Anderson Cooper Chokes Up While Discussing Brother's Suicide on Daytime Talk Show (Video)

Anderson Cooper became emotional when discussing his brother Carter's suicide with his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, on his daytime talk show.

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In the episode of Anderson, which aired Monday, Cooper got choked up while listening to the former fashion designer share her memories of his brother's death in 1988 at age 23. Vanderbilt said she was there when Carter jumped from the 14th-floor balcony of his family's New York apartment and begged him not to jump.

"When he went … I thought he was going to come back, but he didn't," Vanderbilt said. "He let go, and there was a moment when I thought I was going to jump over after him, but then I thought of you, and it stopped me from doing that."

What stopped her, she said, was that the realization she'd be leaving behind another son, Anderson, who was 21 at the time. After she added that there is never really "closure" after something like this happens, Cooper got choked up while trying to ask her another question.

He later regained his composure, saying, "When I hear people use that word, it's like a TV word."

Cooper, who has previously mentioned his brother's suicide on his show and in interviews, said his family discusses it "all the time." And Vanderbilt herself addressed the incident in her 1997 memoir A Mother's Story, writing that she believes a medicine allergy led to his decision to commit suicide.