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CNN International: Officials: At Least One Killed In New Strike On Saudi Airport; Houthis Warn Airlines And Travelers To Avoid Saudi Airspace; Trump Announces "Energy Ceasefire" Between Ukraine And Russia; At Least 139 Migrants Dead After Boat Bound For Yemen Capsizes; Desperate Search In Gaza For Those Missing And Killed In War. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 12, 2026 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[04:00:32]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London.

Ahead here on "CNN Newsroom, "Saudi Arabia's main airport comes under Houthi attack for the second straight day. Will it finally force the U.S. to intervene?

Well, President Trump is touting an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The details of which President Zelenskyy is reportedly still waiting to see.

And a health scare for Pope Leo as he announces he'll undergo surgery. Details on that, straight ahead.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Christina Macfarlane.

MACFARLANE: We'll begin in the Middle East where Saudi officials say at least one person was killed and 11 others injured in a new strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport.

Now, warning, the images you're about to see are disturbing. Sunday's attack comes just one day after a Houthi missile strike killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300 others. It's the deadliest attack in the Kingdom in more than a decade.

And Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have claimed responsibility for these attacks, saying they are retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen that have killed women and children.

Well, U.S. President Donald Trump says he's planning to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. President Trump also says he's considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, despite previously resisting the Kingdom's requests for direct military intervention. Well, let's bring in CNN's Leila Gharagozlou, live from Abu Dhabi for us.

So, as we were saying, Leila, I mean, the strike over the weekend on the airport is the deadliest attack on the Kingdom in more than the last decade. And hostilities here are continuing to escalate rapidly.

What are Saudi Arabia saying in this moment and when might we expect that call between them and President Zelens -- President Trump to happen?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, the Saudis have said that they're going to respond decisively to those back-to-back attacks we saw over the weekend that left upwards of 13 people killed and countless others injured.

Now, they've also called on their allies and global partners to help step in. France, Britain, and Pakistan have all committed their support. But, of course, the call between President Trump and Mohammed bin Salman is going to be the most important thing to watch, whether the U.S. decides to get involved in another front of conflict in the Middle East or not, and whether they're going to come to the aid of one of their biggest allies in the region.

Now, I think it's important to note that this conflict has been dormant for some time, but has been ongoing for well over a decade. And the Houthis have longstanding grievances with Saudi Arabia, particularly in how Saudi Arabia has managed the situation in Yemen.

So, this is something that was always going to be a flashpoint, according to analysts and experts. And it's coming at a time when the world is really looking at the Middle East because of the other conflict that we have in the region with Iran.

Now, one of the most important things that everyone's looking at is that Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and whether the Houthis are going to maintain control of that or it's going to flip back to the Yemeni government forces in Saudi Arabia.

As you said, we've seen things escalate and move very quickly over the last couple of weeks. So, control of territory in Yemen keeps shifting.

Now, because of the Strait of Hormuz being influx, that Bab el-Mandeb Strait has been of really key importance to any sort of shipping and commodities trying to go through. So, that's really why people are so focused on what's going on between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right. Leila, for now, thank you very much.

I want to turn to Farea Al-Muslimi who is joining us live from the Middle East. And he's an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House. Thank you for joining us.

Look, as we were hearing, the Houthis' multiple strikes have caused severe disruption to daily life, left an entire nation in shock in Saudi Arabia, really. And the pressure now is huge on the Saudi leadership to act.

What do you expect they will be doing in this moment?

FAREA AL-MUSLIMI, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: I don't think the Saudis anyway have much choices except to respond militarily, whether that will actually be efficient or enough to deter then the Houthis is a different conversation.

[04:05:08]

But I think this is, in many ways, an unprecedented problem. Right now, the Houthis are one of the most powerful and dangerous non-state actors in the world, not just in Yemen. And it sits on a -- on not just in the region, but also in the world. And it sits on a variety of variables that are hard for a usual military to deter. They have a giant geography.

They control millions of Yemenis under their territory areas, but they also have equipped themselves with a state almost weapons from ballistic (ph) weapons to drones, but also to mines to A.I. to with everything a usual or a traditional army would actually have.

So, I think the Saudis, despite the limited choices, despite the limits of what the military can do, they will have to go back into that.

In addition to their-- to the support they already have done in addition to supporting local troops inside Yemen. That is actually pro-Saudi Arabia and part of the internationally recognized government.

But on the sea, also that will be, I think, a new battle that the Houthis will move forward and will continue to attack the shipments of Saudi Arabia there, not just the cross-border attacks or the airport that we have seen at the moment.

And when we consider sort of wider responses here from allies, I mean, Donald Trump has been making it clear he wouldn't directly intervene in the Yemen conflict, but now, he's in a bit of a bind, really, to either step in or -- or risk looking weak.

Yesterday, he said the U.S. would make a decision about that and that they could move very quickly. How likely, though, do you think that is going to be ahead of the midterms?

AL-MUSLIMI: I mean, if we know something, it's never to say never. Let alone with Donald Trump on anything. But I think, as you correctly said, he has been trying to avoid this war and even have his own bilateral arrangement with the Houthis via the Omanis. And obviously, he has a -- a tight deadline coming with the elections in November.

However, I think the Houthis actions by now have become harder to ignore, if you were a Trump or any U.S. president for two reasons. First of all is they are attacking civilian infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. They're attacking oil infrastructure, airports. And the larger arrangement between the Saudis and the Americans about security has always been to defend Saudi Arabia in return for oil.

So, while Trump could spare himself attacking the Houthis, defending Saudi Arabia, he does not have that much of a choice as of the American state anyways.

The second reason why I think it's more likely he will get involved sooner rather than later is because for MAGA, but also for the larger American audience, keeping the oil prices actually controlled is -- is going to impact and influence the election results.

So, however, currently with the Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia, I think that will become harder and harder, especially Saudis have few times post-oil from specific fuel by plans in Saudi. And I think at one point, they will have no choice but to do it further under this -- to pose it further under the Houthis attack which ultimately will impact the U.S. fuel prices and global energy which ultimately will lead the Trump to have to react in a way or another.

Because he's also being cheated right now, yes. You know, Iran is not attacking Saudi Arabia and his allies, but in fact, one of Iran's main allies right now is actually behaving even more aggressively on behalf of Iran to the second most important ally of the U.S. in the Middle East after Israel, which is Saudi Arabia.

MACFARLANE: Can I ask you? Because you talked just then a little earlier about the sort of how the Houthis have become this sort of potent military organization now.

Why is it that Saudi Arabia are not able to overpower the Houthis militarily, given their military might is much greater than the Houthis? I mean, I think they spent something in the region of a reported 83 billion in defense spending in 2025.

So -- so, why are they struggling so much to counter the Houthis and their -- their rockets being, you know, fired from 500 miles away?

AL-MUSLIMI: There's many reasons for that. In fact, the Saudis are more powerful in '26 than when they were in 2015 when they started the war with the Houthis.

So in a way, they're much more sophisticated than in a way. Actually, they have diversified their military relationships in the -- across the world and they have signed many defense agreements.

However, that's not enough because, one, the Houthis also have gained up their on military capabilities, from drones to ballistic weapons to A.I. to maritime to mines to everything you can think of and cannot think of.

[04:10:03]

And then number two is also this is a war in which the geography plays a huge role. Yemen and Saudi Arabia has 1,500 kilometers of borders between the two countries. So, the Saudis, it's -- the Houthis, it's not hard for them to actually expose vulnerable borders or from a specific smuggling point to the other.

And number three, Yemen is a huge geography. It's 44 -- 44 times bigger than Lebanon. So, it's harder to contain the Houthi threats than you would imagine in the past.

And finally, this also comes at the, let's not forget geopolitics. This comes in a moment in which the entire Gulf cooperation countries has -- have had a collapse over Yemen and have had a very different agenda than it used to do in 2015.

Oman is in a different game. Kuwait and Bahrain can barely protect their own land. And Qatar is trying to stay away from that. But also UAE, the most important ally of Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, since 2015, was -- had a brutal rift with Saudis earlier this year.

So, in a way, the Saudis are fighting this alone.

MACFARLANE: Yes.

AL-MUSLIMI: Geography is not on their side. The Houthis have gained. And all the Houthis need to do is just one rocket not to miss out of 10 or 100 ones. And that's enough to create a panic and to create a cost for a wealthy and important country like Saudi Arabia.

MACFARLANE: It's a very complex picture as you've been outlining there.

Farea Al-Muslimi, we appreciate your perspective today. Thank you for coming on.

AL-MUSLIMI: Thank you.

MACFARLANE: Now, Nicaragua flag tanker appears to have been struck in the Gulf of Oman, setting the vessel on fire. The video was reposted on social media by Iranian state media, which said that the tanker, quote, did not take the Iranian armed forces warning seriously yesterday and attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz spurred on by the U.S.

The Trump administration is threatening to suspend intelligence sharing as well as European purchases of U.S. weapons for Ukraine if Kyiv does not stop its strikes on Russian energy facilities. That's according to two European officials familiar with the matter.

Well, that warning comes after President Trump posted this on Truth Social early on Sunday, quote, "Effective immediately, there is an energy ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it."

That news appears to have surprised Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said Kyiv supporters -- supports the ceasefire, but he posted on X that Ukraine is still waiting for more details about that arrangement. President Zelenskyy later revealed that Russia had carried out a new attack on energy facilities in Kharkiv after President Trump's announcement. And Ukrainian officials say a separate missile strike hit a residential area in that same district.

A warning, the video you're about to see is disturbing.

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MACFARLANE: Authorities in Kharkiv say this footage shows the moment a village grocery store was hit. They reported at least three people killed and 20 others injured.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has been following all of these developments for us.

So, Clare, Ukraine President Zelenskyy have said they have no knowledge really of this energy ceasefire deal that was declared by President Trump yesterday, but it does come following a weekend where it feels as though the tide once again has turned against Ukraine.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it feels like it's shifting back, Christina, to the -- the -- the default position that we see President Trump, despite the fact that, you know, he's introduced a new sanctions bill that could mean very tough sanctions on Moscow.

Now, we see that rolling back with this diesel deal, which comes with sanctions relief shifting back to that default position of pressuring Ukraine and seeming much more conciliatory towards Moscow.

There is no evidence, I think those pictures made it abundantly clear, of any ceasefire of any kind at this point. We didn't see any new reports of strikes on energy infrastructure from either side overnight, but it's unclear what we should read into that at this point.

Look, the bottom line is even though we heard from a source close to President Zelenskyy on Sunday that they had no prior knowledge of this ceasefire announcement, they have said that they're willing to support it if Russia does the same, but there has been no response yet from the Kremlin.

The Russian reports that I've been checking this morning are mostly focusing on the line that came from Trump over the weekend that Ukraine should get a new leader, which is of course, a very central Kremlin talking point.

And this is an incredibly delicate moment for President Zelenskyy because on the one hand, this puts him under threat, not only from Russian escalation, but from his biggest and most powerful ally with the United States, which he does not want to lose.

[04:15:10]

And so you see him tread very carefully, even when asked in an interview with ABC on Sunday why he thinks that Ukraine and he himself are being blamed for the rise in energy prices. Take a listen.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: These people can't find a key how to stop Putin, because it's more difficult to stop Putin than to pressure others. Because it's more simple to speak about the prices and connect it with Ukraine, when everybody in the world understands because of the war in Middle East, the prices are rising.

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SEBASTIAN: So, look, I think the -- the -- the core of this is that these energy strikes by Ukraine on Russian refineries are a critical part of their defense at this point. They claim to have knocked more than half, about 51 percent, of Ukraine's refining capacity offline at this point throughout this campaign of deep strikes.

If they have to stop that at risk of potentially losing U.S. intelligence sharing and European purchases of U.S. weapons, including Patriot missiles, that will hamstring their defense. So, they're between a rock and a hard place at the moment, while at the same time facing this massive escalation in the Russian air war and heading into what is increasingly looking like it could be an extremely brutal winter, Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right. Clare Sebastian joining us there with the latest. Thank you so much.

And there is much more to come at this hour on "CNN Newsroom," including the search operation underway on Djibouti's coast. A boat capsized en route to Yemen, killing at least 139 migrants. Dozens are unaccounted for. We will have a live report.

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MACFARLANE: At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 people capsized while travelling from Djibouti to Yemen. The International Organization for Migration says around 84 people are missing. Search operations continue following the incident that happened on Thursday night.

A video released by the U.N. agency shows parts of the boat floating at sea, shoes scattered along Djibouti's eastern shoreline and aid workers searching for survivors. The migrants were heading to Yemen, hoping to eventually make it to wealthier Gulf nations, even as Yemeni nationals themselves flee the country amid escalating conflict.

Joining us now CNN's Larry Madowo is following this. And, Larry, this is a really truly devastating loss of life and there are still people missing in this incident. What more are you learning about this migrant vessel and -- and the route it was trying to take?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot, Christina, we still don't know about what happened here, but what we do know is that about 305 migrants boarded this vessel on Thursday evening local time, headed to the Arabian Peninsula, a short while after they left the shores of Djibouti, they are believed to have capsized.

And at least 139 so far confirmed dead, including 15 children, but there are 84 who are missing. Some of those who are missing could have been buried by their fellows on this boat. They will not be added to the death toll until authorities have verified the bodies.

And the International Organization for Migration says some of them are buried in a common mass grave, as if it was in a war situation, but they're not adding that to the count until the bodies have been verified, families notified, and all that.

They have been receiving some of the survivors, about 80 survivors, at a migrant center in Obock, in Djibouti, providing psychological support and counseling because they've been through a traumatic situation.

This is a popular journey, but perilous journey from Djibouti through the Red Sea into the Arabian Peninsula. A lot of these migrants from the Horn of Africa are seeking opportunity and refuge. They're running from the effects of poverty, conflicts, and climate change.

And here's one official from the U.N. Migration Agency in Djibouti explaining where we are right now.

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SAFIYA IBRAHIM, DJIBOUTI RESPONSE COORDINATOR (through translator): The death toll could rise as search operations are still underway. The IOM is working alongside local authorities, particularly the Obock Prefecture, which is coordinating operations on the ground. The first survivors located have been taken care of and assisted by the IOM.

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MADOWO: There were 80 survivors from the shipwreck off the coast of Djibouti. 80, all of them are Ethiopian nationals. But as we said, there are still people who are unaccounted for who either are still missing at sea or were buried by other people who were on that boat.

Since September, the U.N. migration agency says they have recorded 200,000 people attempted to cross into Yemen and eventually into the other rich Gulf nations. Last year, more than half a million people made that journey and 900 people died.

The extra complication here is that as the fighting is intensified in Yemen with government forces fighting Houthi forces, there are people from Yemen who are coming into Djibouti, 2,000 people have been received by the U.N. migration agency. They have received support there. So, there are people who are fleeing the war in Yemen, come into Djibouti. But these migrants from the Horn of Africa are willing to risk everything to go through a war zone just to eventually make it to Saudi Arabia, to the United Arab Emirates or to Qatar, other rich Gulf nations hoping for a job there.

And a lot of them don't make it, as we're seeing. This is one of the worst shipwrecks, but sadly not the first one, not even this year, because there's another shipwreck in March that killed some people, Christina.

MACFARLANE: In Yemen, the Houthis, Saudi Arabia, and it's still yet these migrants are fleeing towards Yemen.

[04:25:03]

Larry, we'll continue to follow this. Thank you very much.

Now, Palestinians say an -- Palestinians say an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Central Gaza over the weekend as the military ramps up its attacks against Hamas.

On Sunday, residents sifted through the rubble of the buildings which was struck following an evacuation order. Israel is accusing the Palestinian militant group of re-arming and carrying out attacks but that is a claim -- that is a claim Hamas denies.

It's been about one year since the U.S. brokered ceasefire, but there's been little progress made at implementing a deal to end the conflict.

According to Gaza health officials, at least 1,400 Palestinians have died since the ceasefire began and more than 74,000 have been killed since the war began in 2023 following Hamas' attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Three years later, a desperate search is ongoing for those killed and missing in Gaza.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has that story, but first a warning, her report does contain some disturbing images.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): His mother was wearing a skirt. A skirt.

Yes, she was wearing it. She was wearing it.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the stench of decomposing remains, Antalib (ph) is identifying the dead, by the clothes they wore that day, three years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Your mother. Your mother. I'm telling you, it is your mother. The prayer clothes, it's your aunt.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This is what it's come to in Gaza. Those who survived trying to identify those who did not. Three years in, the smallest detail carries the most weight, a scrap of clothing enough to bring a family its answers and the deceased their dignity.

The search is painstaking, today sped up by Gaza City's only excavator, finally here to remove the rubble from the 2023 Israeli bombing that killed dozens of Antalib's family.

Israel's banned the entry of heavy machinery into Gaza until it says Hamas is disarmed. But that means leaving the whole devastated strip with only two excavators, according to local officials.

It's been a year since the cease-fire agreement, and so many are still searching for what's left of their loved ones.

The Palestinian civil defense says more than 8,000 are missing, believed to be buried beneath the sea of rubble Gaza has become, but even trying to locate their remains seems impossible.

Over 60 percent of Gaza is under Israeli control and off limits for Palestinians.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): I try to find him. But I don't know where.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): For three long years, Suha (ph) has been searching among the dead, looking for her boy. She says her son, Jihad (ph), was shot and killed in front of her in November 2023 during the Israeli military's forced evacuation of Gaza City. She had to leave his body behind at the hospital and flee. She's been searching for him ever since.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Why am I still alive? Why am I alive? My home is gone. My son is gone. What should I live for?

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Our cameraman met Suha last year as she and other families gathered to dig out the makeshift graveyard at Shifa Hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): I was calling out for him in the cemeteries. I am here my son. I bought you your daughters. Dear God give me a sign that he is here. I want to see him, even if for a minute to hold him.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): She spotted this blanket. She's certain it's the one he was carrying that day.

A year on, we found her still looking for her son.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): I need to find him to know is place, his body, his grave. So, as a mother, I can be at peace. I want to be at peace. I want to find my son to be at peace.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): But in this place, it seems there's no peace. Not for the living, not even for the dead.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN.

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MACFARLANE: Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," the latest on a man injured during an ICE enforcement operation in Texas, how the federal agency is defending their agents' actions and what the man's lawyer has to say.

Plus, Pope Leo announces he will undergo surgery. We'll have the latest on the pontiff's health.

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