Don Lemon cries while discussing Chris Cuomo’s COVID-19 diagnosis

The CNN anchor wiped away tears during an impromptu moment of vulnerability on-air

Apr 1, 2020

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CNN anchor Don Lemon was brought to tears on-air Tuesday while discussing his colleague and friend Chris Cuomo‘s recent COVID-19 diagnosis.

Lemon, the host of CNN Tonight, emotionally discussed just after prematurely ending a segment with CNN senior global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryg, who introduced the sensitive topic.

“Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to do this,” Lemon said as he pulled out a tissue to wipe his tears. “He’s probably at home laughing at me.”

“When I walk into work every day, I have to walk buy where Chris is. So I usually like go to his office…sometimes I bring the dog, and we just say hello,” Lemon added. “Anyway, he’s just not here and we have this great relationship.”

Golodryg shared her own story about Cuomo as an emotional Lemon fights to hold back tears. A somber Lemon listens as she shares joyful memories of Cuomo.

“Speaking of healthy, I don’t know anybody else who is healthier than Chris, and so, it was good to see his face on television tonight,” Golodryg said.

In sharing his diagnosis yesterday, Cuomo, the host Cuomo Prime Time, explained that following interactions with people who tested positive, he experienced fever, chills, and shortness of breath.

Now, the show will air from Cuomo’s basement where he is quarantined to prevent spreading the virus. His biggest concern is not passing the illness on to his wife and children.

“We do not have the testing data to make real sense of our reality beyond what we know is the face of [coronavirus] for an overwhelming number who get sick,” says @chriscuomo. “That face is mine. I tested positive.” pic.twitter.com/NmkAyAx9KW

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 1, 2020

Cuomo will continue to air, assuring fans that he feels relatively fine, considering his circumstances.

“This is a fight, it’s going to get worse, and we’re going to suffer,” says Cuomo during his first basement broadcast. He continues, “And you have to accept that not with fear, but with almost a fanatical sense of passion to fight, because that’s the only way you’ve ever made it through anything hard in your life, and this will be no different.”