Rivera on a mission

Rivera on a mission as Fox News war correspondent

If Geraldo Rivera finds Osama bin Laden in a vault, "I'll kick his head in, then bring it home and bronze it."

After seven years behind a desk at CNBC in Fort Lee, N.J., mucho-macho Rivera is headed to Afghanistan Nov. 19 as a war correspondent for Fox News Channel. For him, it's not just an assignment. It's a mission.

"I built my house [in Edgewater, N.J.] with every south window framing the Twin Towers," he says. "I get mad every day. My daughters lost 15 parents in their school. I take it very personally."

So personally that Rivera chose to leave CNBC when his bosses wouldn't let him travel overseas to cover the U.S.'s new war on terrorism.

"It was the most frustrating period of my life," says Rivera, 58, whose checkered career has no dearth of frustrating periods. "I said, 'If I can't leave the country, I'm leaving the company.' "

Rivera's first call was to Fox News boss Roger Ailes, with whom Rivera has been pals since Ailes recruited him to CNBC in 1994.

"I said, 'I'm a reporter and I'm chained to this desk. Would you still be interested?,' " Rivera says. "He said, 'Get out of your deal, but it's got to be clean. I won't get involved in a catfight.' "

Ailes got his claws clipped in September, when Paula Zahn joined rival CNN one day after Ailes had fired her for allegedly breaching her contract. He later filed suit against the anchor.

No such drama with Rivera at NBC, where many newsies resent the presence of the combative former syndicated talk-show host.

"There was a sincere effort made to try to give me a little freedom to report," Rivera says, "but it didn't get very far." The three-year Fox deal, announced Friday, came together in 48 hours, he says.

Rivera says he took a 25 percent pay cut from his estimated $6-million-a-year salary at NBC, where he had two years remaining in a six-year deal.

Rivera's last appearance on CNBC, where he hosts the network's highest-rated show, is Nov. 16. Three days later, he heads to Afghanistan to join Steve Harrigan and Amy Kellogg to do live reports.

Having been on the front lines of more than 20 major conflicts since 1973, Rivera has no fear of combat.

"I'm very fit. I still box. I don't smoke. I'd like to find a reporter who can outdistance me. I have a 31-inch waist, a 42-inch chest. I'm still real butch.

"Courage has never been my problem. Brave men run in my family. I'm afraid of the logistical obstacles between me and the story."

Rivera will be accompanied by his producer, brother Craig Rivera. Rivera's original producer when he was a swashbuckling investigative reporter at ABC's 20/20 (1978-86), Craig had been laid off from Inside Edition. FNC hired him in a package deal, Geraldo says.

As for his international credentials, Rivera says: "I think, arguably, I am the most experienced war correspondent in America today. Some people in Europe have more experience. But in the U.S., I've seen more combat than 99 percent of the armed forces personnel."

Rivera was in L.A. when New York's World Trade Center was attacked Sept. 11.

"I couldn't get back to my kids or to my city. It was like watching a relative get mugged and being helpless to do anything about it."


Gail Shister's e-mail address is gshister [at] phillynews.com.