LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Tonight, for the first time on TV, all the pictures of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and their baby girl Suri. You've seen the cover. We've got the whole 22-page spread from Vanity Fair.
(I want to know!)
(...)
But then the waiting and waiting for the first baby photos. Four and a half months of tabloid headlines, gossipy guessing games, and wild rumors. Finally, TomKat
(Meow!) chose Vanity Fair and renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz to unveil Baby Suri.
(The rest of us get a Sears photo shoot).
Tom says she looks like Katie. Katie says she looks like Tom. Now you can judge for yourself.
(Precious!)
KING: We begin and have as our special guest Jane Sarkin, the features editor of Vanity Fair. She's in New York, spent almost a week (She deserves a Nobel Prize) with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and the family in Telluride, Colorado. How did you get this?
(Tell us, Jane! Tell us!)
JANE SARKIN, VANITY FAIR FEATURES EDITOR: It's incredible isn't it? (YES!) I had been in touch with his people for quite a while and finally they called me and said "Tom and Katie decided to do the pictures of Suri for Vanity Fair" and Annie Leibovitz and I showed up in Telluride a couple days later and we spent five days there and we had unprecedented access to their home.
We were able to go in every room. (NO WAY!) No door was closed to us. (WAY!) It was unbelievable that Tom Cruise let us into his private life like that. It was absolutely something that we were so excited to be a part of.
(Isn't that special?)
(...)
KING: The cover it looks like an emotional shot (Take a moment. Discuss.) for Tom and Katie, any particular reason the way it was shot that way and why you picked that for the cover?
(OK. I'm fine now).
SARKIN: Yes. That's a fabulous story. We went up to a favorite spot of the Cruise family, which is called The Lookout. (As in, lookout for the paparazzi). In the background are the Rocky Mountains. The sun was setting. The baby was looking straight at the camera. Tom and Katie were looking down at the baby and Annie shot that picture. And, at that moment, everyone became a little bit emotional because we knew we had it. That was definitely going to be the cover. (You got me at hello. Sniff). There was no question about it. (God bless the USA).
KING: The mother I understand got emotional, huh?
SARKIN: Yes. Tom's mother was looking at her granddaughter and her future daughter-in-law to be and she started to cry. And then all of us sort of started to get really emotional. And, Tom was fighting back the tears. We talked about that moment later and he said he just -- it was all so much and the beauty of the place. It was incredible.
(I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!)
KING: Wrapping the baby in the leather jacket was it -- was it cold weather?
SARKIN: You know it's chilly up there especially when the sun starts to set and he just felt like doing that and it was a great moment.
(Smart. Taking an infant out in chilly weather. Call Social Services).
(...)
KING: What was it like for you the first time you saw Suri?
SARKIN: And the baby looked exactly to me like Tom. The hair was exactly Tom's head of hair. (NO WA-AAY!) And, you know, of course the baby's hair has never been cut but they look like they had the same exact haircut and we laughed about it and the baby was smiling at me. And I just couldn't wait to hold the baby, which I did.
(I wish I were you, Jane. You or Katie Couric).
(...)
KING: Now let's look at another picture. This is the Cruise/Holmes family in the bathroom. How did you and Annie end up in there?
(Uh, excuse me?)
SARKIN: I know. It is incredible. You know, Tom's -- (Girlfriend? Tom's what?) Tom and Katie came downstairs. Annie and I were sitting in the kitchen and they said -- he said, "Come on up. Come on up. We're giving Suri a bath."
((How many adults DOES it take to soap up a washcloth?)
So, up we went through the bedroom, into the bathroom and she had just come out of the bathtub and they laid her down on the floor and it was a little chilly so they blew dry her hair a little bit. And, as they were doing that she started to giggle and that's how those shots came about and it just was a great moment. I mean you think about this big movie star, you know, and you're in his bathroom with his baby. (Can you believe it!) It's just unbelievable ( (Jane. You are so lucky to be you!) you know, and it just was a great moment.
((I'm in Tom CRUISE'S BATHROOM! OMIGOD!)
(...)
KING: All right, now we'll look at Tom, Katie, and Suri on the mountain.
(With a newborn. Uh, why?)
SARKIN: That actually -- oh, yes that picture is -- those are mountains that Tom has climbed with his family. Katie, Connor, and Bella and Tom (and ex-wives Nicole, Mimi-possible girlfriend Penelope Cruz) have climbed those mountains. He loves to be up there. He's always wanted a home in the mountains and this is one of their favorite spots. In fact, they do a lot of cookouts up there right at sunset. It's absolutely stunning.
(Holy Swiss Family Robinson)!
(...)
KING: Next we'll see Tom with Suri asleep on his chest. This is a great shot. (Most love 'em and leave 'em dads are long gone at this point, so this IS a great paternity (i.e. documentation) shot!)
SARKIN: This is a great shot. This was in his big living room in Telluride. He loves that room and we were shooting and shooting. The baby was starting to get a little tired and Tom was starting to get a little bit tired, (or depressed-he IS out of work) so he just laid down and put the baby just like that. (Like no other dad in the world has before! Tom is SO-OO special!)
I think that's one of their favorite ways they like to hold the baby and before you knew it they were both asleep (Group AAHHH) and we just kept shooting. No one told us to leave. We were able to do whatever we wanted. It was amazing.
(Oh, Tom....can you father my baby?)
KING: Now we'll see Tom, Katie, and Suri relaxing in the backyard.
(I could relax too on $100 million dollars a year. Oh snap, I keep forgetting,Tom got FIRED...)
SARKIN: That is a beautiful shot. You can see how happy they all are and the baby...(Kodak moment)
(...)
KING: We have a photo of Suri laughing. (Gas).This shot is I guess a kind of one of a kind. Was she laughing out loud? (Croup?) How hard was it to get this? (Tell us, Jane. How hard was it?)
SARKIN: Tom does this really cute thing where he sort of nuzzles right under her neck and gets her to giggle like that as, you know, a lot of fathers do (Who's your daddy?) and it is a laugh out loud giggle, so adorable, great shot.
(Laugh out loud cute. Tom, please, just donate sperm so we all can have such a gifted child!)
(...)
KING: A quote from your article from Katie, "The moment the doctor handed me Suri, I was just ready. The feeling is indescribable. All I can say is the moment I looked in her eyes I felt like Mom." (That's the Demerol talking...or total exhaustion. Get used to it, Katie).
SARKIN: Yes.
KING: What kind of mom is she?
SARKIN: Katie is an incredible mother just the way she holds that baby and looks at -- that baby looks at her. They have such a connection. She's very hands on. They have very little help, you know. (I am so sad for Katie. No freaking help. Well, Tom IS -whisper-out of work, you know. Shhhhh).
(...)
But, Katie is incredible, very hands on, does everything herself. (How GREAT is that?) She runs the household. She plans the meals. (Does she COOK the meals?) She's really great and she was very forthcoming about how she felt about the press.
(Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em).
KING: I believe we have one of Suri grabbing her mother's hair?
(Wait til this kid is a teenager. Katie will be pulling her own hair...out by the handfuls).
SARKIN: Yes, it's a beautiful photo. She's just a very playful baby, very playful baby and they just adore her and you can see it.
(...)
KING: Does she want another baby?
SARKIN: She actually told me that she would love to have two or three or four babies, (and run for President, be a ballerina, and ,oh yeah, be a vet) so we'll see. I think she will.
(But will Vanity Fair..be there....? Or will number 2, 3, and 4 be subjected to mere "People" mag coverage).
(...)
KING: Jane Sarkin, you pulled off a coup.
(Definite Pulitzer nod).
SARKIN: Yes and it's selling like crazy. It's just crazy. It's just been a great...
(Cha-ching)!
KING: This might be your biggest seller?
SARKIN: I think it's going to be our biggest seller because it's flying (FLYING!) off the newsstands right now and, you know, 22 (22 pages of a KID) pages of these beautiful photos that everyone in the world wants to see. (Even the Iraqis?) It's been an amazing adventure.
(Thank YOU SO MUCH, Vanity Fair! Thank you!)
KING: Thanks, Jane. SARKIN: Thank you.
(Good luck raising your parents, kid).
Free Katie. Free Suri.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/...