CNN host Don Lemon had to wipe away tears on the air Tuesday night while talking about his colleague Chris Cuomo being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Lemon was finishing a segment on "CNN Tonight" about the coronavirus with global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga when he took a moment to dab his tears and collect himself when Cuomo's name came up.
"Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to do this. Jesus,” Lemon said. "He’s probably at home laughing at me."
Lemon added that he often stops in Cuomo's office when he gets to work to say hello, saying they have "a great relationship."
Cuomo, 49, who is the brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, tweeted on Tuesday that he had been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Prior to the interview with Golodryga, Lemon spoke with Cuomo on air, jokingly asking him "Where's your suit?"
"I’m too sick,” Cuomo said. "(My wife) Cristina said it didn’t look right for me to be sick in a funereal suit. It’s too much like what I might be buried in."
"Did she come down there and do some decorating and help you dress?" Lemon then asked.
"Nope. Nobody will come anywhere near me," Cuomo said. "Those stairs are a no-go zone. Even the dogs don’t come."
Cuomo is currently quarantined in the basement of his family's home, where he hosted his show on Tuesday night.
Lemon told viewers that he knows the coronavirus is a serious topic, "but this is how Chris and I tease each other."
"You're a strong guy, so I know that you'll be fine," Lemon told him.
"So many people have it so much worse,'' Cuomo said. "I don't believe that that's the way I'm gonna go. But not being able to be there for the people you love, for guys like me and you, that is a killer.
"Learn from me. You can get it. Avoid it."