The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • A1

FMAIN0114OA1 4 Star 1A 1A RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack BlueRedYellowBlack Kuwait Hummer king enthroned by media By RON MARTZ Kuwait City, Kuwait Abdul Samad al-Sharif was a little-known car salesman just a few weeks ago. Now, he is being called King Hummer of Kuwait. Kuwait, nobody has experience with the Hummers like Samad, 53, said without the least bit of braggadocio as he reached for his ringing cellphone. It was just after 8 a.m., but phone rang steadily as prospective customers for the American-made military-style vehicles sought his expertise. With a possible United States-led war against Iraq in the offing, Hummers have become hot commodities in Kuwait.

The demand is not from Kuwaitis looking to escape potential Iraqi retaliatory attacks. from the international news media gathering in Kuwait to cover the American troop buildup and the war, if it comes. Samad, a native of Iraq who has lived in Kuwait 27 years, said CNN, CBS, Fox, ABC and Agence France-Press have been his best customers. CNN purchased two of Hummers and has a third on order, he said. Fox paid for one and has ordered another.

ABC wants two and CBS, which bought its own new vehicle from another company, is looking at a second used Please see MEDIA, A18 CNN chairman to step down Latest leadership shuffle at AOL Walter Isaacson is leaving to run the Aspen Institute. Please see CNN, A20 IN BUSINESS: Old-media leaders bring change to AOL. C1 By CAROLINE WILBERT In the second major shakeup at AOL Time Warner in two days, veteran journalist Walter Isaacson is quitting as chairman of CNN News Group after only 18 months. Isaacson, who will leave this spring to run the Aspen Institute, a prominent think tank, will be succeeded by No. 2 executive, Jim Walton.

Walton has worked at the network his entire career and well-known outside the company. He will keep his current title as president of CNN News Group after he takes the top job. move Monday came less than 24 hours after Steve Case, chairman of CNN parent AOL Time Warner, said he will give up his post. While the two moves are unrelated, they continue a string of leadership changes at both AOL Time Warner and its Atlanta TV operations over the past two years. The latest shuffling does not bear directly on other major issues facing the company locally, according to a company spokesman.

CNN moving to New For updates on this story, visit ajc.com/business/cnn On ajc.com Festive evening follows solemn morning By JEFFRY SCOTT and CARLOS CAMPOS It started with a morning prayer and progressed with an afternoon inauguration ceremony that was, at times, as sobering as the new full name: George Ervin Perdue III. But, by early evening, the Republican Party of Georgia having seized the Mansion from Democrats for the first time in 130 years was feeling the oats of its upset victory. From all over Georgia, they turned out by the thousands to bluegrass music and jazz at the Georgia World Congress Center. They sipped chardonnay, some of the women in furs, many of the men in tuxedos. The bash was in sharp and festive relief to the invitation-only swearing-in at Philips Arena that the Perdue organizers sought to make dignified and smoothly traditional.

The choir from the Second Baptist Church of Warner Robins where Perdue teaches Sunday school had performed Battle Hymn of The and a soaring hymn expressing devotion to God, Am at the inauguration. At the Church of the Apostles in Buckhead, University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt and Chick- fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy offered prayers for Perdue in the morning. my prayer that Governor Perdue will be that humble servant called him to Richt prayed. know the state of Georgia will be bet- ter for In the hour before the inauguration ceremony, crowds of people in business attire streamed into Philips Arena, where there were no balloons and no streamers.

Only the state seal was prominently displayed. Dolores Michael of Bremen drove to Atlanta to see the inaugural at the invitation of her son, Republican state Rep. Bill Heath. is a big Republican Please see EVENING, A10 GOVERNOR, LEGISLATORS ASSUME OFFICE By JIM GALLOWAY A jubilant Sonny Perdue was sworn in on Monday as first Republican governor in 130 years, but only after Democrats showed him the limits of his victory by dividing the Legislature neatly between the two parties. Before a packed, Republican-heavy crowd of thousands in Philips Arena downtown, the 81st governor promised on the $16 billion budget and tougher ethics in government.

Among his first acts was a six-page executive order banning nepotism and campaign contributions by candidates for judicial positions and barring lobbyists from one-on- one meetings with the governor. come to our capital city with a mission a mission to restore the trust in state the Middle Georgia businessman said. declaration of a day for was witnessed by a string of Democratic ex-governors that stretched back 40 years a measure of the historic nature of the ceremony. Just as unprecedented were two political showdowns several blocks away at the state Capitol, both settled in anticlimactic fashion only a few Please see PERDUE, A10 new day for Republican governor takes control as parties split House, Senate The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thrashers name new coach B1 Copyright 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution TUESDAY, JAN. 14, 2003 ajc.com 50 CENTS IN SPORTS Can you be fit and overweight? E1 IN LIVING For home delivery, call 404-522-4141, 1-800-933-9771 VOL.

55, NO. 14 76 PAGES, 7 SECTIONS ABBY E2 CLASSIFIEDS F1 COMICS E6 EDITORIALS A21 LEGAL NOTICES B6 MOVIES E8 OBITUARIES D10 TELEVISION E3 WEATHER D12 FEATURES SECTIONS MAIN NEWS A SPORTS BUSINESS METRO LIVING On ajc.com: Coverage and photo gallery of all the celebs and singers at Monday American Music Awards INSIDE Full coverage of the Legislature and inauguration: D1, D3-5 Democrats choose Terry Coleman to lead the House. D1 Tom Baxter: It really does matter who is speaker of the state House. D3 Maria Saporta hard to believe that most of the top CEOs were not on the Perdue team a few months ago. D4 Warner Second Baptist Church choir and orchestra perform at inauguration.

D5 On ajc.com Our photo galleries follow Sonny day from prayer service to inaugural celebration BEN GRAY Staff come to our capital city with a mission a mission to restore the trust in state Gov. Sonny Perdue says during his inauguration at Philips Arena on Monday afternoon. At 4:01 p.m., Perdue stepped into the Capitol as the 81st governor. RICH ADDICKS Staff UGA football coach Mark Richt gives the benediction at the Church of the Apostles. KIMBERLY SMITH Staff State Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (left) and Senate Majority Leader Tom Price congratulate each other after taking their oaths.

JOHN SPINK Staff Rep. Terry Coleman (D-Eastman) wields the gavel as speaker of the House after rival Larry Walker dropped out of the race. PRAYER SERVICESENATEINAUGURATION 9:15 a.m. 11:35 a.m. 11:45 a.m.

2:26 p.m. BEN GRAY Staff Mary Perdue watches her husband, Sonny, take the oath to become the first Republican governor in 130 years. HOUSE RMAIN0114OA1.