CNN's anchor was captured on a video flying into a man who called him "Fredo" - an apparent insult referring to Fredo Corleone from "The Godfather".
"Fredo" from the "Godfather ", he was a weak brother and his use by an Italian is discouraging," he continues.
The 49-year-old anchor told the man that the name "Fredo" was as offensive to Italo-Americans as it is to African-Americans.
The man in the video insists that he believed that the real name of the anchor was Fredo.
But Cuomo, a father of three, does not buy it.
"You did not think that ... getting up like a man," he says. "Have what you said."
The situation gets worse then when Cuomo says to the man: "I'm going to throw you on the stairs like a punk ... you'll call me Fredo, take a swing? I'm going to ruin shit. "
The clip was shot Sunday on Shelter Island and sent to a website and a blog right, before being shared on Twitter.
