toast, bacon, ham, sausage, chicken sausage, wheat or rye toast, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, no substitutions. >> rollout out. >> take you out to your car and put you on a treadmill. this morning i'm going to stick with the tater tots because they're easy to eat to anchor a show. hello, everybody. cnn's political analyst roland martin is with us this morning. it's a bad start if i can't get through roland's name. david frum is back with us. nice to have you in person. chatting by satellite. and also this morning, norquist is joining us, president of americans for tax reform. you're going to be our tax expert this morning as we sort through mitt romney's taxes. it's nice to have you. thanks for being with us. mitt romney we know now officially released his tax returns. we're expecting that in about 90 minutes. but there is a preview. the preview is roughly 550 pages long. romney made $21.6 million in 2010. paid over $3 million in taxes. and tesktive tax rate as we mentioned is 13.9%. so to crunch all the numbers for you, right to christine romans in new york. christine, good morning. >> good morning. >> there's three different trusts. there's a foundation, 550 pages. let me put it together for you. 2010, his income was $12 million. taxes, $3 million. gave $4 million to charity. that is pretty interesting here. effective tax rate of 13.9%. then you look at 2011. about $20.9 million. i guess we don't have the screen but i'll roll through it for you. taxes, $3 million. charity about $3 million. effective tax rate in 2011 estimating about 15%. soledad, we'll be closely watching here exactly what the foreign capital he was earning, foreign earnings, things in offshore tax havens. his campaign says he did close a swiss bank account in 2010 but there are investment vehicles running through cayman islands and bermuda. that is going to get some attention. i'm zeroing on in $100 million trust set up for his five son, soledad. the campaign says that they paid no gift taxes on that trust because they were able to use a credit to offset it. people will be looking at that as well. and also, you know, what -- how much he made in carried interest. millions of dollars in something called carried interests. something hedge fund managers, private ek kitty managers get to take advantage of means their earnings are taxed less than regular work. >> all right. clearly lots and lots of questions. we only sort of gotten the first little bit of information. you know, i want to talk to you because you are the tax expert guy. when you see these first releases, again, we don't have the full picture yet, what's your take away? >> what you would expect. he made a lot of money work for bain. paid taxes on that. now that he's living off his investments, in a sense retired while run for president, he's paying capital gains on his investments. when people say paying 15%, that's not instead of paying 20% or 25%. that's on top of the taxes he paid the first time he earned money. foolish enough to die, the government will take about half of that again. the government comes in taxes the same dollar you earned multiple times. we're just looking atlanta least the second or third bite at the apple that he's paying. >> when you look at his charitable contributions, what's your take away sfl. >> impressive compared to other people who have run for president in recent history. it's hard to argue that his stingy, $3 million or $4 million over the last two years, impressive. contributing more than 10% of his income 20 chato his charity apparently tithes to his church. >> i feel like in a way this brings another round of conversation we haven't even gotten the full release yet. >> it opens two conversations. the first conversation is one about mitt romney and the second is one about the way the tax system works. i don't think anybody will suggest that any presidential candidate has an obligation to volunteer to pay extra taxes. president obama has two children, no one is going to tell him, you know, don't take the deductions for two children. say you have zero. you take the deductions you have. then we're going to have an't que about what do we think of his taxes? i hope it's true as grover said, that first mitt romney paid income tax and later he paid capital gains tax, probably not true however. probably used this carried interest loophole since it began to exist in 2000s which treat things that look more like income as if they were capital gains. that's a problem in the system. >> mean that he wouldn't have originally paid taxes on that -- it's unclear because we haven't -- >> he would have paid capital gains taxes. the law says it's capital gains. you have have an argue about whether you want to change that law and tax certain income as income, ordinary income versus capital gains. again, this is the second time he's patd taxes on it. it's possible some of his income was capital gains to start with. some was ordinary income. this is not the first time he's paid taxes on these dollars. >> that discussion about the way the tax system works is a separate discussion from the qualifications -- >> and political discussion. >> policy discussion which is separate from what do you think of this guy who has met his obligations to society and volunteered to pay, again, even more in charity than he paid in taxes. >> good question for adam put m putnam, florida chairman for romney for president, he is in florida this morning. thanks for joining us. do you feel like, okay, the taxes will be released in roughly 90 minutes. it will put this issue to rest, done and done? >> you know, i think i understood you, the question about the release of his taxes, that is, you know, certainly something that scratches our voyeuristic i but it shows that he's a generous guy, gives to charity, tithes to his church, shows that he made a lot of money by successfully creating jobs and deriving money from the private setter opposed to newt gingrich, cashing in and drawing nine from freddie mac while the housing market in america was going down the tubes. >> is that a fair thing to say, voyeuristic i as if americans have been nosy about the taxes as what he said, less about the taxes. i think he actually said i don't care about the taxes. i need a definitive answer from a man who would like to be president of the united states. yes, i'm giving them, no, i'm not giving them. isn't it more about that? >> well, you know, the issue is, you know, i think he's uncomfortable talking about having his whole life spread out in front of him but he released it and he released two years' worth which is more than any of the other presidential candidates have done and they reflect a guy who has been very successful. he has been a self-made guy. he has paid all of the taxes that were due. and he derived his money from the pry vet sector. he's a problem solver. he understands being competitive in a global marketplace. those are the skill sets we need to turn this economy around oz oppose thod this continuous loop of influence peddling in washington, d.c. where you cash out and you get thrown out as being speaker and then you cash out from freddie mac to help give strategic advisor, as he called it, recent washington history, that would influence housing policy in america. >> so his own father, george romney, released 12 years of taxes. is that something your candidate is going to do? >> well, you know, that was a different era. he has released more years of tax returns than any of the other candidates running for office. in fact, there were candidates on the stage last night who still haven't released their taxes. and yet, you know, little was made of that. so, you know, i think the issue here is less about the tax story, which is now out. there's nothing new there. he's paid at the 15% rate. the rate that anyone would pay on investment income. it reveals his charitable giving. the story is what's buried in that $1.6 million contract with freddie mac and what other clients were out there paying either gingrich or portions of gingrich incorporated to lobby for different aspects of public policy, whether it's housing policy or health care policy? >> we'll have an opportunity to talk to trent franks just ahead and ask him those questions later this morning. it's interesting, roland, to hear -- i'm not surprised, it's been constantly about the taxes, let's talk about gingrich and influence peddling. >> i think for the american people, the issue was absolutely why can't you answer the question? why can't you be definitive. now he's answered that. i don't think people out there are sitting here going, oh, my god, this rich guy paid -- this guy made a bunch of money and he paid a lower tax rate. i think the problem that people have is there's a belief that people of means are using the influence in congress to be able to affect tax law to greatly benefit them versus the average people. people are going to be asking, can this man understand me? can he understand what i go through in my life? to have this back and forth or will he pay this, this to chari charity, i'm sorry. >> it's really two problems. one is, can he understand me, regular guy who is paying 40% tax rate, but number two, the tax system, is it flawed, how is it possible, as warren buffett would say, that my assistant is paying less money in taxes percentage wise. >> george romney was governor of michigan when he began to run to president. this was an era in which we knew absolutely nothing about public finance. we didn't know who gave money to the president. we had no information at all on any of these campaigns. george romney, governor of michigan was running against lyndon johnson, accumulated a fortune worth in today's money about $100 million. in ways that were deeply disturbing. what he's trying to show is i have a sitting governor and i have not gotten rimp as a city governor as opposed to the man i think i'm going to be running against who was a senator who did get enormously rich. >> hold that thought because we are going to go to commercial. thank you. no, we're actually going to get christine updates. sorry, it's like wrangling cats this morning. good morning. >> good morning to you. president obama putting the final touches on the tate stat of the union address. third and probably most important he's expected to use that speech to frame the message of his re-election campaign. coming up at 6:45 eastern we're going to talk with obama senior adviser valerie jarrett about what to expect from the president tonight. all right. two more bodies recovered from the the wreckage of the cruise ship cost a concordia off the dose owcoast of italy. brings the number of confirmed victims as 15 and 1 people are still unaccounted for. italian officials say salvage workers have started pumping fuel out of the cruise liner. the pardoned mississippi murderers will remain free. mississippi court ruled yesterday there will be no change in conditions. haley barbour granted full pardons to 200 people as he closed out his second term as governor. the public will be able to pay their respects to the late legendary football coach joe paterno. people can view the body today and tomorrow on the penn state campus. a private funeral service will be held tomorrow. paterno's son jay and daughter mary kay will be talking with soledad. kentucky senator ran paul refusing a full body airport scanner nashville. tsa says a targeted pat down is usually used to address the alarm. paul's office said he was blocked from boarding the flight. things were eventually sorted out and he boarded a later flight. u.s. stock futures trading down. futures of the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500, a little bit lower. today it's about corporate earnings. greece debt deal neg yagss. very big week for economic news in this country. soledad? >> got to wrinkle these -- i couldn't hear you. i'm shushing roland. you know what, we are -- they're like still discussing taxes. which is great. we're going to keep talking. lyndon johnson taxes. you can tell how this morning is going to go, twef minutes in, and i will lost complete control. >> no, you haven't. >> i know. we've got to turn and talk about this weather. massive clean-up. we talked a little bit about it yesterday in alabama. we have pictures. three tornadoes touched down in jefrer son county and tuscaloosa county. now there are two people dead. 100 people injured. and look at these pictures. 200 homes absolutely destroyed. there is a state of emergency now in effect. those pictures are coming to you from clay, alabama, where reynolds wolf is live for us. what's the latest there? >> well, soledad, right now the latest that we have is unfortunately two fatalities, 82-year-old man lost his life in this event, also a 16-year-old girl. thankfully in this neighborhood though, where we happen to be, gray brook which is just outside of clay, alabama, a place, a subdivision with roughly 100 homes. out of those 100 homes anywhere from 25 to 30 of those homes utterly destroyed. one that you see right behind me, just over 24 hours ago in perfect shape and now in complete ruin. it was actually a two-story house at one time, now it's a single level. it looks like it may end up being a total loss. insurance field going through this neighborhood yesterday. a lot of homeowners trying to sift through this wreckage, trying to find things that matter so much to them. the good news in this neighborhood is despite the devastation, only one injury that person expected to be back from the hospital today. everyone else minor injuries. that in itself is certainly very lucky. back to you, soledad. >> yeah, that's very true, reynolds. thanks for the update. ahead this morning on "starting point" we're going to talk to two members of congress, new members of congress, terry sewell is the first african-american woman elected to congress in the state of alabama and the tea water's allan west will join us. he, of course, is from florida. plus, while talk about state of the union. that address is tonight and it's going to be all about the economy. what does the president need to say to satisfy americans? and our "get real", the hockey goalie who snubs the president at the white house. we'll tell you what happened. you're watching "starting point." 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[ laughs ] hey! ♪ welcome back, everybody. we're coming to you from the diner this morning in washington, d.c. the food is really, really good. nice to have you back with us. joining our panel this morning is democratic congresswoman terry, it's nice to have you. also with her, allan west from florida. tea party member. we talked about your election a year ago now. >> yes. >> nice to have you was this morning. appreciate it. first and foremost, you're the new bye newbies, how is it going? >> i have to say my heart and prayers are going out to the devastation people by the tornadoes yesterday. part of it was in my district as well. last year was frustrating for me. >> americans would agree. >> 365 days and no jobs plan. and frankly, the folks in my district didn't send me out there to be part of the problem but part of the solution. >> frustrating a word you would use, too? >> a lot of things we could have done. for me, serving 22 years in the military to have the opportunity to continue to serve my country is a great honor and privilege. that's what makes it special each and every day. when i look at the fact that today is 1,000 days that we have not had a budget for the united states of america, you know, the house, one of the things we did, we passed a budget last year. but that is still sitting over there at the senate. we have got to get this country back on track. >> in the next hour or two men it's or so we're going to be hearing the full tax report from mitt romney who is hoping to be the republican nominee for president of the united states. a little bit has been leaked, you know, released a little bit of information. i can throw it up on the screen. made $21 million, more than $21 million in 2010, paid $3 million in taxes, a little bit more. his effective tax rate was 13.9%. what do you think of that? >> well, i mean, i'm not going to demonize a guy for going out and being successful and making money. i think that governor romney operates on the capital gains tax, investments, what he lives off of instead of doing it off of his income. i think the most important thing i see in this republican process is that we are severely betting our candidates. we are turning them over like pancakes since we're here at breakfast and seeing -- >> pancakes like that? >> absolutely, like those pancakes. and i think that's better because, you know, let's be very honest. in 2008 we weren't allowed to ask many questions of president obama and at some point you got chastised for using his middle name. i'm proud that we have a very good vetting process. >> i think that was a little slam on the media in there but i'll move on. talk to me about if you want to see more information about mitt romney's taxes because it's only one year and some people have called for more and others have said, listen, he will release them in an hour, enough a enough. >> look. i believe that in this day and age, especially when we're trying to get the economy back on track it's about shared responsibility. something is fundamentally wrong if a person of hits great waet is only paying 13.9% effective tax rate and most of americans are paying 28%, 30%. they make far less. i think that, you know, i'm looking forward to hearing what president obama has to say tonight at the state of the union but i think it's about shared responsibility. i think that it's not about the wealthy just getting richer. >> what do you think people in this state of florida, the debate heads to florida, is focus is in florida. what do you think they're going to say when they say, i pay 28% effective tax rate and here's a guy who is worth $250 million and he's paying significantly less percentagewise. do you think they're going to care? >> we need to have a whole hearted reform of our tax code system because the united states of american, since 16th amendment came about, we have a progressive tax code which means based upon the amount that you are making on the income tax side the more that you are paying but, also, we are capital gains tax and dividend taxes which have less, you know, tax codes, 13%, 15%. and that's why i believe that immediat