CNN 2010-08-19

A new beginning, but some things stay the same: 10 minutes, no commercials, the top news of the day, and me! I'm Carl Azuz. You're tuned 1 in to CNN Student News. Let's get started!

Controversy 2 leads off today's show. It's about an Islamic center that includes a mosque 3, an Islamic place of worship, and about where it might be built: a few blocks away from Ground Zero, the spot in New York that was attacked on 9/11. Some people argue that it is insensitive to build a mosque so close to Ground Zero. In a recent CNN poll, nearly 70 percent of Americans were against this plan. Others say having the Islamic center there could help promote understanding. Last week, President Obama weighed in.

Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan.

Okay, now some people took that statement to mean that the president is in favor of the Ground Zero mosque. A day later, he claimed he was talking about a larger issue.

I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding.

President Obama is taking some heat for how he's handled this situation and for what he's said.

If the president was going to get into this, he should have been much more clear, much more precise. And you can't be changing your position from day to day on an issue which does go to our Constitution, and it also goes to extreme sensitivity. So, that's where I am critical of the president on it, for not being clear.

Putting aside the political reaction, there's a personal reaction to the proposed mosque. Listen to what a couple New Yorkers had to say about it.

I think it's terrible. It doesn't have anything to do with freedom of religion. It's making a point. There's plenty of realty all over Manhattan. There's plenty of realty anywhere. It shouldn't be here.

I'm glad he interjected because the Muslims have the right to prayer. It's Ramadan. We have synagogues, we have churches everywhere. I'm proud of him; I'm proud of the United States.

Definitely controversial, an issue that people have a lot of strong feelings about. We want to hear yours! If you go to CNNStudentNews.com, you scroll 4 down a bit and click on our blog, "From A to Z With Carl Azuz," you can weigh in. What do you think about a mosque being built near Ground Zero? Are you for it, against it? And why? Log on and share your thoughts today.