[Phillips:] The Annual Sundance Film Festival is getting underway today in Salt Lake City. And Robert Redford is already making news. Not for his directing but for his drama political drama. "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer is joining us. What's he up to, A.J.?
[A.j. Hammer, "showbiz Tonight":] Well, Kyra, as you well know, the fact is Robert Redford has always been one to speak his mind when it comes to politics. So, he used some of his time during the Sundance Film Festival's opening remarks to get a bit political. He actually tweaked Republican front-runner Mitt Romney and his, as Redford put it, mushroom cloud of ego. Well, "Showbiz Tonight" sat down with Redford at Sundance. He told us he is extremely frustrated at how he thinks the Republican Party is parlaying the political process. Listen to what he told us.
[Robert Redford, Founder, Sundance Institute:] What I was taught to believe from a child is that there are two parties representing America's view of itself, Republicans and the Democrats, OK? So those two parties fully developed are supposed to be working together to make something happen. So that's what politics is supposed to be the art of compromise.
[Hammer:] And I think, Kyra, there are a lot of people who might say Robert Redford is on to something.
[Phillips:] A.J. all right. Let's talk about "American Idol," shall we? This has always been a big ratings giant. But apparently, the premiere show didn't do as well as last year?
[Hammer:] Yes. Let's keep in mind it's all relative when it comes to "American Idol." These are in fact the lowest ratings for the show since its premiere back in 2002, lowest premiere numbers. 2002 is when the show day debuted. "Idol" attracted around 20.5 million viewers for its debut, which was certainly enough to be rated the top show on the air on Wednesday night. But I'm thinking that has to be some kind of disappointment of sorts for the people behind the show. At its height, "Idol" saw more than 37 million people tuning in for premiere episode. That was back in 2007. The FOX Network had actually been trying to manage expectations. They publicly admitted that they expected ratings to be down. And the truth is if you want to watch a singing competition show these days, you know, we have "The Voice" on NBC, we have "X Factor." They just wrapped their season on FOX few weeks ago. And we have a few weeks ago. And we have a few others. So, Kyra, there may be some fatigue among viewers for these kinds of shows. Honestly, I don't think, at least from my perspective, they did the same kind of advanced press that they normally do. I don't think people were as generally aware that "Idol" was firing back up. But, wow, if you didn't see the show, there's serious talent on it to be reckoned with this season.
[Phillips:] And they're young, too. Oh, my gosh.
[Hammer:] Real young.
[Phillips:] There are so many teenagers that are doing incredible auditions.
[Hammer:] Yes. I think it's going to be quite a season. And I think there's going to be a lot of drama, too, particularly given the age of some of these contestants this year.
[Phillips:] We'll keep following it, A.J. Thanks. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it. Every night, "Showbiz Tonight" on
[Hln, 11:] 00 p.m. Eastern. While Romney is getting hammered on releasing his tax returns, Newt Gingrich releases his. He posted them online as the CNN debate got underway last night. CNN Money's Poppy Harlow has been going through them, sifting through them and crunching all the numbers for us. What did you find out, Poppy?
[Poppy Harlow, Cnnmoney.com:] You know, first of all, that he's a pretty wealthy guy. What strategic timing right before the commercial break in the debate. Everyone tuned in, by the way. Newt Gingrich releases his tax returns. Let's take a look at the numbers, folks. Almost 3.2 million. That's what Newt brought in in 2010. He paid a relatively high effective tax rate, almost 32 percent. Look at his tax bill for 2010. Almost 1 million bucks. I dug into that a little bit more. He got about $218,000 in deductions. He gave a little over 80 grand to charity. But now, let's take a look where this places him among other millionaires, other people in his bracket. He paid almost 32 percent. Folks that made between $2 million and $5 million a year in this country on average pay about 26 percent. So, he paid a lot more than that. And here is this important 15 percent, because we all heard this week, Romney say that he paid about an effective tax rate of 15 percent. We won't know for sure until he releases his tax returns come April, which he said last night that he would do. But 80 percent of Americans pay under 15 percent in terms of their effective tax rate. More than 40 million Americans, Kyra, pay no federal income tax. So, this is very interesting. This puts Newt Gingrich in a very, very high tax bracket, above even some of his peers.
[Phillips:] Well, how did he make the majority of his money?
[Harlow:] That was so interesting $2.5 million came from something from his businesses. A large part of that came from something called Gingrich Productions. So, I Googled it, looked into it. This is where all of his 20 plus books, his wife's book, all of their speeches, where all of that money goes. He gets speaking fees. He said on the campaign trail, up to $35,000 per speech, board of director's fees, he made 10 grand from that. Rental property, financial investments. But, again, you have to compare this to Mitt Romney who makes the majority of his income off of financial investments. So, his money from those investments is capped at a tax rate capital gains tax rate of 15 percent, Kyra. Legally in this country, they can't pay any more than 15 percent on capital gains, Kyra. So, that's a big difference you're going to see, I think, when we get those numbers from Romney.
[Phillips:] Poppy, thanks. All eyes on the Q.B. But our next guest says, hold on a second. There's a lot more to watch in Sunday's playoff game. We've got a preview right after the break.