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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/07/thermometer.gi.art.jpg caption="Heat advisories are in effect until Wednesday evening in the Northeast."]

Triple-digit temperatures to roast Northeast for another day

(CNN) – A scorching record-breaking heat wave continues to roast much of the Northeast, with the National Weather Service keeping in effect heat advisories in the region until Wednesday evening.

In addition, the service has issued an "excessive heat warning" until 8 p.m. Wednesday for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Trenton, New Jersey; and parts of Delaware.

Officials are advising people to stay indoors as the prolonged heat and humidity creates a "dangerous situation."

Already, the heat has claimed the life of an elderly woman in Philadelphia - where temperatures hit 102 degrees Tuesday.

The temperature also topped the century mark in Boston, Massachusetts; Washington and New York - where it hit 103.

Amidst the oppressive 100-degree heat, as many as 9,000 customers of Connecticut Light and Power in Stamford, Connecticut, were without electrical service Tuesday. A heat-related transformer failure at a substation in Stamford caused the outage, said a spokeswoman for the power company. Read more

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Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/07/06/gulf.oil.disaster/t1main.blimp.navy.jpg caption="A massive, silver-colored blimp is to arrive in the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, where it will fly over the region to track where the oil is flowing and how it is coming ashore."]

Blimp to fly over Gulf to track oil, aid response efforts

(CNN) – A massive, silver-colored blimp is expected to arrive in the Gulf Coast on Tuesday to aid in oil disaster response efforts.

The U.S. Navy airship will be used to detect oil, direct skimming ships and look for wildlife that may be threatened by oil, the Coast Guard said Monday.

The 178-foot-long blimp, known as the MZ-3A, can carry a crew of up to 10. It will fly slowly over the region to track where the oil is flowing and how it is coming ashore.

The Navy says the advantage of the blimp over current helicopter surveillance operations is that it can stay aloft longer, with lower fuel costs, and can survey a wider area.

The Coast Guard has already been pinpointing traveling pools of oil from the sky.

"The aircraft get on top of the oil. They can identify what type of oil it is and they can vector in the skimmer vessels right to the spot," Coast Guard Capt. Brian Kelley said. Read more

Full coverage | LIVE: Undersea view

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Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/07/05/gulf.oil.disaster/t1main.jpg caption="Initial results from test runs of a ship billed as the world's largest oil skimming vessel could come back Monday after a weekend of plowing the Gulf of Mexico."]

Skimmer vessel plows Gulf over weekend, test results may be in Monday

(CNN) – Initial results from test runs of a ship billed as the world's largest oil skimming vessel could come back Monday after a weekend spent plowing the seas atop the undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.

The converted cargo ship A Whale spent the weekend attempting to separate crude oil from seawater in a 25-square-mile area north of the ruptured BP oil well at the heart of the disaster. If the test is successful, the massive vessel could play a key role in efforts to clean up the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Initial results from tests are expected Monday, Bob Grantham, spokesman for the company that owns the ship, said.

The ship, which swallows water with oil then separates it, can skim about 21 million gallons of oil a day. That's at least 250 times the amount that modified fishing vessels currently conducting skimming operations have been able to contain, according to Taiwanese company TMT shipping, which owns the vessel.

Meanwhile, BP said Monday that the cost of its response to the Gulf oil disaster now totals approximately $3.12 billion. That includes containment, relief well drilling, grants to Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs, the oil giant said. Read more

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Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/02/oil.cleanup.gi.art.jpg caption="Oil cleanup workers try to remove thick oil that washed ashore on July 1, 2010 in Gulfport, Mississippi."]

With Alex fading, Gulf crews set sights on oil cleanup efforts

(CNN) – Now that former Hurricane Alex has lost nearly all of its punch, many in the Gulf states were hoping that Friday would be the day that they could get back to cleaning up the massive oil spill.

The dangerous storm had created choppy seas in the Gulf of Mexico and caused hundreds of oil skimmers to be docked.

"We had to stand down because of the storm activity. Now that oil has been spewed all over the Chandelier Islands," Craig Taffaro, the president of St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana, said Thursday. "We are going out again (Friday) to start cleaning it up. We have to go back out, basically start over."

Also in the area Friday will be Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson. Jackson is headed back to the Gulf Coast, a day after her agency gave BP a new directive on how to deal with the cleanup of the massive oil spill.

Jackson will hold a town hall meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, and tour areas of Pensacola, Florida, on Friday. It will be her sixth trip to the area since the April 20 oil disaster, the EPA said. Read more

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Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/01/hurricane.alex.gi.art.jpg caption="Heavy rains pelting northeastern Mexico left at least one dead and thousands more in shelters as Hurricane Alex moved inland, Mexican officials said early Thursday."]

Hurricane Alex kills at least 1 in Mexico; flooding feared

(CNN) – A contractor in Monterrey died when a wall fell on him as a result of the rain, Carlos Eduardo Aguilar of Nuevo Leon's Civil Protection agency said. CNN-affiliate Televisa reported that at least three other people died when a wall collapsed on them in Acapulco, on the country's Pacific coast.

Alex made landfall along the northeast Mexican coastline late Wednesday as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 100 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported. Forecasters downgraded the storm to a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday morning and said it would continue to weaken as it moved inland.

But residents on both sides of the border braced for additional flooding and tornadoes as the storm moved west with 85 mph maximum sustained winds.

Rivers and creeks were already well above their normal levels Wednesday. Rescuers saved a young man from rushing waters, Nuevo Leon state officials said. Officials closed schools across the state Thursday as they braced for floods. Read more

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Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/06/30/hurricane.alex/t1main.alex.01.cnn.jpg caption="Alex has strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico to become the first hurricane of the season. Forecasters say the storm is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mexico or southern Texas by late Wednesday or early Thursday."]

Hurricane Alex makes way toward Mexico, Texas coasts

(CNN) – Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported.

The Category 1 storm, which became the first June hurricane on the Atlantic side of the United States since 1995, is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mexico or southern Texas by late Wednesday or early Thursday.

The hurricane center's advisory issued at 2 a.m. ET said Alex was moving erratically, but generally westward, at 5 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was about 255 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.

President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas ahead of the expected arrival of Alex, the White House said Tuesday night.

A hurricane warning was issued for the Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions and tropical storm-force winds are expected in the forecast area within 36 hours. Read more | Full coverage | LIVE: Undersea view

CNN broadcasting legend Larry King to step down

Larry King, the iconic TV interviewer, will step aside from hosting of his prime time CNN show later this year, he said Tuesday.

King, 76, made the announcement with a short posting to his Twitter account, citing his desire to spend more time with his wife and young children.

"I want to share some personal news with you. 25 years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of Larry King Live. Now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end Larry King Live, the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games," King wrote.

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