Roland Martin - Where did he come from?

I don't know where Roland Martin came from, but I am very impressed with his ability to land himself on a big market channel like CNN primetime on a Friday night and discuss Christian matters with major Christian figures for an hour. Very impressive! His show Friday night included TD Jakes, Paula White, Jerry Falwell and Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life), and a majority of it was spent discussing the same issues that were discussed in his editorial Friday morning. The common theme throughout the show as "If Jesus where here now, how would he handle today's issues?"
Rick Warren stated that he thought that He would spend a great deal of His time with HIV/AIDS patients and referred to them as the "lepers of today." Interesting.
My overall take on the hour long show was that it was managed very well by Martin, allowed for some pointed discussion regarding real issues facing Christians and the world, and did not appear to be watered down nor overly slanted.