The Person Who Changed Don Lemon's Life.
PEREIRA: It's been a really special week here at CNN. We've been sharing stories about the people who had an incredible impact or influence on our lives. It all culminates in a two-hour special this Sunday hosted by a guy you may have heard of, Anderson Cooper, and myself called "The Person Who Changed My Life." This morning, guess who is in the hot seat? CNN anchor Don Lemon.</s>CUOMO: There he is.</s>PEREIRA: I cannot wait to hear this story.</s>CAMEROTA: I can't wait to hear it either.</s>DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to church. We're going to church. You know, sometimes in life you go through some things. And I went through some things. And I am a loner. Chris knows. Chris and I hang out.</s>PEREIRA: You're a social butterfly.</s>LEMON: No, I am. People think that I am.</s>CUOMO: Makes me feel good as your friend when you call yourself a loner, by the way.</s>LEMON: I'm pretty much a loner. I've been a loner for most of my life. So it shouldn't be surprising as you'll hear in the piece that the person who changed my life -- They had no idea that they did and I didn't even really know him personally. So here it is.</s>LEMON (voice-over): It might sound strange, maybe even impossible, but the person who changed my life is someone I've never even met.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...</s>LEMON: Through the power of his voice and his message, Bishop T.D. Jakes pulled me out of a crisis more than a decade ago. And I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't heard for his words.</s>BISHOP T.D. JAKES, PERSON WHO CHANGED DON LEMON'S LIFE: I hear it in my spirit. Somebody say I hear it in my spirit. You should hear things in your spirit that contradict what you hear with your natural ear. You have got to be willing to be criticized because you are hearing on a level that other people don't hear and you are seeing on a level that they don't see and you are building for things that they don't even understand because it hasn't appeared yet. But it's -- Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying?</s>LEMON (on camera): Do you know how much I listen to you?</s>BISHOP JAKES: No. I'm shocked.</s>LEMON: You are the voice in my head. You are the voice in my head. In many ways you have changed my life.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Wow. When I got the letter that you could have picked anybody as a hero, as a mentor, and that you chose me I was like -- I thought it was a joke. But what I am so grateful for is that I could say anything that made anybody's life better, you know. That I could do something that other people would find useful. Because I grew up not thinking that I had anything at all to offer to anybody.</s>LEMON (voice-over): This is a story about dreams. For as long as I can remember my dream was to be a journalist. So I worked my way up, all the way to NBC News in New York City. (on camera): It was very exciting. But I was never at home. So I took a chance. I believe in taking chances. I took chance for my big network gig. And I went to Chicago to become a local news anchor. They told me when I came there I would do the big stories and specials and that I would be the anchor. And then I ended up knocking on people's doors and doing local how -- how do you feel about your child who's dead? And I said I don't want to do this. I took a stand for myself. And I got suspended and almost got fired. So I went to this really low place. And I had to reach and find something to keep me alive. And at that low point I found T.D. Jakes.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor...</s>CROWD: Neighbor.</s>BISHOP JAKES: You don't have to believe...</s>CROWD: You don't have to believe.</s>BISHOP JAKES: This is my dream.</s>CROWD: This is my dream.</s>LEMON: There was a sermon that resonates with me that saved my life. I could probably repeat it by heart.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Wow.</s>LEMON: Yeah.</s>BISHOP JAKES: You probably do it better than I do.</s>LEMON: But it's called "My Dream."</s>BISHOP JAKES: But to all of you that have a dream that's bigger than you. To all of you who have a dream and it looks like the people don't want to get with the program, I want you to say it. Say hey neighbor.</s>LEMON: Hey neighbor.</s>BISHOP JAKES: You don't have to believe, in my dream.</s>LEMON: You don't have to believe in my dream.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Wow.</s>LEMON: And I do that in the gym. I look at people on the next machine.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Oh really?</s>LEMON: Or I'll be running --</s>BISHOP JAKES: They're going to lock us both up.</s>LEMON: And they just look at me and laugh and I just keep moving.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Look at your neighbor and say I don't have time to wait. I don't have time for you to figure who I really am, what I really meant, understand my true heart, take into account how I was raised, where I came from or what I've been through. By the time you get through that I'll be an old man and be dead.</s>LEMON: That was all I needed to hear. He had me right there. So my dream wasn't to go to a poor mother's house and say how do you feel about your kid who's dead. My dream was to make people in the world better through my work. You have to be fearless. How you do it? I think you just do it one step at a time. When I'm going -- when I went through what I went through in Chicago, as I would run on that path, I would just say one foot in front of the other.</s>BISHOP JAKES: You thought I wasn't gonna survive? Ha, ha, ha. Girl, please. Let me --</s>LEMON (voice-over): Listening to T.D. Jakes, I came to realize that I had the power to change my situation.</s>BISHOP JAKES: I can (inaudible) because I got something. I'm not intimidated by any man because I got something.</s>LEMON: That we all have the power to control our own lives. (on camera): The difference between negativity and positivity is just -- [snaps] -- that.</s>BISHOP JAKES: Absolutely.</s>LEMON: You've helped flip that switch for me. How do you do that?</s>BISHOP JAKES: Well, I think if there's something unique about me, I have been down. I have been broke, I have been depressed, I have been suicidal. I have had my car repossessed. I know what it is not to have all my utilities or I know what it is to use my neighbor's phone. So when you've seen life from down under and you finally get up over where you can talk the fuel that pushes me comes from where I came from, not where I'm going to.</s>LEMON (voice-over): After I came to CNN, I interviewed Bishop Jakes about his work, his books, and the news of the day. But I never told him how much he inspires me or what he means to my life. (on camera): Most of my adult life, the father figure that I've had in my head is you.</s>BISHOP JAKES: That's amazing to me.</s>LEMON: So thank you for the tough love, the inspiration, for understanding me when I didn't even know you and now that I know you for understanding me even more.</s>BISHOP JAKES: To know that I am helping you gives my life meaning. My destiny is to help you reach yours. And the one thing that I know for sure, when you started talking a moment ago, I heard your heart speak. And hearts don't lie. Hearts really don't lie.</s>LEMON: When someone changes your being and the way you look at the world and life, that is invaluable.</s>PEREIRA: Hearts do not lie, Don Lemon. He was a light, a beacon in your life. You two are a mess over there. Aren't you?</s>LEMON: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: That was beautiful, Don.</s>CUOMO: That's why I carry the handkerchief.</s>LEMON: Thank you, Chris.</s>CAMEROTA: I know. Thank you.</s>LEMON: Yes. He makes everyone feel as if he's speaking just --</s>PEREIRA: To them.</s>LEMON: To them. And --</s>PEREIRA: It comes through from the television, doesn't it?</s>LEMON: He is. But here is the thing that I want everybody to know. People wonder why I do what I do and I give the commentary that I give and I have the point of view that I have. I came from nothing. Nothing. And if I can do it, you, little black boy or little black girl at home, can do it as well. There are no excuses of where you came from. And so if I can do it, you can do it. We all can do it. And then I said the difference between positivity and negativity is that. It is all how you look at your particular situation and how you react to it.</s>PEREIRA: But it also sometimes takes somebody else.</s>LEMON: Somebody else.</s>PEREIRA: Yes.</s>LEMON: Like a T.D. Jakes to show you that and that's why I would like to lead the way to show people that. And sometimes it comes off as people don't understand. They think that, you know, you're judging, you think you're better or whatever. Sometimes people say I think that I'm white. I know who I am. I'm a black boy from Louisiana, a little black boy, who had big teeth and big ears who grew into it, thankfully. And who grew up with a single mom who taught me that -- you go out there, I don't care what people tell you you can do. She would tell me, quite honestly, if this person can do it, you can do it. If that white kid can do it, you can do it. You just work your ass off, she says. And that is how you are going to do it. And don't let anyone tell you who you are. You decide who you are. You are not the "n" word.</s>PEREIRA: That is why this has been such an interesting process for all of us. It's been really revealing to each one of us, but also for you at home. And you can get more on some of our pictures, you will see some video, you will see some bad hairdos. Go to CNN.com/lifechangers. While you're there also tell us who changed your life. You can tweet us using the #MyLifeChanger. And as we mentioned, catch Anderson and I this Sunday. It's all of the pieces together. It's a two-hour special. Bring your Kleenex box. "The Person Who Changed My Life," 8:00 p.m. Eastern. It's really inspiring.</s>LEMON: Thank you, Bishop Jakes. Thank you so much.</s>CAMEROTA: That was great to hear from him.</s>PEREIRA: Up next, guess who?</s>LEMON: Oh, Ms. Costello.</s>PEREIRA: Yes. Because she's going to share her story in the 10:00 hour of "NEWSROOM" which conveniently starts right after this short break.</s>CAMEROTA: Perfect.</s>PEREIRA: That was beautiful, Don.