the founder, ben nelson, is here.does minerva differ from the other online for-profit colleges that we know? >> what we're trying to do is take the best of higher education but do it in a 21st-century context rather than have a slow evolution to see what happens and how do you evolve an old institution into modern day. we start with a clean slate. everything is giving students the best possible experience. >> how do you offer this high level of educational experience without the tradition that so many universities already have? >> the tradition is both a positive and a negative. they have years, centuries of legacy but that is a constraint. it is difficult to rethink education in the way we think about it today from the ground up and you have existing departments, disciplines that you are married to teach. as an example, 100 years ago, these universities went to the classic works, the great books to teach people how to think critically but back then, we did not know what are the components of critical thinking, we did

thank you ben nelson, founder and chairman of the minerva project. we'll be back with more "consider this" after this. traffic labor on us bases... management stealing wages... exploited children put to work... >> how many of you get up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning to go out to the fields? don't miss our award winning series fault lines labor day marathon only on al jazeera america c david hayman is a successful biog grapher for 30 years. he's profile jackie onasize is liz taylor and joe and marilyn was published in july. according to my next guest, his books are not worthy for another reason. they are littered with fabrications and made-up stories that sells books and has no basis in the truth. let's bring in ka couple of guests. he wrote the upcoming cover story. entitled "pulp fiction", david, according to you news week piece this guy has made up things for a long time. you wrote about his fabrications in 1993. i didn't know about the story, how did he get away with it. >> it's an important question. in 1983 he wrote a book about barbara hutto

ben nelson is the founder, chairman and ceo of minerva project, a for-profit project driven to changendergraduate experience, the former ceo of the very successful online photo service, snap fish. ben, good to see you. why do we need this? >> we need this because of two factors. number 1, you have an elite set of universities that are right sized for the world circa before the cold war was over, before general wealth increases around the world and political freedoms that allowed bright students stotravel and to seek out the best in american higher education. the other reason is that as the demand for these universities is increased and the supply has been limited, these universities have not had real competitive fors keeping them on top of their game forcing them to innovate in the way that they deliver an excellent curriculum to their undergraduates. so what's necessary in the market is not just more seats available for these really bright students but, also, an increase in the quality of undergraduate experience with them >> when these students who are entering this year graduate, d

let's talk to ben nelson, the founder, chairman of min everybodia project -- miner va project. former c.e.o. of an online photo service snap. why do we need this? >> we need this because of two factors. number one, there's an elite set of universities the rite size 30 years ago, before the cold world was over, and before bright students could travel and seek out the best education. as the demand for universities increase, and the supply limited, these universities have not had competitive forces, keeping them on top of the game, forcing them to innovate in the way that they deliver an excellent curriculum. what is necessary in the market is not just more seats available for the bright students, but also an increase in the quality of undergraduate experience. >> when the students entering this year graduate. do they take four years. >> yes. >> when do they have the degree. >> from the claremont. >> that is harvey. schools. >> it's not 100% online. they live in a campus. they, in fact - the first class isn't charged it's experimental. it will be about $28,000 a year. >> that's ri

democrats and overcome a republican filibuster, democrats had to concede to the demands of the likes of ben nelson and joe lieberman that exchanges were run by states. that created another problem for the authors of the senate bill. that is, congress cannot implement state programs, but only create incentives to do so. when they improve the health care bill in september of 2009, it offered health insurance subsidies only in states that helped to implement that bill. it was held subsidies for four years in states that failed to establish exchanges and withheld permanently for states that failed that version of the mandate. republicans offered an amendment that would have given new medicaid subsidies only two states that agreed to establish a republican version of the health insurance exchange. in october, 2009, the senate finance committee approved an offer to build subsidies "solely through the finances of the state." that is where this came from in the senate finance committee bill. there were tax markups to consider state established exchanges. committee chairman and lead author of the ppaca, ma

democrats and overcome a republican filibuster, democrats had to concede to the demands of the likes of ben nelson and joe lieberman that exchanges were run by states. that created another problem for the authors of the senate bill. that is, congress cannot implement state programs, but only create incentives to do so. when they improve the health care bill in september of 2009, it offered health insurance subsidies only in states that helped to implement that bill. it was held subsidies for four years in states that failed to establish exchanges and withheld permanently for states that failed that version of the mandate. republicans offered an amendment that would have given new medicaid subsidies only two states that agreed to establish a republican version of the health insurance exchange. in october, 2009, the senate finance committee approved an offer to build subsidies "solely through the finances of the state." that is where this came from in the senate finance committee bill. there were tax markups to consider state established exchanges. committee chairman and lead author of the ppaca, ma

that included some pretty conservative members, including ben nelson, in particular.herefore, democrats are inclined to go along. there isn't a single piece of legislation or a single confirmation battle in which the president has failed for lack of support on the democratic side. i think all of the talk, whether it be from bob woodward or maureen dowd about the obama's problem and not really reaching out and personalizing overlooks the dramatic transformation. it was already under way by the way with bill clinton. >> right. >> bill clinton, for all of his schmoozing in congress on both sides of the aisle, garnered not a single republican vote in the house or senate for his major budget package. >> right. and they ended up impeaching him. we'll squeeze a break and come back. jim manley who worked with harry reid i want to talk to you about your relationship and dealings with the white house from the senate standpoint, the relationship between harry reid and barack obama. when healthcare gets simpler. when frustration and paperwork decrease. when grandparents get to li

. >> there's a guy named ben nelson, who was an executive at snapfish, and he was somewhat unsatisfiedthis. there's a lot of money in education so if you get it right, there's a lot of money flowing in. >> is it online? >> in a sense. the students live in dorms together but the classes take place over computer interfaces so the professors could be anywhere in the world but the students are all getting together in classes, very small, 15 students or so, and taking seminars that are online. >> where is it located? >> the dorm that they have right now is in san francisco. another part of this is that every university wants to have its international presence, so the dorm in san francisco is just the starting point and they're going to move on and have places in berlin, in buenos aires, in bombay. >> so what happens to tuition under this minerva project. let's say you're going to georgetown, $55,000 a year. >> the full ride is $28,000 per year and that's including room and board. >> something clearly has to happen, right, to the cost of american -- >> oh, it's ridiculous. >> -- higher educa

of the third, nelson cruz, launches his 30th home run of the season, just the second since july 9th and birds hit three home runs and top cardinals 10-3 is the final. over on the pitch, ben sten and d.c. united visiting the lake. gets control and sends it over to platteta and it's an easy header. just two minutes later. they are on the attack again, javier morales and chris shuler will do the rest. morales through the legs and another goal right there. how about this? sat lake is up 3-nil right now in the second half. >> also tonight, the 17-year-old swimming sensation from bethesda set a new record at the u.s. championships today and heelds the world's record in 400, 800 and 1500 meter freestyle. she's outstanding. congratulations again. >> she still shows up at the pool occasionally in bethesda and causes a real ripple obviously with the young swimmers out there. >> best swimmers in the world. >> that's our news for tonight. saturday night live is next. hope you have a great night. ñoñí >> and now a message from the department of health and human services. >> hello, there. [ cheers and applause ] hi. i'm kathleen sebelius, secretary of health under president obama. now