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[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/14/ground.zero.art.jpg
caption="Opponents and proponents of a planned mosque at ground zero clashed at a hearing Tuesday."]
Clash over proposed ground zero mosque dominates hearing

New York (CNN) - Those for and against a mosque near ground zero butted heads during a passionate three-hour hearing of New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission Tuesday night.

Officially the hearing was for taking testimony on whether a more than century-old building is worth preserving, but those pushing for the landmark status are opposed to the mosque and community center at the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed by Islamist hijackers on September 11, 2001.

The contentious nature of the hearing was expected, because if the commission rules the building is not worth landmarking, it will pave the way for the project that is planned there. Opponents dominated the hearing.

"It would be a terrible mistake to destroy a 154-year-old building in order to build a monument to terrorism," one woman said.

"It's called Islamaphobia, pure and simple," said Zead Ramadan while being heckled.

Earlier this month, a community board said the building at the site wasn't architecturally significant enough to landmark.

The project calls for a 13-story community center including a mosque, performing art center, gym, swimming pool and other public spaces.

It is a collaboration between the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative.

The Cordoba Initiative aims to improve relations between Muslims and the West. Read more

Sound off: We want to hear from you this morning. Add your comments to the LIVE Blog below and we'll read some of them on the show.

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/07/13/shovel.oil.art.jpg]

New cap on ruptured oil well faces key tests

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) - BP plans to begin testing the new cap on its ruptured deepwater well Tuesday - a move that officials hope will be a step on the way to stopping oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

"This test involves closing one or more of the valves on the new cap for a period of time to allow BP to measure pressures in the well," retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.

The process could take anywhere from six hours to two days, or longer if BP extends them.

Officials say several scenarios are possible: the cap could contain all the oil; the cap could contain some of the crude while ships on the water's surface collect the rest; or, under a worst-case scenario, there could be more damage to the well's casing, meaning that capping the well would not stop the oil from flowing.

Before testing began, some oil continued to gush from the upper section of the new, 18-foot, 150,000-pound cap.

Allen, who is leading the federal response to the environmental disaster, said Monday scientists will be checking the pressure inside the well, and then determining whether the cap is holding the oil in or if ships will need to continue siphoning oil.

A critical step is making sure there's no hydrate buildup, according to BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles. Read more

Sound off: We want to hear from you this morning. Add your comments to the LIVE Blog below and we'll read some of them on the show.

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/07/12/rubble.haiti.art.jpg caption="Students help to clear the rubble of the Anglican Cathedrale Episcopale Sainte Trinite in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday."]

Six months after quake, Haiti still suffers

(CNN) (CNN) - On January 12, the earth shook here. More than 220,000 people were killed. More than 300,000 people were injured. The city and large stretches of surrounding countryside were devastated.

Six months later, not much appears to have changed. It still looks like a bomb just dropped on this city.

The government has barely begun the cleanup process. Roads in the center of the city are still blocked by debris. And some experts predict that it could take up to 20 years to remove all of it.

"We have moved 250,000 cubic meters of rubble, which sounds like a lot, until you realize there's 20 million cubic meters of rubble here," said Imogen Wall, spokeswoman for the United Nations office of humanitarian affairs in Haiti.

The U.N. estimates 1.5 million people currently live in camps. That means roughly one in nine Haitians are homeless.

And Wall says the situation is so difficult that six months from now, it may still look the same. Read more

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