romney, the two tradi barbs. it's getting personal. is the gop version of obama versus clinton coming back again? the candidates forced to explain their rights on gay rights. i'm going to speak with the vietnam vet who confronted mitt romney yesterday on the campaign trail. good to have you with me. a lot of news to get to this morning. the stunning series of developments in the penn state sexual abuse case has a lot of people scratching their heads after entering this plea of not guilty, waiving his right to a preliminary hearing. this decision came less than an hour after the former assistant football coach arrived at court, where testimony was expected to be heard about the sexual molestation charges leveled against him. moments later sandusky came outside and spoke to a group of stunned reporters. >> we wait for the opportunity

to present our side, and we couldn't do that today. >> prosecutors, and the attorney for at least one accuser described today's decision as a victory. >> you can't forget the victims in this. you want to have some feelings of compassion for the hurt that they have. you know, i -- i i think -- i would imagine they would be somewhat relieved not having to go out and testify and be cross-examined. >> i can imagine this is terrific for my client as well as all of the other victims who now do not have to relive the horrors that they experienced up on the witness stand, and they have achieved the same result as they would have, had they had to testify. >> craig, what is the latest in this as it moves on, the case that is not directly going to trial? >> reporter: well, you know, it depends on who you ask.

i just got off the phone with an attorney representing victim number 6. he told me that he is fairly confident this is posturing to set up for a plea deal. joe amendola, who we have seen and heard so much from, he has said this will be a fight to the death. he says there is no plea deal in the works. amendola expressed the throngs of media. he talked for about an hour, essentially detailing what he plans to do in terms of a defense for sandusky. take a listen. >> we have enough inconsistencies at this point to totally wipe him off of our case. one step further, to get back to the initial question about what was so important about mike mcqueary. he was the commonwealth's centerpiece. to the extent we destroy his credibility, i think we put everybody else's credibility into question in this case.

>> reporter: there you have it. joe amendola essentially saying his strategy from this point on will be to attack the credibility of each of the witnesses. he sell one of the primary factors in deciding to forgo the preliminary hearing, he was not going to be able to question mike mcqueary. there were 11 witnesses it was, eight of them, none of them even showed up for court. >> craig, thanks for keeping us posted. fwj bernstein, an experienced litigator in child sexual abuse cases, and the writer covering the penn state scandal for "sports illustrated." b.j., i want to begin with you. sandusky's attorney came out swinging, calling into question mcqueary's credibility. is he is the crux of the case, because the alleged victims' testimony would be too damaging?

>> obviously that's what he has to hang on to because there's been contradictory statements in the media, but when those victims testify, it's incredibly powerful. he's not ready to cross will have examine them, go after them, because the bad media he's had would snowball. so i see why he did what he did, but it's not going to destroy necessarily the state's case just because mcqueary is around. >> pablo, what is the issue with the credibility that's thousand come up in the media? >> the issue is there's at least four separate versions of the story that's come out. that's kind of the problem with letting this case play out in public. we differ on who exactly he told and what he told in terms of the severity of what he witnessed, how explicit it was, whether he heard sounds or saw the act himself, and what he told joe

paterno, hi father, and you thissed credibility of the former president of the university and tim curley are also in jeopardy, too. >> especially when it comes to the fact that he's allowed two very intense interviews, one to bob costas, the other to "new york times." when we see what happened today in court, do you think this gives an indication that there might be potential for a plea deal? in essence, this is saving a lot of grief to the family. >> that's always a possibility. the hard part is if he did this with so many victims it's not just some sort of probation, home confinement case. we're talking serious jail time. the way sandusky has been talking to the media, he's not seeming like he's ready to accept responsibility and say i

did it and send me to prison for a long time. his wife has spoken out. he's spoken out, his lawyers have spoken out. they've done everything indicating otherwise. a deal indicating you'll get a low sentence and that's probably not what prosecutors are going to give. it really could be that we have to see this play out completely through a. >> b.j. at 67, do you think this is a guy that wants to go through a really messy trial, giving more time for allege it had victims to come forward. it's now gone up to 52 charges, doesn't this give more time for all of this to percolate and more things to come out and bubble up? >> it does, but at the same time, again, he's 68 years old. does he want to go to jail for ten years? 20 years? 30 years? they kind of offenses you usually are not released early, you're on lifetime registries, so those are the factors to say

the longer this case goes, it may be the longer he's not in jail. so it's a catch 22 for him, which is why truthfully none of us can totally predict what was goods on behind closed doors and what his client is trying to decide to do. thank you both for big here. tom klein is one of the attorneys for the young men. good to have you with me this morning, what was your reaction to knowing this was not going to move forward this morning and basically sandusky was waiving this preliminary hearing? >> well, i think it's important to understand that all this did was postpone the inevitable. we have young men who were horribly victimized when they were young children who will testify. this in my view was advantage prosecution. the prosecution had an

opportunity to bring these men in, meet with them, prepare them as though it was going to go to trial, and then have a postponement. so i think it's all fine. i was sitting right behind the prosecutor's table, when i saw everyone go into the back room, stenographer in tow, and i had an inkling that something was up. >> you say it's a win for the prosecution, but what does it mean for the victims that are in this delayed moment of trying to seek justice. how do you advise your client to keep the stamina? >> i have no doubt that my client as well as all these young men have the fortitude to go forward in the future. there's a letdown anytime you get ready for something that's

so important and what teems to be based on the media attention, so enormous here, but the fact of the fact is it's just a postponement and they'll recognize that, and they will just move forward. >> are you allowing your client to talk to the other alleged victims? >> it is prosecution doesn't want the victims to be talking about the particularities of the case with each other, but i think what's happened here today is that many of the victims whomp youngsters together and friends together got to see each other, got to reacquaint themselves, and now have a real common purpose and a real common united front and united bond, which didn't exist before this preliminary hearing. so sore than there being an hour-long press conference by mr. sandusky's lawyer on the

front steps in this beautiful town, there's been a lot of good that happened today, including some of the key people in this, namely the victims, to really get to see each other and to see that they're not alone. that's very important, having represented victims of sexual abuse in the past, i know it's very important to know you're not aloneisms did they see him face-to-face, at least in the courtroom? >> no. might client as well as other of the victims were not in the courtroom. they were outside, in a holding area and weren't even brought down into the courthouse itself. isms attorney tom kline, thank you for taking the time out this morning. >> my pleasure. it's getting ugly on the campaign trail. plus mitt romney confronted over same-sex marriage.

take a look. isms you do not believe that everyone is entitled to their constitutional rights. >> all right. i have the chance to speak with that vet coming up. but first good news for the markets. take a peek. retail sales are up, and we're seeing some nice signs on the market, a mixed bag. the dow jones is up by some 28 points. back after this. ouncer ] who fills their holidays with sawdust? ♪ with quarter-inch holes and blueprints for the coming year? those of us with doers on our lists. and because it's always better to give than to guess, we can take these last few days of shopping and our holiday budgets a lot further. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. this 18-volt ryobi starter kit is just 89 bucks. ♪ it's 4g, so you can do more faster. so, kathryn, post more youtube videos of your baby acting adorable. baby. on it. matt, ignore me and keep updating your fantasy team.

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welcome back, everybody. so the gloves are off on the gop campaign trail. mitt romney and newt gingrich have talked about taking the high road, but both took their shots in new hampshire. take a look. >> i think a fair question is why did he profit when freddie mac failed.

>> if he wants to give back all the money he received from bankrupting and laying off people, and i would bet him $10, not $10,000, that he won't take the offer. let's talk about the race and -- jen saki is the former communications director for obama, and j.p., let's get straight to it. for those that may have missed it, take a look. >> when newt showed up, he said we can become the majority, take back the house of representatives. he hadn't had the house since 1940s. initially none ofs believed it, but he was persistent, ten nation, he kept it up and kept it up. finally by '94, the newly elected speaker.

so i wouldn't underestimate him. >> so jeff morrow not exactly the current torch bearering, but his words and he carried weight. are the context of his comments why newt is doing so well? >> he is conditioned of the comeback kid. everything had written him off when his cruise, hi vacation seemed to interrupt his own campaign. now you even have somebody like mitt romney coming forward saying this is the front-runner for the republicans so newt has been clawing to game credibility and he's finally there. he finally made it. this is a guy who's worked hard to make rchgsr republicans take the house in the '90s, but also something who has that he had conservative a bulwark of -- >> and the adage is you want to be a long star, not a shooting

star. the dnc has had their sites now on romney. this surge is like a christmas gifts coming to them, but do you see their strategy moving that much farther away? >> well, i wouldn't want to place a $10,000 bet in veg gas on who the nominee will be, but they are taking their gloves off. that's a sign they're both worried about each other. but the interesting then is that they're debating about actual facts. newt gingrich did take $1.8 million from freddie mac. mitt romney was not exactly running a jobs bank. so what's coming clear here is that we're finally seeing a little more talk about the history of these candidates, and i expect that will be the focus

of the next couple weeks of the primary or months. we'll see. >> over the weekend romney really doubled down on a statement he had to say. take a look. >> i know among some folks says outrageous our incendiary things will get you cutoos, but it will not -- >> aren't there republican voters that want to hear something bold even if it borders on the outrageous. >> i think they had to hear how each one is putting a plan froord that will help the economy, in that sense laying out what their records are, i think that's a smard thing to do. >> i've got to get this in there, jen. he said i also pledge to -- is

this a slippery slope for the former speaker? or is it crucial to his campaign when it comes to conservatives? >> you know, i'm not a conservative, so it's hard for me to make that judgment, but i want to speak to something that j.p. said. the president's plan is very clear. >> and a failure. >> he would love to invest in infrastructure, invest in small business, do more to send people to school, and i can't name three thing that mitt romney or newt gingrich would do. i would love to hear more. >> two words. both their tax plans. we're there already. they've been talking about it, they both have been smart about it. i think the problem with the president is he's had three years and talking about he needs another term to get something done. we're going on what he has told us he would do. he's been an abject failure in

that regard. >> gen psaki -- they're being confronted on their views, the latest mitt romney. i'll talk with the war vet who went one on one with mitt. plus house republicans may be able to pass a bill, but will the senate or even the white house be on board? hi, can you read my list?

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welcome back, everybody. just a short time ago, the openly gay bishop blasted rick perry for a new campaign ad attacking gay rights. he says the texas governor has hit a, quote, new low" after this ad. this is just the latest in the series of attacks leveled at the crops of gop presidential hopefuls on that issue. you may have seen last week

michele bachmann confronted by an 8-year-old boy who says his mom is gay and doesn't need fixing, and just yesterday a gay vietnam vet asked if he would support the effort to legal eye gay marriage. >> no, actually i think in a -- i think at the time the constitution was written, it was pretty clear that marriage is between a man and a woman, and i don't believe the supreme court has changed that you got to get on fox news right notice. >> oh, i guess the question was too hot. >> sir, good to have you on with me this morning. thanks for your time. >> thank you, tom. >> let's talk more about this, romney responding to your questions by saying he doesn't think when the constitution was written, it was written believing that marriage was between a man and a woman. i also want to point out that

when the constitution was written, women doesn't have the right to votes, blacks were considered second-class citizens, not full human beings. how did you think this exchange with us going to go? >> quite frankly, i'm not a professor of a constitution, but i don't believe it says anything about a man and a woman and defining marriage, but apparently mr. romney feels that it is. i didn't expect the ants that i got. i thought he would be a little more diplomatic in his answer, but i did ask him for a yes or no question, and i've got to respect that he did give me a yes or no answer. >> when we talk about you were there with your husband bob having your breakfast, did you expect to go in there knowing that mitt romney was going to be there and you wanted to have a conversation with him, because you're potential interested in voting for him as a gop nominee?

imgts i go to breakfast there every single morning. i knew that mitt romney was going to be there. however many politicians have stopped there during the political fury we have in new hampshire. i didn't expect to have -- i was getting frustrated that he was avoiding me. at least i felt he was. he seemed to be following the cameras, and i felt like standing up saying, hello, here i am. i was the last person he spoke with. he vacated my booth rather quickly. what i didn't expect from mr. romney is how confrontational he was and argumentative. i wasn't there for a debate with him. i wanted him to answer the question, and my question was real

really moping if he did get into the white house, that he would be in support of the benefits entitled to veterans and their spouses. currently they are not. at least i felt -- or i feel that president obama is entertaining that idea, where mitt romney obviously is not. >> you make reference to the fact that since there has been the repeal of don't ask/don't tell, since the existence of doma, it means that military spouses don't get the proper benefits. who do you think is doing the best for lbgt rights? do you think that president obama has done enough in his first four years, or do you think there's a gop candidate that you could support? >> i don't think there's a candidate willing to entertain the idea of extending our rights.

i do believe that currently president obama is at least entertaining the thought. i probably won't see it in my lifetime. my partner probably won't see it in his lifetime. however, i do believe the country will eventually recognize same-sex marriage on a federal level. so at least we can have our still rights -- if my husband was a female, she would be entitled to all the benefits, and currently he is not, and i don't see why. why on earth is he not entitled to the same benefits that if partner was a female. it just makes no sense to me. >> you make an extremely valid point. plismt garon, thank you are for your service and thank for your time this morning, sharing part

of your time with mitt romney. thank you very much. >> thank you, tom. jerry sandusky waives his preliminary hearing. what impact could this have on the victims? lowe's is getting hammered on its decision to pull commercials. that commercial time has already been sold. we'll tell you who bought it. i. the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet?

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and dinner is served. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky -- it's amazing what soup can do. welcome back. we are following fast-moving development in the jerry sandusky case. sandusky entering a plea of not guilty to the more than 50 counts, this coming after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the matter. meantime, his attorney says his strategy is to attack the credibility of sandusky's ace could youers who he suggest were in collusion with each other. >> we know that several of these kids knew each other. once we get past the

arraignment, which is scheduled for january 11th, we'll have the right to start asking the court to enter orders getting us the ability to check phone records, text records and see if there's connections between these kids. we think that's a possibility which we are investigating. >> what were sandusky's accusers ready to testify to if they had taken the stand before all this drama unfolded? i spoke with michael j. bonny. he talked about the alleged abuse, and we want to warn you that some of the comments are going to be difficult to hear. >> explaining to all of us where in the original 40-count indictment does your client fall? what are the allegations that your client says happen to him with mr. sandusky? >> well, my client is victim 1, and identified as such in the grand jury presentment. he is called victim 1, because he was the first victim to come

forward and report the authorities the abuse he discovered. he suffered horrific abuse in the basement of sandusky's home, repeated acts of oral sex and other touching. unspeakable crimes committed against him. >> you are representing victim 1, a man currently in high school, was being bullied, had to hef his high school. how is he doing now? >> well, again he's doing as well as reasonably can be expect ed this is an extremely difficult time for him, but victim 1 is strong. he just turned 18 in november.

he is a very strong, well-spoken, earnest young man. i expect he will do well today. i expect he will continue to do well in school notwithstanding all he has gone through. >> thank you for joining me today. >> thank you. joining mess is jeff guardier. prosecutors say victims were fired up, ready to go. they had been prepped. they knew they were going to testify. as i understand it, the first witness was going to be victim number 4 that has released a statement -- this is the most difficult time in my life. i can't put in words how unbearable this is in my life both physically and mentally. i can't believe they put us through this to the last second

only to waive the hearing. i want to thank all the people who have shown support. nothing has changed. ly stand my ground, testify and speak the truth. it sounds like his courage has not been daunted by the setback of what the expectation was today. obviously for the victims going through this, they're going to need a lot of stamina to get through a daunting process like this, correct? >> yes, it's going to be a dogfight. we know sandusky's attorney has said he wants to check the veracity of the accusers. it's going to be a situation of where he's going to dig into their background, and it's not even about what happened to them, about you whether these young men were altar boyce, in other words, do they have a completely clean background? this is what we see in psychology and in the law as victimizing the victim, attacking the victim. is he worth the testimony that

he's going to give? so it's going to be tough. you better believe, thomas they kids had to gear up for this testimony think thought they were going to give this morning, so that's a major, major letdown for them, maybe a psychological tactic on the part of sandusky's attorney, but you're right, they are strong and they are going to come back and come back with real fire. >> when we tack about what they can do now in the time period in between, what type of support system should they have in place? >> it's very being. san dulles kiss's attorneys says i want to check whether they know one another. of course they knew one another. most of them were all part of the second mile program. i believe they're a support group for one another, and i would hope that their attorneys at least are able to give them some psychological counseling, have someone available to be able to work with them with whatever the anxieties are or

the issues may be. so there are safeguards in place, psychological components that should be in place. >> the sexual abuse victims to go through this is an uphill climb, but getting through that ring of fire, there is life on the other side. >> that's right, and it is a ring of fire. >> for sure. jeff gardere, thank you. >> thank you. newt gingrich is pledging to play nice with mitt romney, even smelling a her to the campaign team, but he did insert an escape clause. alex, a few verbal shots yesterday, but he's projecting quite another image when it comes to his staff. explain to us. >> that's right. both mitt romney and newt gingrich were complaining here and they exchanged a few words over how they made money in the past. but last night newt gingrich

released a her saying i have refrained from lunching attacks on my opponents, though i reserve the right to respond when my record has been distorted. we will not be running any negative advertising. with ronald reagan '11th amendment in mind, with el will ask our supporters not to contribute to some super pacs that raise any ads against any other contender. so we'll have to wait and see, on whether he'll be forced to go negative. >> we have a ways to go. alex, thanks so much. they're taking their turn in the spot light over how to pay for a payroll tax legislation. john boehner is pushing ahead. even with word from the white house and upper chap birr that the gop bill won't reach the finish line. >> the president says that the american people can't wait for jobs. clearly if we pass this bill

today, we will be taken the first big step toward creating jobs? america, and it will be time for the united states senate to act. >> nbc's luke russert is following the details for us. is speaker boehner even going to have the votes needed to get through today? >> that's a good question, thomas. the how gop met today as a conference. i spoke to a member who went in there who said the leadership informed him they may not have the votes to pass a republican bill. the reason being they have an ideological opposition to extending the tax cut holiday, because they see it as a temporary band-aid. that all being said, it's believed the addition of the keepstone pipeline will get enough republicans on board, because they'll be seeing as being a pro-jobs growth agenda. that's the road to 217, there's

been a a divide, and it's going to not be the easiest slam dunk, but it is expected to pass. le to what harry reid said about it on the floor of the united states senate. >> we have to understand as i explained to the speaker today, we're going to have to do this together. this ideological candy that they've added to this bill is not going to sell over here. >> that is the keystone pipeline. it's been a three-year study on the environment effects, but a lot of democrats say this is not the time and place for a vote. that should not be tied to the extension of unemployment benefits. they're going to try to get some democrats on board today.

try to get the gop bill over to the senate. they believe with the addition of the pipe did not line, they can pick off moderate democrats who will need that vote. all that being said, thomas, it's very well likely that harry reid won't allow that vote to go forward on the floor of the united states senate and we'll end up seeing these back-and-forth negotiations all the way possibly into the weekend, maybe even into next week, so a long way to go. >> nbc's luke russert, thanks so much. >> take care. rick perry explaining why he, quote, stepped in it maybe more than once. it's been eight years since troops captured saddam hussein. details from one of the commanders who helped plot that raid. hey, hey, hey, hey. i can see who's on my network people!

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> . welcome back, everybody. more young children are overdosing on meds at home. accidental overdoss involving kids have spiked 20 percent in the last few years alone. the cdc has launched a new campaign called up, away and out-of-sight. first pick a place the kids can't reach and take drugs away. 1 in 45 american children, more than 1.5 million are either living on the streets, in shelters or in motels. the study done by the national center on family homelessness blames the current tough economy and the rise in foreclosures across the country. it may be hard to feel sorry for them, but even the 1% took a hit from the recession. "new york times" report examined federal tax data and found their

income fell from, to a paltry $945,000. critics of the occupy wall street movement call this proof that everyone is hurting even at the top, but good news for the 1%. the court found their income rye bounded and did so last year. happy home cummings from iraq. the hugs, kisses going around this morning at ft. bliss, only about 5,000 american troops now remain in iraq, but president obama promises that they will all by home by new year's eve, ending america's military involvement in iraq that began nearly 9 years old. meantime. today marks eight years since saddam hussein was captures. that hole was hiding hidden on a farm near his hometown of tikrit. joining mess is steve russell, who commanded the battalion that captured is a dame.

he tells the inside story in a new book. steve, it's great to have you here. >> thank you. >> explaining what role you played overall. >> i commanded the first battalion of the 2nd infantry. we got involved largely because of geography. we worked with two special forces teams over the six-month hunt, as we gained information, we went after those groups, and that led all the way to the hole. >> there was certainly a lot of different theories about exactly where he was, the theories of he's living on the highlife interest, two, he's living somewhere in a hole, which is where he was found you wouldly, but what was the big tip that led to that capture? >> i think early on, a couple businessmen came and explained the entire security apparatus of is a dam and who those people

were and that put us on the trail with great sectionses early on, and then on the trail of the guy that actually drove is a dam out of baghdad. that was key to finding is a dam. we are on the raid going after is a dad withen 24 hours. how vivid are the memories for you of that day? >> very vivid. much like everyone that heard the news for the first time, there's few of those moments in your life where you remember where you were when you heard the news. my reaction was much the same as most americans when they heard it at home. >> so describe the scene, set the scene as you were about to unearth the spider hole he was hiding in. >> i was not physically at the hole. i was commanding troops as part of the raid, but the team that -- a guy i'll call john, his special operations team at the hole, you had a hand full of soldiers there. the location is pointed out. they get everybody out of the

area. you probably had five or six soldiers and a translator, and the rest is history. what do you see it happening for the region as we come to a close come to the troop withdraw by the end of this year coming to a period of time in american history where it is nine years later, certainly great strides with been made in efforts there. how do you see the efforts for that region? >> iraq has every chance of success. they export food. they have great mineral and oil resources. far beyond what their population uses. that will create economic opportunity for them. we also see that they are thriving. i think iraq's future is as bright as it's ever been in the course of their history. >> who is it dependent upon now to see that it goes forward? is it the iraqi security details that have relied so heavily so the american forces? especially with the training. >> well, we have to remember that saddam used these forces to attack all of thighs neighbors and had that capability.

they are certainly capable of defending themselves in the region. and i think that's key that we understand that. i was amazed in researching for the book, even going back it iraq and interviewing former enemies that the security improved remarkably, even that first year of the war. >> the book right here is called "we got him." a memoir of the hunt and capture of saddam hussein. lieutenant colonel steve russell. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> on capitol hill, santa, just put it on your list. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

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it will add up to amazing.

time for the pauly sidebar.

perry says he doesn't want to make excuses for the debates, but he is. surgery in july and has been kwb quote, pretty na fatigued. >> yesterday there was a secret santa gift exchange. it was franklin's idea. the gift limit was $10, not $10,000. ideas were beer, books, chips, cookies, and yes, even coal. there was a guiness book of world record for the most jumping jacks. the first lady brought about 400 kids to the white house lawn. thank for your time. i will see you back here at 11

a.m. eastern time. until then you can follow me on twitter. thomas roberts. al now with alex wagner comes your way next. search to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day or every minute, our app can take them from thought to trade. at scottrade, seven-dollar trades are just the start. try our powerful mobile app. it's another reason more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade.

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three, that's the number of days left before the president is supposed to leave for hawaii. but will he be doing the hula at 1600 pennsylvania avenue instead? it's tuesday, december 13th and this is now. joining me today, d.c. bureau chief of the comcast network, robert train yum. katrina, editor of the nation and author of the new book "the change i believe in." megan mccain and beb white from politico. thank you all for joining me. the first thing i want to talk about is congress. if you think you have a lot to do before the end of year, take a look at congress. tax cut, unemployment insurance, medicare reimbursement for