Bob Simon's '60 Minutes' Colleagues Open Up: 'You've Never Seen a Father and Daughter Closer'
The tragic death of veteran 60 Minutes reporter Bob Simon has definitely affected his many colleagues and admirers around the world, but now ET's learning more about his close relationship with his daughter Tanya, herself a producer for 60 Minutes. Speaking to ET, Simon's CBS colleagues Lesley Stahl and Steve Kroft share that Simon was actually going to be a grandfather again before his unexpected passing on Wednesday.
Tanya, 43, is currently pregnant with her second child and is due in late spring/early summer.
"She's pregnant and so I think a lot of us are a little worried about her," Stahl admits to ET. "Everybody loves her too."
NEWS: Veteran '60 Minutes' Reporter Bob Simon Dead in Car Accident
Simon was killed in a car accident Wednesday in New York City, when he was a passenger in a Lincoln Town Car that hit the driver's side of a Mercedes that was stopped at a corner. The NYPD is currently investigating the crash.
The celebrated journalist was 73 years old.
Kroft says he was actually with Tanya at the 60 Minutes offices when she found out the devastating news.
"In some ways it was great that she was here when she found out because there were a lot of people here and she was surrounded by friends," he says. "So, I think that she took it remarkably well. But I think that she was like, in a state of shock, you know? It takes time to process it, it and I think that she's going to have some really ... I think she'll have some bad days."
Simon was working on a story with Tanya about the Ebola virus and the search for a cure at the time of his death, which was scheduled to air this Sunday.
"Oh, you've never seen a father daughter closer and I think it was a marvel to observe," Stahl says about the two's close relationship. "You would expect that she couldn't work for him, you would expect there would be a power difference or difficulty, and they worked together. It was a dream for each of them. She loved to [do] stories with her dad."
"Of course nothing was better than, for him, working with his kid," she adds. "And apparently yesterday he had a wonderful screening. Everybody loved the story, which really makes you feel wonderful around here. It doesn't happen very often."
NEWS: Liam Neeson Open Up About His Wife's Death on '60 Minutes' -- 'It Still Doesn't Seem Real'
Stahl also shares just how important Simon's relationship was with Tanya's son Jack.
"Oh my God, I went out to lunch with Bob recently and that is all he talked about," she says of Simon's love for his grandson. "From the beginning of the lunch to the end is 'Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack.' The whole entire lunch was how much he loved that kid."
Clearly, Kroft and Stahl are still in shock over Simon's death.
"Bob has thrown himself into every war zone for 50 years ... and to hear he had died in a car accident in New York City was the one thing I never expected," Kroft says.