“Thankfully I can do some work from home, but I feel like this is an extraordinary time to be in this business as a reporter,” says Anderson Cooper
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to affect millions worldwide, Anderson Cooper wants to help deliver the facts — even if that means eschewing paternity leave.
The CNN anchor, 52, got candid on Monday night’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert about being a new dad to 1-week-old son Wyatt Morgan, emphasizing the importance of sound news coverage and people looking to those in his profession for information.
“This is not some story — this is life and death. This is as serious as it gets, and it’s more important than ever before that things be true and accurate,” Cooper told host Stephen Colbert. “It’s one of the reasons I’m not taking time off.”
“Thankfully I can do some work from home, but I feel like this is an extraordinary time to be in this business as a reporter and to be able to try to help inform people and give people facts,” he added. “Right now, facts and science and truth — it is the difference between life and death for many people.”
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Luckily for Cooper, who welcomed baby Wyatt via surrogate on April 27, he has some seriously seasoned help — in the form of a nanny who used to be caregiver to his close pal Andy Cohen’s son, now-15-month-old Benjamin Allen.
“I’ve been talking about my nanny [saying] she’s leaving, that she’s gonna go help out a friend,” Cohen, 51, told listeners on Monday, “and the moment Anderson announced it I got a bunch of DMs from eagle-eared Radio Andy listeners saying, ‘Wait … is that where your nanny went?’ The answer is yes, that is where my nanny went.”
“We had long planned this transition, but I certainly didn’t expect it to happen during a quarantine, of course,” he added. “So we had to really handle this hand-off from one home to the next very carefully, but we did and she is now with Anderson and I know she’s gonna get Wyatt on a great sleep schedule just like she got Ben.”
“I’m so happy for Anderson,” the Watch What Happens Live host continued. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time and I have been really enjoying Anderson coming over. His visits with Ben have taken on a special significance since we both knew for a while that Anderson was planning on [becoming a dad] himself.”
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As Cooper signed off of his show Anderson Cooper 360° and Chris Cuomo’s show, Cuomo Prime Time, began on Monday, the two journalists shared a brief but sweet on-screen exchange, discussing Cooper’s new role as a dad.
Cuomo — who’s father to son Mario, 14, and daughters Carolina, 11, and Bella, 17 — asked Cooper how his “first weekend” went with little Wyatt.
“It was great. It was awesome,” Cooper told Cuomo, 49, smiling from ear to ear. “I spent the whole weekend just looking at him and burping him and feeding him. It was great.”
Cuomo couldn’t help but smile at seeing his colleague so happy. “You’ve got a new baby, it’s a new you and I love watching you laugh and smile,” he shared. “There will be nothing else like it in your life.”
