♪ Music Playing ♪ >> Coming up next on "Arizona Horizon."

What to expect from a U.S. response to the deadly drone attack on U.S. service members in Jordan.

Also tonight, how classical writers on moral authority inspired the lives of early American leaders.

And we go inside the ropes with a new book on the history of the Phoenix open golf tournament.

Those stories and more next on "Arizona Horizon."

>>> This hour of local news is made possible by contributions from trends of PBS.

Members of your PBS station.

Thank you.

>> Good evening and welcome to "Arizona Horizon."

I am Ted same your Honor.

The Arizona National Guard today announced that of the 41 overall injuries suffered by U.S. service personnel in that drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan last weaken the bulk of the injuries were Arizona National Guards men, some of those injured continue to be under observation, including three who were air-evac the out and one who remains hospitalized in journey.

The gourd's leader Kerry Muhlenbeck said the majority have returned to duty three U.S. soldiers from other states were killed in the attack.

Political news, more election intrigue as republican leaders of the state legislature have filed suit against secretary of state Adrian Fontes over the manual that guides out Arizona lexes are administered.

Upon terse added new roles after Cochise county officials attempted to block certification of the 2022 election.

But the senate president and speaker of the house, they now claim that the manual doesn't follow state law, and that Fontes exceeded his authority in creating new election policy.

This all comes less than two months before the State's presidential preference election is seeming the to be held.

One Morehead line, early data from the C.D.C.

shows that the latest COVID vaccine can help cut the chances of getting a symptomatic infection by half.

That's despite the fashion vaccine initially targeting an omicron strain that's been surpassed by a newer strain that's causing most COVID infections in the U.S. Study shows that regardless of the strain, latest vaccine provides 54% protection compared to those who did not receive an updated dose.

>> President Biden has promised the U.S. will respond to last weekends deadly drone attack in Jordan the president said that the response will be multi faced, quote.

What does that mean?

What groups and countries will be target, joining us now is Daniel Rothenberg from ASU's school of politics and global study and co-director of future security initiatives.

Thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

>> Multiple targets over the course of many days what is he getting at here?

>> We don't know what the U.S. will do.

But the U.S. has enormous capacity to strike throughout the region.

We'll see what those attacks will be.

But I am certain it will be focused, targeted and we'll learn about them.

>> The president said the first thing you see won't be the last thing you see.

This sounds like a limited war.

What are we looking at here?

>> There is a question whether or not we are at war in the region.

The U.S. has some 750 bases around the world in 80 countries, we have significant deployments in the region, some 3,000 personnel.

And Jordan, 900 in Syria, 2500 in Iraq.

So this has been going on for sometime, it's just been off the headlines so that Americans don't tend to think about U.S. personnel there in harm's way.

Busy managing various kinds of operations but it's been going on daily for years now.

>> Yeah.

And now this latest group is apparently an umbrella group of militants.

>> There is a number of different groups.

They previously were thinking who was an interesting organization, that was involved in a lot of the anti-isis activities.

Actually the U.S. assassinated its leader when it killed Souleymane in January of 2020.

But now there is a new umbrella group composed of different entities it.

And they'll certainly target some of them.

>> Different entities That are proxies for Iran.

>> Iranian proxies, that's correct.

>> Just in general your thoughts here.

Is the U.S. going to strike inside Iran?

Is that likely is?

Is it possible?

>> It's possible.

I don't think there are significant barriers for the U.S. striking in Iran.

The question will it happen?

What's the logic behind it.

We have seen from report being Iranian advisers have left serious because of Israel and I other attacks there.

We don't know what will happen.

But there is a lot of pressure for the U.S. to have a significant response.

>> If there are attacks inside Iran, ramifications?

What happens next?

>> Great question.

A great worry when Souleymane was assassinated was whether this would lead to a significant escalation of military operations and tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

That's actually not what happened.

There some surprise the attacks, the U.S. responded to them it did not escalate.

We are in a different circumstance now with what is happening in gaza.

It's hard to know.

Iran said it does not want escalation.

>> How difficult to find this umbrella group?

I would imagine if it's an umbrella group you got something here, something there, and something over there.

I mean, how difficult is it going to be to find these targets?

>> U.S. intelligence has good idea where lots of targets are Located.

But I bring up, there is what we talk about whether there is a war going on now, you know, because things are off the front page, folks forget, for example, that there is some 10,000 Isis fighters who are currently incarcerated by U.S. allies.

Some 50,000 Isis supporters, mainly women and children, held in a whole camp.

There is sort of a strange cessation of conflict going in a very dangerous region.

And there really aren't in the strategic plans right no to figure out where all of this should go.

>> Yeah, where can all of this go, especially with the war in Gaza?

How does that change the dynamic.

>> It's clearly created enormous escalations.

Put at risk agreements for recognizing Israel on the part of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

You know, all of this -- there are ends to conflicts, negotiated settlements to conflicts, every reason to believe that will happen with the Gaza situation.

But it's an enormously tense time in the region and enormously tense time in the world.

>> But is there any reason to suggest or even think that a negotiated settlement could occur with Iranian proxies be they Houthis, shooting at vessels in the red sea or this business goes on there.

At what point -- I mean, when does it stop?

Or it can ease.

It's always been a low-grade fever in many respects but when that a that low-grade fever even break?

When does this stuff stop?

>> Right, history doesn't stop.

Some aspects of political violence and conflict will not just stop.

But there are clearly all sorts of ways that these conflicts can come to negotiated settlements.

Your case about the Houthis, there is a devastating war, a proxy war that created one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world in Yemen with our key allies, Saudi Arabia, UAE, supporting anti-houthi elms in Iran, supporting the houthis, so the conflict there is nothing new.

It's come to a -- it's quieted down, but Houthis remain armed and remain, you know, encourage and enabling Iranian foreign policy.

>> Low the -- so the low-grade fever continue.

>> It's not solo grade right now.

It's a dangerous time with a lot of tension and pressures.

I don't think the current U.S. response is likely to create a mass escalation, but, of course, the overall situation is defense.

And avoiding escalation has to be main focus of Going on.

>> That's what I was going ask you.

A response starting an all-out war, the likelihood of that.

Unlikely, but still on the table.

>> Of course, sure.

>> Ukraine, that situation.

Does that play in to what's happening in the middle ease, if so how?

>> It's a globally collective world it all plays in to what's going off.

Iran say major supplier of drones to the Russian federation.

The world is busy looking at the U.S. response as well as the response of other players in the region.

You know, China and Ukraine are all -- and Russia are paying attention to all of this.

It's all connected.

I wouldn't say that, you know, Russia is not a core player right now in exactly what's happening, but, of course, they were central to the fact that assad is still in power in Syria.

And they have been essential to the middle eastern situation.

>> Last question, real quickly, response by the U.S., as much sending a message as punishment?

Or more either way?

>> I think those two are connected intimately, right?

>> Yeah.

So same thing.

>> I think it's the same thing, yeah.

>> Yeah.

Daniel Rothenberg, thank you so much for Joining us, interesting times for you are have.

Thank you, we appreciate your time.

>> Thank you.

>> Up next on "Arizona Horizon", a new book looks at how classical writers on moral authority inspired the lives of early American leaders.

>> A new book by Jeffrey Rosen president and CE off the national constitution center looks at what the pursuit of happiness really meant to our nation's founders and how that phrase became the foundation of our democracy.

Jeffrey Rosen joined us earlier today on "Arizona Horizon."

Jeffrey Rosen, welcome to "Arizona Horizon."

It's good to have you here.

I enjoyed your book immensely.

I mean, the pursuit -- this is one of the best books I have read in a long time because of my interest in histoics and moral philosophers and how it transcribes from then to now.

You wrote about how it translated from then to the founding fathers.

Why did you get started on this?

>> It was this unexpected COVID reading project I noticed Ben Franklin when he made a list of 13 virtues for daily living had use third degree book by Cicero I had never read.

And Jefferson used the same book.

For their core understanding of happiness not as feeling good, but being good.

Not pursuing pleasure but pursuing virtue an unfamiliar definition of happiness I thought I better read the Cicero boo, I read other books on Jefferson option reading list and I spend a year doing this and hanged the way I think about how to be a person and a good citizen.

>> Did it attract you needly or did you have onto dive into it a bit?

>> I definitely had to dive into it.

To get the vibe of all the books and their connection and the basic lesson and ho they resonated with the eastern wisdom traditions it was a process but so foul filling.

The most fulfilling reading I have ever done.

>> Just in my own% with histoics and things like that, it's fascinating how self help from so far ago and owe long ago works today.

>> It does all our mindfulness and wellness and wholeness and all that start of stuff goes back to ancient lessons that are at the core of the ancient wisdom tradition.

They all have to do with controlling the only thing we can control which is our own thoughts and actions.

Such an empowering message and it changes the way you live.

>> You mentioned Ben Franklin and he did have this daily self-improvement program, including a chart where ever day he would like just mark off certainly things that he wanted to avoid but he couldn't helpful a daily chart on self-improvement.

>> This is amazing.

Actually tried in Franklin system with a friend a couple of year ago.

Because a rabbi recommended in it was translated into Hebrew by a what sit I can rabbi in the 18th century it says he have week you focus a different viewer prudence, trim perhaps, industry, you put an "X" mark next on the virtue on the day you fell short.

We followed it.

And it's incredibly depress, but it makes you focus each day on how you have been, how self controlled, how self mastered and you try to do better.

It's a really interesting project.

>> You mentioned virtue.

And the title of the book is pursuit of happiness, and we all think we understand what the pursuit of happiness means, but the pursuit of happiness from the founders, I think a lot of people would be surprised.

>> It's completely unfamiliar and counter intuitive with the but very powerful.

Today we think of happiness as feeling good.

Let it all hang out, you do you.

Then it was self mastery.

Self-improvement.

Getting a better character.

Fulfilling your best self so you can serve others.

And that idea that, we really have a responsibility to just be better, every day.

By cultivating habits of self-improvement, was the key about what they thought about this happening.

>> Defense between virtue and short-term pleasure.

>> That's the key difference.

It's the marshmallow test.

Instead of having two marshmallows right away.

If you wait you can have three later.

And that impulse control was really the core definition of virtue for the classical people.

Trim perhaps, prudence, courage, justice, it all those do with impulse control.

>> In moderation and sincerity, you had all of these as chapters in your books and you had son et cetera, things you wrote to help remind, what was that all about?

>> An unusual practice, it was fulfilling.

So I would read from the classic wisdom every day.

Watch the sunrise, and then just to sum up the lessons I found myself writing son et cetera, summing up the core reading, seems very weird.

But then I saw of the Alexander Hamilton did the same thing, Philis Wheatley something makes you want to condense it and that's what I did.

>> The pursuit of happiness is the tight.

It's a goal for lots of people.

Jefferson's quote about boredom being the most dangerous poison of life.

That's pretty heavy stuff.

>> My mom gave me the exact same advice, she would say if you are bored it's your own fault when I saw Jefferson it said to his daughter I knew she was write.

>> It impacted the found, greatly this kind of thinking these pearls of wisdom.

>> It profoundly affected their daily lives and their philosophy of government.

Most striking thing is how much time they spent trying to use their time better and they made schedules, and they would get up early and they would make lists of the boobs they read and when they didn't read they would beat themselves up.

They were constantly talking about their anxieties for not being good enough people.

And they drew this profound connection between we can't be good citizens unless we first are good people balanced in our own mind.

Unless we can find tranquility in our own constitutions, we won't find it in the constitution of the state.

It was really, really surprising.

>> Wow, wow.

And that formula worked then, obviously, to great success.

We are here because of it.

Does it work today in social media 24/7 news, guy conduct you off in traffic?

Can I be a story for the guy cutting me off in traffic?

>> It's gotta be it's the only thing you can rely onto stop losing it.

The question whether in the age of social media we can maintain this tranquility think it's profound, James Madison wasn't sure the experiment would work you believe aid new media technology the broadside pros would allow Reece town slowly diffuse across the land and people would read the federalist papers and elevate themselves it's not the age of 'X" and Facebook and a world where impulse control is punished and immediate gratification is rewarded it's not the founder's world.

>> We are running out of time but I could talk to forever about this.

When did it change the '6s and '70s which feeling good surpassed being good.

What happened?

>> The '60s and '70s were crucial it a changed the popular understanding of happiness in the pop culture and associates media in the '90s sped things up exponentially and here we are.

>> What do you want folks to take from this book?

>> I hope they'll be inspired for read more themselves.

It's so fulfilling and meaning to feel read.

Just the practice of deep reading and applying it in my life.

It changed my life.

I am an evangelist for the able chips wisdom that inspired the founders.

>> Congratulations on that and congratulations on the book.

Jeffrey reasons the pursuit of happiness, thank you so much for joining us.

>> Thank you.

♪ Music Playing ♪ >>> From the intimate nationally famous Riverside park ballroom here in Phoenix, Arizona, we present one of the nation's grade western swing dance bands and all the western play boys.

♪ Music Playing ♪ ♪ Music Playing ♪ >> It's that time of year against the waste manager and Phoenix open is set for next week at Scots tail DPC.

Associates journal Dan Bickley has written a book highlighting the history and evolution of the massively popular tournament.

The book is titled "the People's Open: Inside the Ropes at the Greatest Show on Grass."

And we welcome Dan Bickley to "Arizona Horizon."

Good to have you here.

>> Hey, Ted, thank you for having me.

>> You bet, congratulations.

>> Good to be here.

>> Congratulations on the big book.

>> Turned out good.

>> Coffee table size.

>> Yes, it was it started off as a normal book, a man script-driven, word-driven book and the thunderbirds said we've got a cool archive of picks you ought to check them out and I am like, yeah let's include them, as many as possible it turned out great.

>> It sure did.

When you started this, you started this as, what, jut a writing project?

>> Ace ASU a labor of love when I came from out in Chicago in the late 1990s my first assignment was to cover the open.

It was laughable I grew up in the out side of Chicago and I was told as a youngster that golf was for ill lightest and soft.

If you were a real athlete and you were into sports golf was not a sport ill grew up with football and basketball and hockey and baseball.

And then my first assignment is this tournament.

So I prepped and I went out there and I got some advice and somebody said no matter what you do, spends Saturday at the 16th hole it will blow your mind.

So I went and sat out there on that hill at 16 and it was insane.

It was anarchy, it was fun, I felt I was in the Bronx at Yankee stadium.

Right?

Fans were going insane and I am like, this tournament is the most crazy thing I have ever seen in my life.

>> And that's 25 years ago.

>> 25 years ago.

>> And 16th hole is now basically enclosed.

It is its own arena.

>> Yeah.

>> For those of us who remember when that stadium course first opened.

It was not there.

There was nothing there.

How did the 16th hole become what it is?

>> It's one of the great stories I call it one of the biggest saves in local sports.

Basically what happened was I allocated every year to going to the 16th hole and chronicling the madness and I then I started getting phone calls from the PGA Torah no one plusly and they were not at all happy with what was going on at 16.

It was getting very vulgar.

Loud, it was disruptive to golfers there were "X" amount of golfers who liked it.

There were golfers who is they liked it and mumbled and complained did about it off the record and there were some that just couldn't stand it.

It got for the point where the PGA tour is thinking we don't know if this is really viable Of course we don't know if this is a long-term strategy for us, so out of necessity, the thunderbird through invasion and energy naughty began let's harness it and try to control it.

They instituted a series of measures that eventually over the course of time ended up in a beautiful stadium surrounding a golf hole that is now become a bucket list item not only for golf fans but for sports fans across the world.

They come here just to sit there.

And watch that madness.

>> You don't have to be a golf fan or a sports fan.

>> No.

>> Most of them don't even know what's going on.

>> No.

People joke part of the reason why the tournament is so successful it involves people watching and alcohol.

It's two of our favorite things in Arizona sports fans.

>> You mentioned the PGA wasn't happy with the 16th.

But they finally came around.

When did the PGA decide, all right, what we got here, we need to exploit for lack of a better world?

>> It was the early part of the 2000s, like I said, tiger woods had a couple of incidents at the tournament.

There was a lot of grumbling from golfers who were just not used to being heck go ahead.

To being screamed at as you know golf say very gentlemen's game and it was gentile back in the day.

And golfers were not used to being treated like regular athletes.

If you are in the batter's box at Yankee stadium or free-throw loot line at the Chicago stadium you are hearing it from everybody.

That is what the turn.

Was.

If brought worldwide sports to the PGA tour and took a while for them to figure it out.

Through innovation they created the concept of okay, if we build stands around it will give us an element of control and then they got to the point where they -- where this tournament now it is the model for so many things on the PGA tour.

>> I was going to ask you about that.

It's the most attended tournament by far on the PGA tour and other tournaments are now looking at copying this.

You can say that the Phoenix open changed professional golf.

>> Without a doubt.

Without a doubt.

It went from a tournament that was sort of the black sheep on tour, a lot of fun for the people, not so much for the golfers.

To being the model that another tournaments shoot for in terms of community engagement and in terms of philanthropy.

You know, you see how much money the thunderbirds turned back over to charity and in just the idea of getting people who are not necessarily golf fans out and engaged with the golf tournament.

It's become the model.

It now wins awards yearly from the PGA tour.

Which is ironic.

>> No kidding.

And not only that you've got people on just municipal golf coursers now playing music and making noise and being boisterous.

I mean, it has changed the game.

>> Yeah.

>> Period.

>> Yeah.

And what's interesting, what's really, really cool about this is if you go and you attend the tournament and you walk in the 16 and you see that stadium you understand why golfers -- carry so much trepidation about it.

It's really, really a frightening experience for people to walk into an arena that feels like the Roman coliseum, and they have 20,000 people on top of you.

The irony is if you go play a round at the t.p.C.

Scottsdale in the middle of July when there is nothing up, it is the most benign, nothing par 3 hole you can imagine.

So basically what it is, the hazard of that hole is the people.

You don't find that any place else.

>> Yeah.

Which it was when the t.p.C.

first opened.

I am old enough to remember.

Dan, you are talking to one of the guys who was a in a sayer saying who in the heck is going to be out there.

>> You were not alone, Ted.

>> They moved that thing and it exploded.

>> Yeah.

Right.

No, you are exactly right about that.

What I think they found was in the construction of this course, they made it very hilly and those hills made it very con deuce five large throngs of spectators.

There were a lot of great viewing angles and viewing areas on that course.

Based on the design of the course, and that was all by design.

Exactly what they intended to do.

>> Okay.

But other design is happening now.

And this is the model everyone is looking at.

Can the Phoenix open continue waste management, call it what you will, can it continue to be what a special thing with everyone nipping at the heels?

>> That's a great, great question.

Because if you look at the tournament now, the tournament has been bless today decades by tons of open swaths of land around the golf course, that they had used for parking.

A lot of that is being developed now by commercial and business purposes a lot of parking is getting farmed way out and they are really thinking about do we need to scale down the down the tournament and limit at 10 dance.

Do we need focus for us on increasing the experience for less people.

Rather than opening the doors to everybody.

What makes it so great is not just 16 the closing holes, 15, 16, 17, and 18.

As a foursome it's a fantastic finish to a golf tournament of you look at the point what LIV golf has done to the tour and respite did you wanted everything.

PGA is in trouble in terms after tracting crowds, this tournament is the anomaly it will attract 250,000 people.

Weather permitting regardless of what the field looks like, it doesn't matter Phil Mickelson stopped coming and tigers woods doesn't come or John Rahm.

People show up it's about the community and not the golf.

>> It is about the event.

Real quickly, 15 seconds.

Where can you get the book?

>> We'll have it available at various book signings down in the future you can keep alert today that, but have people email my Bickley 917@yahoo.

I'll make sure to get you a copy.

>> The people's open, Dan Bickley a great job, congratulations on that.

Maybe we'll see you out there.

Good luck finding anyone in that particular crowd.

>> Thank you, Ted, appreciate.

>> You bet.

That's it for now I am Ted Simons thank you so much for joining us, you have a great evening.

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