Anderson Cooper opened his CNN program on Monday night by reporting live from Orlando.
He also did so while fighting back tears as he read through the names of everyone who died at the hands of Omar Mateen on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Mateen, of course, is a name we wish we did not know.
The 29-year old opened fire with an assault weapon inside of a gay nightclub called Pure on Saturday, taking multiple people hostage for several hours and eventually being killed by police in a shootout.
But not before he murdered 50 innocent patrons and aligned himself with ISIS on a 911 call during his attack.
He was responsible for the largest number of deaths in one shooting in U.S. history.
On Monday afternoon, a rundown of all 49 victims was released to the public.
“They’re more than a list of names. They were people who loved, and were loved. They were people who had families and friends and dreams,” Cooper said on air, broadcasting live from near Pulse.
"And the truth is, we don’t know much about some of them. We want you to hear their names and a little bit about who they were.”
The anchor, clearly deeply affected by the tragedy, started to falter while relating details about Edward Sotomayor Jr., a 34-year-old travel agent.
The network did not have any background information on this victim.
“We think it’s important that you hear their names,” Cooper said, crying.
Cooper, of course, is gay himself.
Not that one has to be gay in order to be crushed by this tragedy; one need only be human.
But it"s not hard to see why those in the gay community would take it even harder than others.
Watch Cooper"s moving tribute below:
