Romney To Release 2011 Tax Return
BALDWIN: Want to pick back up with this breaking political story today out of the Romney campaign. News just minutes ago here learning that the Romneys filed their 2011 tax returns with the IRS. So it is out there for the very first time. It will be out there online for everyone to see in about 40 minutes from now. Also being posted by the Romneys, a summary -- again, a summary of the tax rates they paid during the 20-year period between 1990 and 2009. So let's go to Jim Acosta. He's been covering Mitt Romney and his campaign so, so closely for quite a while. And, Jim, and I have the paperwork and the numbers in front of me as well. So what really stands out as far as 2011, the 14.1 percent. Run down more of the numbers for me and also tell me why. Why now?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, as for why now, we asked the Romney campaign on our charter that just landed here in Las Vegas a few moments ago and the spokesman, Kevin Madden, for the campaign said, because they're ready. Now, there might be some other political reasons as to why they're being released now, but let's first go through these numbers, Brooke. You mentioned just a few moments ago that the Romneys in 2011 basically paid an effective tax rate of 14 percent. That's going to be according to this tax return for 2011 that's going to be released at 3:00. But they've given us some details from those numbers that they're going to be putting out at 3:00. So the Romneys in 2011, forgive me for looking down at my smartphone here, paid $1.9 million in taxes on $14 million roughly in investment income. That means their effective tax rate was 14 percent. The Romneys, according to this release, donated $4 million to charity, amounting to 20 -- or, excuse me, 30 percent of their income. And then as you just mentioned, Brooke, what's very interesting about all this, if you scroll down in this release, you're right, yes, the Romney campaign is also putting out what they're calling a 20-year summary that was put together by the people over at PricewaterhouseCoopers and interesting to note that 20 year summary is --</s>BALDWIN: What does that mean, a summary, Jim?</s>ACOSTA: Well, they're not putting out all 20 years of tax returns. What they did was they went to PricewaterhouseCoopers and said, OK, instead of putting out 20 years of tax returns, why don't you give us a summary and put your name -- your stamp of approval on this saying what exactly the Romneys have paid over these last 20 years. And it shows an effective tax rate, according to the campaign, of 20 percent. And interesting to note, they underline part of this here. It says, "in each year during the entire 20-year period, the Romneys owed both state and federal income taxes," That is crucial to note, broke, because you remember, last couple of weeks, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader from all places here in Nevada, was going out on the Senate floor and making this claim that the Romneys at some point, according to a source that told him, he said, had paid no income taxes. And so this release from the Romney campaign appears to go to that accusation. Now, as to the timing of all of this, keep in mind the Romney campaign was planning on ramping up its schedule over the next week with this bus tour across Ohio on Wednesday. And then the first presidential debate comes in the week following. So obviously it makes sense to put the tax return information out now, instead of next week after a splashy bus tour or the following week, which would even be worse timing, around a very high profile presidential debate, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: I'm going to throw a question at you, and you may not have the answer but I'm going to ask you any way.</s>ACOSTA: Sure.</s>BALDWIN: As far as those previous, you know, 20 years from, you know, what was it -- we mentioned 1990 to 2009, have they yet given a reason why they won't give out specifics?</s>ACOSTA: Well, Mitt Romney has said repeatedly that if he puts out individual tax returns going back five, six, seven years, that that's just going to be ammunition for the Democratic Party. So I would imagine if we were to ask him that question again, or the campaign again, they would return to that response. But they're trying to sort of meet this in the middle here and address some of the accusations that were come from Harry Reid and then also just from liberal activists who have been saying, what's Mitt Romney hiding? Why is he not putting out more than just two years of tax returns? Because at the end of today, at the end of the day after today, it will basically be the same number of tax returns coming from this campaign. Two years of tax returns for 2010 and 2011. That's what they've been saying all along. That's all they're going to be providing in terms of an extract return and that's all we're going to be getting today, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: Right. That is what they had promised and they are delivering on that. Jim Acosta for us in Las Vegas. Jim, thank you. We'll talk once again when they're out at the top of the hour. Now to this just absolutely horrific case of child abuse and neglect just ahead. This is a case, I read about it this morning, it made me so -- it made me sad, but it made me angry. It's about this malnourished teenager, really a prisoner in his own home, for four years. How could this happen and who failed this young man? We can do better, next.