The Person Who Changed Chris Cuomo's Life.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: What a great series this has been. Good for you for bringing this to us.</s>MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Wasn't me.</s>CUOMO: So humble. We've all been telling about the people who made powerful marks on our lives. It leads up to that two-hour special this Sunday hosted by Anderson Cooper and the beauty over here, Michaela Pereira, called "The Person Who Changed My Life." This morning, I'm going share my story. There is only one boy out of 14 grandkids in my family and it is my son, Mario. That makes him very special on a lot of levels and my relationship with him has been special as well.</s>CUOMO: Family is everything. A simple lesson that's taken on deeper meaning since we lost the man who it taught me, my pap. To me, he wasn't the governor. He was a father.</s>MARIO CUOMO, FATHER OF CHRIS CUOMO: And what about Christopher?</s>CUOMO: Who was always teaching about giving back.</s>MARIO CUOMO: It is right to give to people and to the world.</s>CUOMO: But his biggest lesson is what this piece is all about. (on camera): My father would often say to me, spend time with your kids. Don't bring your work home with you the way I did. (voice-over): To be a good parent. For me and Christina that means raising our jewels, Bella, Mario and Carolina. Raising the girls can be a joy and a chore. But the biggest challenge for me has been figuring out the dynamic of making a man. It may be the hardest thing I've ever done. (on camera): A lot of men, a lot of people realize their mistakes sometimes, but don't want people to know. (voice-over): I know because I was one of those people struggling, trying to balance what I thought was right with what was actually right for my son. And the answer came from the person who changed my life, Mario. (on camera): My son helped make me change in a way that made me who I am right now in this chair as much as any formative experience in my life. I'm not embarrassed to say that my relationship with my son was not how I wanted it. I wasn't doing the best for him. It wasn't making him the best that he could be. If you have to raise your voice with your kid every time you want him do anything, are you really getting it right? (voice-over): Being intense and insistent works as a journalist, but it was not working for me as a father. Even as the baby, my little man literally ran the other way. (on camera): He's not motivated by the same things. He's not scared by the same things. He's sensitive to things that I am not.</s>MARIO, SON OF CHRIS CUOMO: Don't do that.</s>CUOMO: Don't do what? I won't do it. (voice-over): Mario is who he is even at this young age is 5, 7, 9 and he's always been completely sure of telling me that he doesn't like what I was doing. Sure he knew I loved him, but we wound up in frequent standoffs that were kind of funny, but really frustrating. (on camera): And I'm this 200 pounds monster and I'm trying this 40 pound standing up to me and I'm like where is the fear. And then when I saw the fear I was like I don't want to see it. And times are different. My mom ran the house.</s>MATILDA CUOMO, MOTHER OF CHRIS CUOMO: I think you were like a different person when you used to come home from Albany. You were just so happy to see him that you behaved yourself. It was very nice for me.</s>CUOMO: Mama reminded me that I was more than a handful as a kid. And I was forgetting two things. Strength is not just toughness but sweetness especially for boys.</s>MATILDA CUOMO: A father has to give time and love, the love and the affection that they need. More than you can believe. A boy, especially a boy. They don't show it. But they are just as much as the girl they want to know that you care for them.</s>CUOMO (on camera): So what is the plan today? Fishing?</s>MARIO: Fishing.</s>CUOMO (voice-over): The second thing was the key. She said Mario will be your best teacher. Listen to him and let him show you how to be. So I stopped insisting and starting listening. Good job, bud. And sure enough, I realized my son and I were saying the same things. Just in our own way. So if I say how much you do like something and you say 1 out of 10, that means you don't like it. Do you understand that?</s>MARIO: No, Daddy, one is the worst. Two is the second worst, 5, 50/50, 9, second best. Ten the best.</s>CUOMO (on camera): I reached out to people who knew better. I reach out to the clinician. I reach to people who do it for a living, who understand kids? (voice-over): Some book learning, some intuition from mom, the example of my wife. It all helped, but the best teacher wound up being my little man. (on camera): It was really hard for me to change what I thought was right and what I knew and how it was and he helped me do it. I used to get angry lot more than do I now, right?</s>MARIO: Yes.</s>CUOMO: I would say I'm sorry, I stink I'm trying to better, right?</s>MARIO: Yes.</s>CUOMO: How do you think we helped me become a better daddy?</s>MARIO: You always were a good daddy.</s>CUOMO: It doesn't matter how much I changed. How much I learn from being with him. (on camera): He taught me if I let go and I let somebody else have their way a little bit I is wound up more happier and more satisfied with the dynamic. (voice-over): Now I'm not saying it is all smiles and laughs, but now we find a way through whatever life brings. (on camera): Look at that grass fish. Think we'll always be buddies?</s>MARIO: Yes. Even when you are not on earth anymore. You will still be my buddy. Always.</s>CUOMO (voice-over): Now, I know when he says that he's thinking about grandpa being gone and so am</s>I. (on camera): It would be amazing for me to watch pap with Mario now. I think pap would respect the effort I made to be better for my family. He put inside of us what we need to stay together and stay true to what matters most. And that is all I want for my kids. (voice-over): Two Marios changed my life I suppose and my hope and prayer is that what mattered most about the one who is gone will live on in me, my girls and the son who carries his name. (on camera): Do you understand why it was important to name you after grandpa?</s>MARIO: No.</s>CUOMO: Because grandpa is gone, right? But his name lives on.</s>MARIO: He's not gone. He's still in my heart.</s>CUOMO: I can't even look at you guys right now. Anyway. What we wanted to do was -- you know, I think a lot of dads can relate to the piece. I can't look at you guys right now. I just think that dads will be able to relate to the piece. Sometimes what matters most is hardest to do.</s>PEREIRA: I love your family so much, but I love you even more right now. Look at who's there.</s>CUOMO: Get off my phone.</s>PEREIRA: We're talking about you. Come on over here, big man. Your dad needs a hug I think.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's beautiful.</s>CUOMO: They're making me cry.</s>CAMEROTA: Mario, what did you think about the story? Did you like the story your dad told?</s>CUOMO: What did I tell you about using my --</s>PEREIRA: There are families out there that are going through some of the very things that all of us have gone through. People, individuals, somebody needs a leg up or love advice or mend a relationship. This is why this kind of special is extra, extra important.</s>CAMEROTA: I agree.</s>CAMEROTA: There are more coming.</s>CUOMO: Are you all right with the story? Did you like the story buddy?</s>PEREIRA: Take another picture.</s>CUOMO: Who's better than me? You.</s>CAMEROTA: Thanks for sharing that, Chris. That was a beautiful story.</s>CUOMO: And I thank my wife for letting me share the story.</s>PEREIRA: She's a fox by the way.</s>CAMEROTA: Indeed. "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right after the break. Have a great weekend everyone.