southwest afghanistan, they are surrounded by very conservative culture. in 2010, this is not true now but narco trafficking and helman province alone was the fourth largest trafficker of heroin in the world. the taliban co

and thank you, scott helman, great guy.p next, a democrat who is coming on strong in a senate race in north dakota. heidi heitkamp, there she is, she joins us next. she's come from the back to the front. coming back with "hardball," the place for politics. ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter too? what? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces you combine with fresh ingredients to make amazing home-cooked meals. ♪ ambiance [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. your head-start to home cooked. >>> well, the father of christopher stevens, the u.s. ambassador to libya, he says his son's death shouldn't be politicized. jan stevens told bloomberg, it would be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue. the security matters are being adequately investigated. it does not belong to the campaign arena. that's what he said. mitt romney has

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we implemented the plan through 17 teams through helman and our two female engagement teams. this is actually just scrolling pictures. sometimes a picture says a thousand words and i don't want to take you down the whole history of a year but i wanted to talk to you about how we framed this plan. this plan was framed into 5 pillars and the 5 pillars were students and parents, we attempted to build buy in and assure safety among the students. there was lots of fear of reprisals. by sending your kids to school there was fear that the taliban was going to knock on your door and let you know that that wasn't allowed. previously the taliban had instituted a medrossas so their only forms of education were religious schools and those are religious schools for boys. teachers. there is no teaching force in afghanistan so one focus was building that teaching force for the future and for students. can urriculum, this is sanitizing can urriculum that existing and distributing new can urriculum paid for by the japanese government. now, i say sanitized, the can urriculum that the marines w

captain adam standing beside me, have made a profound difference in the security situation here in helman and particularly in this district. captain, you just heard what was being said about blue on green. or green on blue, right? attacks by afghans against americans. you and i were out today walking around and all you had was a sidearm and no armor on and i was standing right next to you. were you worried? >> no, i wasn't. >> and that's because -- >> where we were at was within the district headquarters, which was secured by the afghan security forces, specifically the police. we have a very good standing relationship with the police. and certain things like that help to mitigate that threat of the green on blue attacks we have seen. >> now, i want you to know that i'm pro flipped impressed at what you have done in six months. this is not the seam one you arrived at. >> absolutely not. >> and that's because -- >> really the reason for that is because the afghan security forces, specifically the police and the army, are working with each other and they work with us, but more importantly t

romney biographer scott helman and michael kranish. >> when ann davies meets mitt, i think she's searching a little bit for a religious home, the way a teenager does. what does this mean. and what do i believe? >> early on, when mitt was going out with ann, he did give her some lessons in what was the mormon faith all about. >> but ultimately ann's conversion was overseen by george romney while mitt was in france. >> and he would pick me up every sunday for church. the reason i think it was so easy for me to talk to him even on a spiritual level like that is because he respected me as his complete equal. >> ann and mitt settled in provo, utah, in this $75-a-month basement apartment, starting a family and getting serious about school. the mission experience in france had clearly refocused romney. >> life was very different in america than life for the french. and i thought, boy, i've got to work hard in school, i need to be responsible, i need to get back and work. and i began to long for the chance to go back to school and prepare for my life going forward. >> brigham young university was