Leading scientist John Holdren says “global warming” is not the correct term to use; he prefers “global disruption.” “‘Global warming’ [is] misleading. It implies something that’s mainly about temperature, that’s gradual, and that’s uniform across the planet,” says Holdren. “In fact, temperature is only one of the things that’s changing. It’s a sort of an index of the state of the climate. The whole climate is changing: the winds, the ocean currents, the storm patterns, snow packs, snowmelt, flooding, droughts. Temperature is just a bit of it.” [includes rush transcript]

Attorney Stephen Susman helped file a groundbreaking lawsuit earlier this year on behalf of 400 Inupiat villagers in the Alaskan town of Kivalina who are being forced to relocate because of flooding caused by global warming. The suit accuses twenty oil, gas and electric companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips and Peabody, of being responsible for emitting millions of tons of greenhouse gases causing the Arctic ice to melt. [includes rush transcript]

• 15 Colombian Hostages Rescued in Daring Operation
• Critics: Don’t Let Rescue Boost Uribe Policies
• McCain Briefed on Rescue Mission; Switches Advisers
• Amidst Progress on Nuke Talks, Bush Restates Iran Threat
• Lawmakers: Bush Admin Knew of Hunt Oil Deal in Iraq
• Adm. Mullen: Iraq War Undermining Afghan Efforts
• US, Poland Near Missile Deal
• US Reverses Moratorium on Solar Projects
• Jailed South Korean Immigrant Released in Return for Dropping Health Claims
• Study: Cheap Materials, Lax Oversight Caused Toxicity in Katrina Trailers
• LA Times Announces 250 Job Cuts

Barack Obama has pledged to expand a controversial White House program that funnels federal money to religious charities. Many Democrats are reportedly saying it’s the most aggressive outreach to religious voters ever by the party’s presidential nominee. We speak with the Reverend Jim Wallis, founder and president of Sojourners, the largest network of progressive Christians in the United States. [includes rush transcript]

Anna Deavere Smith has been hailed as the most exciting individual in American theater. She has won numerous awards, including two Obies, several Tony nominations and a MacArthur genius grant. She is best known for two plays examining race relations: Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Her latest solo show is called Let Me Down Easy. [includes rush transcript]

This week marks the fortieth anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, when nuclear powers agreed to eventually eliminate their nuclear weapons, and non-nuclear states agreed not to seek to develop nuclear weapons capabilities. Forty years later, there are 189 signatories to the treaty and nine nuclear armed states in the world. The United States and Russia still have the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. We speak with Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund and author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons. [includes rush transcript]

• Iraq FM: US Accepts Lifting Contractor Immunity
• Pentagon Spying on Iraqi Military
• Gitmo Trainers Based Interrogations on Chinese Techniques
• Pentagon Criticized for Plan to Move Chemical Weapons
• 4 Killed, Dozens Injured in Israel Bulldozer Attack
• Peru, Bolivia Spar Over Alleged US Military Base
• Mexico Police Video Shows Alleged Torture Practice
• Unattended NY Psychiatric Patient Dies in Emergency Room
• Obama Backs Government Funding of Faith-Based Initiatives

Senator John McCain heads to Colombia today where he is expected to receive a lavish welcome from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. We speak with Colombia Senator, Piedad Córdoba, who received a far different reception when she came to the United States–she was detained and questioned by immigration authorities at JFK airport. Córdoba has played a leading role in mediation efforts with the Colombian rebel group FARC and has been an outspoken critic of the Uribe government as well as a leading voice in Colombia’s Afro-Colombian community.

The city council of Aurora, Colorado is considering two ordinances that would regulate how day laborers seek out work. The city is proposing to restrict the locations of offices set up to help the day laborers, and limit how they gather to meet prospective employers. Last week, local tensions escalated when members of the anti-immigrant group the Minuteman Project held a day-long protest directly in front of a busy intersection where day-laborers often gather.

While offshore drilling has drawn national attention, less has been made of oil and gas drilling on public land within the continental United States. This despite figures showing the amount of oil and gas drilling on public land has reached a new high. The Wilderness Society recently reported more than forty-four million acres of public lands are leased for oil and gas development.

Pakistani paramilitary forces have begun a fourth day of assaults on suspected Taliban sites in the northwest region of the country. The offensive marks the first major Pakistani offensive against Taliban fighters in the Khyber region and the first major military operation since Pakistan’s new government came to power in March. We speak with journalist and author, David Barsamian.

• UN Official: Gitmo Tribunals Flawed and Unfair
• Bush Signs $162 Billion War Funding Bill
• Pentagon to Keep 140,000 Troops in Iraq Until 2009
• U.S. Raid Kills Cousin of Iraqi PM Maliki
• Iraq Opens Oil Fields to Foreign Firms
• Four Iraqis Sue U.S. Contractors Over Torture
• Federal Court Dismisses Maher Arar Lawsuit
• Ex-CIA Operative Accuses Agency of Suppressing Intel on Iran
• June Death Toll For Int'l Troops in Afghanistan Tops Iraq
• Report: McCain Tax Cuts to Save Corporations $175 Billion/Year
• Protesters At DNC In Denver To Be Fenced In
• 13 Arrested At Coal Plant Protest in Virginia
• Commission: California's Death Penalty is Dysfunctional
• Maryland Prisoner Strangled to Death in County Jail

As Denver gears up for the Democratic National Convention later this summer, the federal government has allocated $50 million for security-related expenses connected to the convention. Denver has revealed that $18 million is budgeted for equipment purchases, but most of the details remain secret, prompting the ACLU to file a civil lawsuit. We speak with the legal director of the Colorado ACLU, Mark Silverstein.

Colorado is one among of handful of states where hundreds of firefighters, paramedics, police, and even corporate employees are being trained to hunt down and report a broadly defined range of “suspicious activities.” They’re called Terrorism Liaison Officers. The federally supported initiative trains them to look out for “observed behavior that may be indicative of intelligence-gathering or pre-operational planning related to terrorism.”

Affirmative action programs in at least three more states could come to an end this November, thanks to proposed ballot measures spearheaded by California millionaire and former University of California regent Ward Connerly. The states in question are Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska. Opponents of affirmative-action had also been campaigning in Missouri and Oklahoma but failed to gather enough signatures to get their initiatives on state ballots. We host a debate between Jessica Peck Corry, the executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative and Melissa Hart, the president of Coloradans for Equal Opportunity.

Congressional leaders agreed to a request from President Bush last year to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing Iran’s leadership, according to a new article by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker magazine. The operations were set out in a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which, by law, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders. The plan allowed up to $400 million in covert spending for activities ranging from supporting dissident groups to spying on Iran’s nuclear program. Hersh joins us from Washington DC.

• U.S. Advisers Helped Iraq Draw Up Oil Contracts
• Democrats Agree to Fund Major Escalation Of Covert Operations Against Iran
• UN: Civilian Death Toll in Afghanistan Soars 60%
• Pentagon Drafts Secret Plan to Launch Missions Inside Pakistan
• Clinton and Obama Campaign in Unity, NH
• Mugabe Sworn in After Disputed Run-Off Election
• Moratorium Placed On New Solar Energy Projects on Fed Land
• 1,000 Wildfires Burn in Northern California
• Congress Approves Additional $170M For Israel
• Israeli Officials Beat Palestinian Journalist At Border Crossing
• Dow Jones On Brink of Worst June Since Great Depression
• Steven Hatfill to Receive Nearly $6 Million Settlement in Anthrax Case
• 50,000 Attend Mandela Celebration in London
• Congress Votes to Remove Mandela & ANC From Terror List