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Geraldo Rivera Becomes Tearful Reporting On How Daughter Escaped Paris Attacks: Urges Obama To ‘#KillISIS’

By Joanne Eglash
Published on: 06:37 PST, Nov 16, 2015

Geraldo Rivera has held a variety of jobs in his career, ranging from journalist to contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. But when it comes to what’s really important to him, Geraldo is making it clear that at heart, he’s a caring dad. And when Rivera learned that his 21-year-old daughter was in the soccer stadium near the location where the horrific Paris attacks occurred, his emotions took over during his appearance on Fox News, reported E! News.

The 72-year-old Geraldo couldn’t hold back his tears in discussing the fact that daughter Simone Rivera was near the location where suicide bombers blew themselves up. The stadium in which Simone, along with thousands of other viewers, watched a game between Germany and France was among the six locations chosen by those responsible for killing 129 people. The group identifying itself as responsible is ISIS.

Geraldo Rivera, Bono and The Edge of U2 were among the celebrities responding in different ways to the Paris attacks.
Geraldo Rivera, Bono, and U2 guitarist The Edge were among the celebrities responding in different ways to the Paris attacks. [Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]

Geraldo showed his feelings on air as he talked with Simone on the phone, his voice shaking with emotion.

“It’s my, my gorgeous daughter,” Rivera revealed, displaying a photo of the journalist and his daughter. “It’s, uh, it’s very upsetting.”

The concerned father revealed that while he’s accustomed to being in the thick of situations such as this, reporting when it was an objective topic was much easier than knowing from a distance that his daughter had been affected.

“I’m used to being in the action myself,” Geraldo said. “I can’t, I can’t, it’s a lot easier to report these things and to experience them myself than if it is your child. She just turned 21 years old, she’s a straight A student, she’s a wonderful, wonderful person and a very gentle soul and we’re obviously very concerned.”

Geraldo Rivera is a journalist but above all, he's a dad.
Geraldo Rivera is a journalist but above all, he’s a dad. [Image via Geraldo Rivera/Twitter]

Rivera heard from the mother of one of Simone’s friends that his daughter and her pal were all right. That news was followed by their phone conversation on Fox News.

“Are you there, sweetheart?” Geraldo questioned his daughter.

After she responded, Rivera told her that the broadcast was live and many individuals were worried about her. That was when Simone offered up her own account of what she heard and saw adjacent to the deadly attacks.

“Before halftime, we all heard a very loud kind of explosion sound but no one seems to make any, like seem worried about it or anything except for the fellow New Yorkers by my side but we just brushed it off as nothing,” Simone recalled.

However, Simone realized something was wrong when she decided to get something to eat at halftime but learned she could not exit the stadium.

“They wouldn’t let anyone leave the stadium at that point and they weren’t telling us anything and they just had a bunch of ambulances and people in uniform starting to look very nervous,” recalled Rivera. “Then we heard two more explosive sounds. But again, no one expressed any concern.”

But then the daughter of Geraldo received a terrifying phone call. The mother of her friend told them about the terrorist attacks occurring in Paris. When the girls attempted to exit the stadium, they discovered that SWAT teams were there. As the game halted, the field became overwhelmed with people.

During a four-hour period, a blockade surrounded the stadium, put up by authorities, according to Simone. They increasingly became scared, not sure what to do.

“We just all start running in this direction, not knowing where to go and then all the police officers were there with their guns ready,” she added.

Geraldo questioned his daughter about how she was feeling, and she admitted that she still felt shaky. Walking home by foot meant a four-hour trek, and neither subways nor taxis proved an option. When they attempted to check into a hotel, the doors locked in their faces.

Rivera focused on what he could do as a father.

“Do you want to come home, honey?” Geraldo suggested.

“Thank you, I want to come home” was the instant response from the 21-year-old.

Rivera subsequently was able to get to Paris to be with Simone, tweeting his relief at their reunion.

The journalist is urging President Obama to become aggressive, according to Twitchy.

Taking to social media to launch his campaign, Geraldo focused on ISIS’ claim that it is responsible for the attacks. Rivera stated his belief that ISIS wants to kill more people in this nation.

“We are a nation at war. @POTUS must see this & lead an all out effort to #KillISIS. They surely want to kill us and everything we hold dear,” tweeted Geraldo.

As the Inquisitr reported, a wide range of entertainers and celebrities have responded to the Paris attacks. U2 canceled their show, while Natalie Portman, the Foo Fighters, and Coldplay also showed different ways of expressing their concern.

[Image via Geraldo Rivera/Twitter]

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