Green Light to Kill Iranian Agents Working for Insurgency in Iraq; Pet Marking Bombing in Baghdad; Student Protests in Beirut
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Target Iran, inside Iraq. Reports this morning that U.S. troops now have the green light to kill Iranian agents who are working for the insurgency in Iraq.</s>RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Lebanon is divided again. Mass rioting tearing the nation apart. Rival factions at a standoff this morning.</s>O'BRIEN: Hillary Clinton taking her campaign on the road this weekend. Is the heartland ready for her? Those stories, much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, everybody, Friday, January 26th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.</s>SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez, sitting in for Miles. And we do thank you so much for being with us.</s>O'BRIEN: Let's begin with a developing story. The Bush administration apparently changing tactics in Iraq, trying to get control of Iran's influence in the war. Details now from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. She's live at the White House for us. Good morning, Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I spoke with a national security official this morning who confirms that the Bush administration has now authorized for U.S. military to capture or kill Iranian agents inside of Iraq. That is if there is actionable intelligence that those agents are going after, plotting and planning to go after American forces, coalition forces, Iraqi forces. If those Iranian agents are in fact working with Iraqi militia. Now, I'm told that this is a policy that was discussed, that was evolved since last fall between President Bush and his top advisers, but that it was only over the last couple of months that the president signed off on this new policy because of the deterioration, the conditions on the ground inside of Iraq. And, of course, an effort to get much, much tougher on Iran. I also spoke with the National Security Council spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, this morning, and here's what he said about this. He said, "The president has made clear for some time that we will take the necessary steps to protect Americans on the ground in Iraq and disrupt activity that could lead to their harm. Our forces have standing authority consistent with the mandate of the U.N. Security council." Now, who is he talking about? Who's responsible here? He points specifically to one group. That is, "The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds force is a part of the Iranian state apparatus that supports and carries out these activities." These activities, meaning terrorist activities. These activities with militia, going after, killing American forces and Iraqi forces. Soledad, as you know, this is very significant. What this means is really a very get-tough approach with the Iranians, a very clear sign that the United States not only capturing and perhaps capturing and detaining Iranian agents inside of Iraq, but now also killing as well -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: A big development there. All right. Suzanne Malveaux this morning. Thanks, Suzanne. She's at the White House -- Rick.</s>SANCHEZ: Let's turn to Baghdad now. Another market explosion this morning, and this one was at a pet fair, of all things. CNN's Michael Holmes, he's live in Baghdad with more on this one. How did this come about, Michael?</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rick. Yes, not the first time that this pet market has been hit. I remember going there a few years ago, quite a bizarre place. You can get anything from monkeys to snakes, to dogs to cats at this place. Well, an official with the Interior Ministry tells us that this morning at least 15 people were killed, 39 others were wounded when a bomb hidden in a box exploded in this marketplace. As I say, birds, domestic animals, and other animals, more exotic, are sold there. This market normally crowded on a Friday morning, and that market, as I said, has been hit three times in recent months. And this attack really the latest in several attacks that have taken place in, generally speaking, commercial centers around Baghdad in the last few days, couple of weeks. There's been half a dozen bombings like this striking at marketplaces or busy shopping areas -- Rick.</s>SANCHEZ: You know, I don't get it. Is there any significance to the animals being there? I mean, why a pet fair, of all places? Or is it just a matter of, well, Sunnis are there, so the Shias are going to hit them, or the other way around?</s>HOLMES: It's fair to say that this particular market, you get Shias and Sunnis in this area, Rick. I think that it's part of the general plan to paralyze society here, to show that no one is keeping Iraqis safe, show that the government is ineffective. It boils down really to a campaign of destabilization, although you're right in saying that a lot of the targets in the last couple of weeks have been targeting Shia areas and also Sunni areas, but mainly Shia areas. A lot of people think that the Sunni insurgency trying to get in before this big push by the U.S. and Iraqi military. It's trying to get in and create as much instability around Shia areas before that all starts, and there's a clampdown with these extra troops -- Rick.</s>SANCHEZ: Fascinating. Fascinating stuff. Thanks so much, Michael Holmes. We appreciate the information. Now to another developing story. This is in Washington. The Senate now considering a second resolution about the war in Iraq. This one from Republican Senator John Warner. His resolution opposes a big troop buildup into Iraq, but it leaves the door open for smaller deployments, a little different from what the Democrats are proposing. A competing resolution passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee called for President Bush's troop surge plan not to be in the national interest -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: A developing story to tell you about out of Pakistan this morning. A bomb blast outside the Marriott hotel in Islamabad. Lots of foreigners stay at the hotels. It's actually quite near the prime minister's house. Apparently, a suicide bomber killed himself, two guards, too. Witnesses say he set off his explosives after those guards stopped him from entering the hotel through the laundry entrance. In Beirut this morning, it's relatively quiet after deadly protests there on Thursday. It took an army and a curfew to quiet down a mob of angry students who were clashing with Hezbollah supporters. It resulted in four deaths, left more than 150 other people wounded. CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is in Beirut -- Nic.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, the streets are a little quieter than they would be normally, but the curfew does seem to have tamped down that violence that erupted. But it was a day just like this yesterday when the violence was sparked off around the Arab University here in Beirut.</s>ROBERTSON (voice over): Armed with rocks and intent on a fight, hundreds of ferocious and angry young men converged on Beirut's Arab University. The violence started late in the afternoon -- clashes inside the campus between students loyal to Lebanon's government and anti-government Hezbollah supporters. As the situation escalated, vehicles were set on fire. Anyone who could scrambled to save them. Dense, black smoke billowed up from the university. Lebanese army soldiers on foot and in armored personnel carriers pushed forward towards the rock-throwers. From the tops of vehicles in the midst of the chaos, appealing for calm. (on camera): Right now the army is holding back here. The violence is there where the students are. There's a lot of gunfire going on. At the moment, the army holding back, measuring what they should do. (voice over): At one point, the crowd of angry, young, pro- government men set fire to a Hezbollah flag, as inflammatory an insult as any here can be. From within the battle zone, both soldiers and civilians stretch it out as the confrontation continued to flair. Volley after volley of gunfire blasted into the air by soldiers in an effort to calm and separate the rock-throwing crowds. In nearby side streets and on highways, the Lebanese army flooded the area with troops to contain the violence close to its epicenter at the university. Not long after, they called a curfew from 8:30 in the evening until 6:00 in the morning. After several hours of clashes, the army was able to bring enough calm to get a fire truck into the university. And the burning vehicles, belching black smoke, signaling chaos across the city, extinguished.</s>ROBERTSON: The concern is, not knowing exactly what triggered and sparked this particular outbreak of violence, is that this is now slipping from a political confrontation to a sectarian confrontation, very reminiscent of the civil war here that lasted 15 years in the 1970s and '80s -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson is in Beirut this morning. Thanks, Nic -- Rick.</s>SANCHEZ: Other stories that we're going to be following for you. Senator Hillary Clinton is getting ready to face one of her first big tests on the road to the White House. We're going to take a closer look at what she needs to prove this weekend in Iowa. Also, a small southern town at the center of a border battle. When immigration agents moved in, the town nearly closed down. We're going to explain, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning on CNN.