 and is considered one of the architects of the October 7th attacks on Israel. Hadil Al-Shalji, NPR News, Tel Aviv. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Today, the brutal heat wave in the U.S. is bearing down on the middle of the country and the east. More than 130 million people are under some kind of heat alert today and feeling extreme heat outdoors. The hottest temperatures and heat index values are from Iowa down to the Gulf Coast.