American Morning
Virginia targets illegal immigrants
Six-year-old Rahel Williams holds up a flag during a ceremony where she and 24 other children became U.S. citizens on May 21, 2010 in Chantilly, Virginia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(CNN) – The Obama administration took Arizona to court to block the most controversial provisions of the state's new immigration law. Now, another state may be in the cross-hairs. Virginia's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, issued a legal opinion yesterday that authorizes police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop for legitimate reasons. He joined us on Wednesday's American Morning to discuss how his opinion would be applied. Watch 
Meet NASA's newest astronaut, Robonaut 2
(CNN) – How about this for proof that the future is now: NASA's newest astronaut is a robot with its own Twitter account. The space agency is planning on sending Robonaut 2, or "R2" for short, up to join the crew of the International Space Station in November. NASA hopes it'll take over some of the routine tasks on board. Our John Zarrella got a chance to meet R2 in this CNN exclusive report. Watch
Islamic center to be built near Ground Zero
(CNN) – A New York City preservation commission has cleared the way for an Islamic center and mosque to be built just blocks from Ground Zero. That's after the panel voted against protecting an abandoned building that's standing in the way of the project.
The commissioners voted unanimously against landmark status for 45-47 Park Place. It and an adjoining building already connected on the inside, 49-51 Park Place, are owned by real estate developer Soho Properties, which intends to build the Islamic center two blocks north of the former site of the World Trade Center.
Backers of the center say they plan to use it to promote interfaith understanding, but critics don't buy it and have vowed to sue the city. Our Jason Carroll reports on the heated and passionate debate. Watch
Landmark status resolved, NYC group moves forward on Islamic center
Reports: Grenade lobbed at Iranian president's convoy
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on June 28, 2010. (Getty Images/File)
By Reza Sayah, CNN
(CNN) – A grenade exploded near the convoy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to a western Iranian city Wednesday, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency and other outlets.
Ahmadinejad was unhurt, the reports said. However, the media department at Iran's Presidential Office denied he came under attack. Despite the denial, there was an account about the incident on Raja news, Ahmadinejad's official Web site. Watch
So far, so good with 'static kill,' BP says
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/04/acosta.static.kill.cnn.art.jpg caption="CNN's Jim Acosta reports from the Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf of Mexico."]
(CNN) – It could be the beginning of the end of the 107 day long nightmare for people living and working along the Gulf Coast. BP announced overnight that the static kill operation to seal the leaking oil well for good is working.
According to the New York Times, the government is set to announce that three quarters of the oil from the BP spill has already either evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise eliminated. And the rest is so diluted that it doesn't pose much of a risk.
The Coast Guard took our Jim Acosta out for a bird's eye view of the Deepwater Horizon site just as the static kill was getting under way. There, he met up with the crew of the aptly-named Coast Guard cutter, Decisive. As the crew told him, they can feel that this operation has reached a decisive phase. Watch
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Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
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