Anderson Cooper opened his show Monday night by sharing the names and some personal details of the 49 people who lost their lives at the Orlando Pulse nightclub on June 12^th.

Introducing the 7-minute video, Cooper highlighted his choice of not saying the shooter’s name, or showing his picture. Instead, Cooper chose to shine a light on the victims by showing them as not just as a list of names, but as real people with rich lives.

“We’re going to try to keep the focus where we think it belongs – the people whose lives were cut short.” said the CNN anchor, who became visibly emotional and teared up several times while reading the names.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9tWYfHhJac