Ceasefire Already Breaking as Houthis Hit Riyadh Airport — Monday, October 12, 2026

0:00 You're listening to Alex and Jordan before nine. Get caught up on politics before your day gets going. I'm Alex. And I'm Jordan. It's Monday, October 12th, 2026. And we've got a packed show, a ceasefire that may already be falling apart, escalation in the Middle East, a political firestorm in Washington, and Congress moving on several big fronts. Let's start with the biggest international story. Over the weekend, President Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire.

0:28 halting attacks on each other's energy facilities. That sounds like good news on its face. But President Zelensky says the announcement caught Kiev by surprise, and Ukrainian officials say Russia has already violated the deal. The Kremlin has stayed mostly silent on the terms. Right. An announcement without clearly agreed terms. Meanwhile, the European Union approved a new round of sanctions against Russia, which suggests Brussels isn't counting on the truce -holding. The real question is whether this becomes a diplomatic opening or just another headline that fizzles.

0:59 We'll be watching this one closely all week. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Iran -backed Houthis in Yemen have escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia. On Sunday, they struck near Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, a day after an attack that killed more than a dozen people, including an American, and wounded hundreds. That's the deadliest strike on Saudi soil in more than a decade. U .S. officials are urging Americans to avoid the airport, and Saudi air defenses reportedly intercepted several more ballistic missiles.

1:29 The airport is expected to stay closed until at least the 17th. This is a serious escalation, and it raises real questions about the regional security picture and about how the administration responds. Back here at home, one of the biggest political stories is the federal search of Congresswoman Ilan Omar's Washington home. The Justice Department says it's part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation but hasn't given public details. Omar is calling it political intimidation, and the president has denied any involvement.

1:58 Minnesota Democrats are warning that using federal law enforcement against political opponents should concern everyone, regardless of party. This lands just weeks before the November 3rd midterm elections, so the timing alone is making this a lightning rod. And there's more tension between the White House and the press. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating major television networks over their pool coverage of the president, and a federal judge ordered the administration to stop airing taxpayer -funded promotional television ads.

2:26 That's a big one. The administration had set aside about $20 million in customs and border protection money for those spots and says roughly $19 million had already been spent. The judge ruled with only hours left in the scheduled campaign. It touches on two big themes at once, the use of taxpayer money for political messaging and the relationship between the government and independent media. Let's turn to Congress, where there's actually been a flurry of legislative activity. The House passed the National Fraud Enforcement Division Act by a lopsided bipartisan vote, 352 to 72, which would permanently establish a Fraud Enforcement Division inside the Justice Department.

3:04 Every voting Republican supported it, and Democrats split. The division already exists administratively. It was announced earlier this year, but this would make it permanent law. And in the Senate... A trio of Democrats led by Mark Warner introduced the Artificial Intelligence Risk Management and Security Act, which would create an AI safety board inside the Department of Commerce to evaluate risks from frontier AI models. With voter anxiety about AI rising and AI executives themselves sounding alarms about rogue autonomous agents, this one has real momentum heading into the midterms.

3:38 Plus, the president signed several bills into law last week. including one creating a single point of contact at the Social Security Administration for victims of identity theft, and another requiring annual reports on federal projects running way over, budget, or behind schedule. A few more quick hits before we go. North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards its eastern waters. It's fourth launch in a month. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences went to Robert Hall and Michael Woodford.

4:04 And a story that's drawing bipartisan criticism in Congress. The Pentagon's plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hassan the former Army Major convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood attack. It would be the first public execution in the United States in about 90 years. Lawmakers from both parties are pushing back on that one. So that's your briefing. The energy ceasefires shaky start, escalation in the Gulf, the OMAR investigation, and Congress racing the clock before the midterms. You're caught up before 9.

4:33 We'll be back tomorrow morning. Same time, same place.