Anderson Cooper may be a hard-hitting journalist on CNN, but when it comes to his loved ones, he isn’t afraid to display his emotions.

The TV personality sat down with The View host Whoopi Goldberg on May 9, where the two talked about her memoir Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me for his podcast All There Is. As the duo talked about the grief of losing their parents (Whoopi’s mother Emma Johnson died in June 2010 following a stroke, while Anderson’s mother Gloria Vanderbilt died in June 2019 from cancer), Anderson asked Whoopi how she is able to cope with life without the presence of her mother and brother Clyde (who died in 2015). When she responded with a heartfelt answer that involved needing to be there for her children and grandchildren, her answer moved Anderson in a way even he didn’t see coming.

“The answer to that is because we have stuff we’ve got to get done, that’s why,” Whoopi said in a clip posted on YouTube. “We’re not supposed to. This is not our time… We’ve got kids and grandkids, and they need to know us. That’s why. It’s my belief, you know?”

Upon hearing Whoopi’s reply, Anderson found himself breaking down and crying on the air. What’s more, when he collected himself and gathered his thoughts, he shared the importance of feeling the emotions in order to answer the theoretic question about grief.

‘CNN’ host Anderson Cooper broke down in front of Whoopi Goldberg when the two spoke about her new memoir for his podcast ‘All There Is,’© CNN/YouTube

“I find myself asking that question — why did you leave me?” Anderson added. “I also realize when I ask that, it’s very much like the 10-year-old me. It’s like the angry question of a hardhearted child — why did you all leave?”

Although the feelings of losing a parent will stay with both Anderson and Whoopi, Anderson has also spoken out about what it was like to see his mother pass away when speaking of her final moments on CNN in 2019.

“Though I was holding her hand and her head when she took her last breath, it’s still a little hard for me to believe she’s gone,” he said at the time. “Right now, things seem a lot less bright and magical without her.”