Tammy Haddad spoke with "Access Hollywood" senior news producer Steve Forrest and correspondent Maria Menounos for the July 11 edition of "National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation.

Q: We have with us Steve Forrest, who is senior news producer for NBC's syndicated entertainment show "Access Hollywood," that scored the biggest coup in politics this election season. And Maria Menounos, the news correspondent who made it all happen. Maria, in this case I want to start with the producer; I hope that's OK with you.

Menounos: Of course.

Q: OK, Steve. How did you get it?

Forrest: Well, I've been pursuing the Obamas for eight months, Tammy. Either an interview with the senator or Michelle or a combination of both. And it really became frustrating seeing them pop up on other shows, other news shows, cable shows. And "Access Hollywood," I felt, was not getting its just due. But in the end, persistence does pay off. I got an e-mail from the Obama campaign, I think around July 2nd, asking if we would be interested in doing an interview with Michelle and the senator in Butte, Montana, two days later, July 4th. Now that week, "Access Hollywood" was a dark week. We were all on vacation. And I was available, but I contacted our executive producer to see if he could find one of our talent who might be willing to give up his or her vacation to fly to Butte, Montana, and he got on it and Maria Menounos forgave the remainder of her vacation and everybody flew in several flights to Butte, Montana. No lost equipment, no lost luggage. And there we were, the Fourth of July in Butte, Montana, with an interview that I long wanted to get.

Q: But Steve, Michelle Obama herself said that the kids were going to be off-limits. The most incredible part was that family portrait of all of them together and the kids talking. How did that happen?

Forrest: Maria would be great at answering that part.

Menounos: Well, if you must know the truth, it was funny. When I got the call to go I immediately knew that we were going to be somewhat short-handed because it was vacation time. So, I called up my business partner, who -- I produce a lot of his films, and I said, "Hey, would you be interested and would you be able to shoot another camera for me?" So my business partner, Kevin Undergaro, came along to Butte, Montana. And he was shooting another camera. Now, just before the interview, probably about an hour before the interview started, the girls were kind of hanging out in the mill museum that we were shooting at and setting up our cameras. And Kevin, being a history major, and a nerd, had already gone through the entire museum and done the tour. And I heard from a distance the girls say, "We want to go on a tour of the museum." And I knew Kevin is great with kids, and I said, "Kevin, why don't you go show them the old fire truck?" And then from there he ended up taking them on a full tour of the museum. And they fell in love, like they just were like, "Show us more, show us more." They came back and we were all kind of hanging out and talking. I was talking to them about Beyonce, 'cause I guess they were at a concert recently and Beyonce's stage name is Sasha. And she gave Sasha a shout out and they were so excited about that. And we were just hanging out with them and they were just so sweet. And I feel like Kevin had kind of won them over, because he was making them laugh. And then it just became something where we were all comfortable with each other. And the senator and Michelle ended up coming a little later, and they sat down and the girls were kind of nowhere around. I didn't know where they went. And then, all of a sudden, they showed up and they popped some mikes on. We had known at that point, just minutes before the interview, that the girls may join to talk about the Jonas Brothers because they were big fans of the Jonas Brothers; they knew that they were on our show frequently. And they were going to put them at the end of the bench.

Q: So wait, the girls watch "Access Hollywood" and know that you guys have the Jonas Brothers on?

Menounos: Apparently. So, literally, I see the girls come in, they put their mikes on, and Sasha wedges herself between her parents. And the senator said, "Well, I guess you've made your decision on where you want to sit." It was the cutest moment. And from that moment on it became a family interview.

Q: So the Obama parents never said, hey, no kids.

Menounos: No.

Q: Obviously, the kids are sitting there with microphones.

Menounos: They did originally, and then just minutes before, they said, hey, the girls found out this was "Access Hollywood." They're so excited. They may want to pop in at the end just to talk about the Jonas Brothers.

Forrest: Tammy, it was a rare opportunity where the entire Obama family was in one place at one time.

Menounos: Exactly.

Q: Wow.

Forrest: And it was July 4th. It was Malia's birthday.

Menounos: It was laid-back.

Forrest: Yeah. And they had a -- there was a July 4th, Independence Day, parade earlier that day in the city. And then there was a picnic on the grounds very close to the mining museum where we did our interview. So it was just a good feeling and a party-like atmosphere. And fun. It was July 4th. And it just happened.

Q: And you two know that you're about to score the greatest coup of this election season. Maria, you've talked to all the other candidates. So it's not as if you haven't done that before. Did your heart start pounding?

Menounos: Not at all. I have to say that was the most incredible part of this interview. I felt like I had known this family forever and because they were so typical, all-American family, I think I didn't feel like I was interviewing a presidential-could-be. You know, it was very comfortable and very easygoing. And the atmosphere really lended itself to that. It was the perfect set of circumstances.

Q: Well, you guys looked like you were having the time of your lives.

Menounos: And we were. You know, Steve and I had sat down before and we were going over questions. And I said, "Hey, I know the girls are here. Let's just start thinking about what we could ask them if, for some reason, something could happen." So we had put some questions down. And of course, I never looked at my questions, because I got around the girls, I was like, whoa. And, you know, you're just having a conversation. I never like to be the one who's looking down at my questions. I like to have a conversation that's natural with people and go from there. And they were just absolutely hilarious. They took over the interview. They were adorable. They were charming. The entire family was just wonderful. And, you know, it was just very special.

Q: Well, the other part of the interview which I absolutely loved, and you could tell you were having such a good time, is when the kids started picking on Senator Obama and you came in and said, "Hey, do you get ragged on a lot?" And I thought: Go Maria, you're talking to a presidential candidate, because that's the question people watching were thinking.

Menounos: Yeah. It was hilarious. And he totally does. I think that's, like, so honest. And so genuine. To see their family dynamic was -- it really took me aback. I remember going to the airport and looking at Kevin and being like, my goodness, they could not have been more charming, more normal, more like any regular family out there, you know; the senator is coming in, he's dropping his bags. He comes in to rush and see the kids and the girls are ganging up on him. You know, it was really cool.

Q: I thought you were very Barbara Walters-like.

Menounos: Really?

Q: Yeah, because you also asked him about their most romantic, you know, moments. And you were doing an interview with the kids, of course, but also to talk to the candidates and try to get inside, which people have not been able to do, Maria -- to get inside their relationship and how they relate to each other. And Steve, to have that four-shot of that family, I mean, it was the Barbara Walters Special of her dreams.

Forrest: We knew when they sat down that this is a family portrait and a vision of that. That's how we wanted to capture it. Because in the body language of how they held each other's hands, and holding tight, and the kids -- this was a family, just like my family, your family, everybody's family. And that's what we sought out to visualize in our coverage.

Q: And as I'm sure you know, everyone picked up on it, and a lot of the conservative blogs and Rush Limbaugh, I heard him talking about the interview...

Menounos: What did he say?

Q: ... and Laura Ingraham, they were saying that, you know, supposedly the Obamas don't want their kids exploited and that they were exploiting them by putting them out there. What's your reaction to that?

Menounos: I think that's totally wrong. They did not exploit their children. If anybody was there, like we were, they would know. It just was something that just happened. It was everyone feeling comfortable. It was a beautiful day, they had family around, it was a celebration. It was the atmosphere -- it was outside, it was a picnic area. We all just, you know, ended up in a really comfortable, laid-back environment. You see the senator's body language, you see Michelle's body language, and the girls -- it just was a family moment that we happened to be there to get. And everyone wants to make things out to be what they're not. And it's unfortunate.

At first, they went to "Access Hollywood" because it wasn't going to be hard-hitting. Well, I think everyone has finally realized, what are you going to ask a 10- and a 7-year-old? You know, are you going to really ask them, 'Do you think daddy can really pull the troops out in 16 months?' Come on, now. You're in a moment where you're only going to ask rated-G questions. And the furthest you can push is talking about their romance in front of them. But, I mean, it was -- in the second day, it was, he made a mistake and blah blah blah. And, you know, everyone's trying to justify why, you know, they didn't get it. When we don't say anything when they get big interviews. Like, we're not like, "Oh, they went to this show because of X, Y and Z." Let things be.

Q: Well, I have to ask the question to both of you, have you heard from the Obama campaign since the interview?

Forrest: I have not. I'm sure that they have been really busy this week fielding questions and fielding perhaps anger from some media outlets that really have wanted this interview, first and foremost, and out of jealousy and rage, they are probably taking it out on the Obama people. But I'll chat with them next week. We didn't expect this story to be as big and as huge and as covered as it was.

Q: Well, let me ask you...

Menounos: It was a big interview, for sure. When we wrapped I looked at Steve, and I go, "Oh my goodness. This is really cool." And I was excited because it really -- I've never interviewed a potential candidate -- excuse me -- a candidate and not been nervous. And that was just like -- it was really bizarre.

Q: Maria, what have you heard from your friends in the Hollywood community?

Menounos: You know, I've gotten tremendous support from everyone. Everyone has been so excited. My parents were hilarious yesterday. They were like, "Maria, did you know you are everywhere? Everybody, they talking about this." And I'm like, yeah, Dad, I know. So everyone has been really supportive and excited.

Q: I have to point out, though, Maria, that there was -- it sounded like a little bit of jealousy dripping off some of our friends at the other networks. Anderson Cooper sounded a bit sarcastic. Diane Sawyer asked Senator Obama about it when he was on "Good Morning America" later in the week. Do you think there's a little jealousy there?

Menounos: You know, I don't want to focus on that. I feel like, when I saw, I was watching Anderson, 'cause I'm a fan of Anderson's. I was watching Anderson the other night and when he said that, I kind of took it a little personally because, you know, I would never say that. And I kind of expected a little bit more out of him. But I'm still a fan of his. And I kind of understand how everybody felt because no one expected me to be in this position. But you know, everyone's coming up the ladder, and good things are going to come to me, good things are going to come to other people, so I feel like we're all one big -- I feel like there should be more camaraderie. I don't know, like I know Meredith Viera has always been so sweet and so supportive of me. And, you know, I remember Leeza Gibbons approaching me on the red carpet years ago, so I always like it when people are supportive and nice because it doesn't have to be the other way.

Q: Was "Nightly News" unhappy that you gave it to "Access," although they picked up a clip, right? 'Cause you work for "Nightly," too.

Forrest: But Steve works for "Access Hollywood."

Q: (laughter) Steve, as a producer, did you really feel like this was your greatest moment? Because you've scored a lot of coups in the past.

Forrest: In retrospect, yes. And I think it's a great moment when I find out that the ratings of "Access Hollywood" spiked up 20 percent this week and this is pretty unprecedented. Our Web site, I'm told, almost crashed a couple times because of the unprecedented traffic to AccessHollywood.com. And what really was most fulfilling to me was seeing the comments from thousands of bloggers on our Web site, each and every one of them, positive and complimenting us on the quality and honesty of the interview -- even people who aren't voting for Obama offering their respectful comments. And to me, that's a great feeling and lets me know this was a great achievement.

Q: Well, there's only one thing left, Maria. Did Jeff Zucker call and give you a little bonus?

Menounos: (laughter) No, you know what, this was what I'm supposed to do. But Jeff did e-mail me and congratulate me. And he's such a wonderful guy and I'm so thankful to have him as a mentor and as a supporter.

Q: Steve, did you get the bonus?

Forrest: Today's payday, I haven't opened up the envelope yet, but there could be something extra in there for me. One never knows.

Q: (laughter) Thank you, Maria Menounos. Congratulations on an incredible coup of the election. And Steve Forrest, to you, senior producer, the man, over at "Access Hollywood" -- take a victory lap around 30 Rock today, guys.

Menounos: I know, we should. Steve, let's do it. Come on.

Forrest: All right, you got it.