During my recent visit to Georgia, an old college roommate of mine invited me to Atlanta for a special VIP behind the scenes tour of his workplace - CNN Studios Atlanta.

I would have been happy just to go on the normal $12.00 public admission tour, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity to see the inner workings of the CNN studios.

After parking in the CNN Center building employee parking lot, my friend led us over to the security guard counter for visitor check in.

While the paperwork was completed, I admired the CNN, Time Warner, & Turner Broadcasting wall of history that featured pictures from memorable news moments.

Once I had my name badge, we were on our way to start touring the legendary Cable News Network studios.

At the top of the stairs (or escalator if you're lazy) was the CNN atrium area with a food court dining area, CNN souvenir shops, the Cartoon Network store, cafeteria style fast food restaurant counters and all this was under the huge globe of the earth surrounded by the flags of the nations of the world.