US no place for Cruise kids
28jun02
TOM Cruise has given in to Nicole Kidman and agreed their children can be brought up outside the US - probably in Australia - according to reports in London.
Cruise, in town for the premiere of his new Stephen Spielberg movie, Minority Report , told British newspapers he agreed with Kidman that their adopted children, Isabella, 9, and Connor, 7, would be better off growing up outside America.
"I think the US is terrifying and it saddens me," he told the Daily Express.
"You only have to look at the state of affairs in America.
"I do worry about my children. As a parent you are always concerned. I just want them to be in a place where they are going to be strong enough to be able to make the right choices.
"Unfortunately, we're in a position where people are so irresponsible that human life holds such little value to them."
It was the first time Cruise has expressed doubts about the US as a suitable place for children and his remarks were believed to be aimed at acts of terrorism, crime statistics and the recent spate of big business collapses and corporate crime.
Kidman and Cruise settled on joint custody rights when their divorce went through last November.
Cruise, 40 next week, currently lives in Beverly Hills, LA, with his new love, Penelope Cruz.
"I depend on Nic where bringing up the kids is concerned," Cruise said.
"But it has to be both of us."
Cruz recently denied a spate of rumours that she was, pregnant, engaged or splitting with Cruise, with whom she starred in Vanilla Sky.
Cruise's latest movie is set in 2054 and, ironically enough, he plays the head of a unit dedicated to preventing crime before it is planned.
"In 2054 I hopefully will have lots of great-grandchildren and movies will still be around," he said.
His next film will be The Last Samurai, which is due to start shooting in October and is about a mercenary training the Japanese imperial army. "I'm studying Japanese culture. It's going to be wild," he said.
This is what was reported on FOX this morning.