♪ Music Playing ♪ >> Coming up next on "Arizona Horizon", the current state of the homeland security department as seen by former D.H.S.

secretary and Arizona governor Janet.

Also tonight, greater phoenix leadership celebrates 50 years of helping shape the valley's growth and a new children's book take its young readers on a picturesque walk.

Those stories and more next on "Arizona Horizon."

>> "Arizona Horizon" is made possible by contributions from the friends of Arizona PBS.

Members of your public television station.

>> Good evening and welcome to "Arizona Horizon", I am Ted Simons.

Republican leaders on Capitol hill today announced a plan to end the shutdown of the homelands security department.

The proposal still needs to pass congress and it's unclear when that vote will take place but it's one of the few positive headlines in what has been a troubling year involving the department's action and leadership.

Joining us now is former D.H.S.

secretary and Arizona governor Janet Napolitano good to see you.

>> Thank you, Ted.

>> The thoughts on D.H.S.

Thoughts on the state of D.H.S.

in this time of war?

>> I have many thoughts.

One of them is that D.H.S.

has been ill served over the last year and particularly during this latest shutdown.

Americas have experienced it with lines in airports and the like, but there are so many functions that D.H.S.

performs that have been stagnant during this whole period.

I'll just list one.

The cyber infrastructure security agency, is responsible for cybersecurity for the nation's critical infrastructure.

Power systems, water systems, telecommunications and the like.

And we know Iran has been a very active cyber adversary of the United States for years.

And we are at war with Iran now But yet, SISA has been shutdown during this shutdown.

The first thing that needs to happen need to get D.H.S.

up and running again.

>> It sounds like it will happen.

It's a 2-pronged approach we don't know when the vote will happen on that.

But the original mission.

And you should know, the original mission of this department has what?

>> It was originally formed in the wake of the attacks of 9/11 and formed by combining 22 formerly different agencies from different legacy departments, and then adding a few agencies to that.

Out of the belief that those attacks could have been better prevented if there were all of these agencies were you understand one umbrella roof.

And so they gave us what was then immigration and naturalization service and customs is now C.B.P.

Customs and border protection, ice, and CIS, citizenship and immigration services.

They gave us team, the coast guard, TSA.

They gave us the secret service To name just a few of the major operational components of the department.

It's the third largest department of the federal government.

>> And the mission over the years, has it changed?

Has the emphasis of the department changed?

>> I think during the first years and there were two Republican secretaries before me, and then I was the first Democratic secretary, but our priorities were the same.

The safety and security of the American people in the homeland and taking action to protect the nation's aviation system which was still under constant threat in the wake of the 9/11 attack.

To improve our security at the borders of the United States.

Both the land borders and the sea borders as well.

To do a better job at disaster response and recovery throughout the country.

Primarily the natural disasters and so we had these major mission sets and those were the focus.

Until president trump.

In his first term and for sure this term.

He views the department of homeland security as the department of immigration enforcement.

Every other mission in the department has had their budgets cut.

People laid off.

Expertise diminished and the like.

All in the effort to engage in mass deportation initiative.

>> Is that emphasis on immigration and deportation, is that taking away from the emphasis on protecting the homeland again in a time of war?

>> Well, I believe it is.

In part, because you have to think in the -- in the urge to get all of these immigration arrests made, whether they are people who have committed other serious crimes or just people who happen to be in the country but they are undocumented, the 3,000 arrests per day quota that they set really put ice on a different level.

Now, in terms of border security, and the -- particularly the southwest border, I will give the administration credit.

They have done a good job.

And they have had the resources to do that job.

And so traffic along that border has really been cut almost to nothing.

However, that meant all of those resources border patrol agents and the like who previously had been at the border now are free to do operations in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago and Los Angeles and Memphis and New Orleans, whenever it is that they decide they want to target.

And that has been a big part of the problem.

>> When you saw what happened in Minneapolis, did you just look at that and say that's not my D.H.S.?

>> You know, I was frustrated and angry and disappointed.

I know the men and women who were at the department when I was the secretary and by and large, they are very committed to their jobs.

They work really hard.

But they were so ill led, and it really became just performative law enforcement.

Not real law enforcement.

And resulted in lots and lots of abuse and, of course, in the two killings that we know of.

>> Do you think that -- >> Of U.S.

citizens.

Yes.

>> Indeed.

Do you think that the guardrails are needed as far as ice is concerned, as far as border patrol is concerned?

>> Yes.

Unfortunately.

Because what we saw in the last year and the behavior in ice and border patrol is that without those guardrails, it just depends on whatever message the leadership and whatever permission the leadership is giving them.

And if it's not constrained to very professional law enforcement standards, you have the types of abuses that we have seen.

>> Your thoughts on the new D.H.S.

secretary, Markwayne Mullin?

Sounds like maybe a slightly more diplomatic style?

I don't know how you could be less diplomatic than his predecessor.

What do you make of the new secretary?

>> I don't know former senator Mullin, so I don't speak out of personal knowledge.

But what I have seen and read is he's doing some good things.

He's not wearing body armor to the office.

He's wearing a suit and tie.

Those kinds of things make a difference.

He has said some good things during his confirmation hearing.

He wants to take D.H.S.

off the front page of the paper.

He wants to target undocumented immigrants who have committed other serious crimes.

As opposed to just this kind can have roving street patrol methodology that they were using.

So I think that all is good.

But he has no experience, absolutely none, in the wide remit of D.H.S.

I have no idea what his views on FEMA are, what his views on cybersecurity are.

How he would plan to modernize the TSA.

You know, his confirmation hearing was just about immigration.

And that traces back to the fact that in this administration, D.H.S.

has basically been turned into an immigration only agency.

>> With that in mind, last question here.

We do appreciate your time.

Has the damage done to D.H.S.

-- how much damage has been done?

And how difficult to turn that around if you do see damage?

>> I think there was damage.

And the damage is in the public credibility given to D.H.S.

And also another feature, which is that the way D.H.S.

was designed to operate was to coordinate with state and local law enforcement, state and local elected officials.

Not on immigration solely, but on all of the other areas that D.H.S.

touches.

But because they were so heavy handed, and so big footed in terms of dealing with communities that didn't appreciate being essentially invaded by ice, that spirit of cooperation, which if it's done well improves the security of everyone, every individual, and every community.

And that spirit has been lost.

And I think that will take a long time to recover.

>> Former D.H.S.

secretary and Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano.

Thank you so much.

>> Thank you.

>> It's about to go down.

>> Greater Phoenix leadership is an organization that's worked for the past 50 years to help improve the valley by way of business and civic leadership involving issues ranging from education to transportation, to the region's overall economy.

To learn more, we welcome GPL chair Ken Vanwinkle and past board chair Pam.

Good to have you here, thank you for joining us.

Ken start with you, give me a better definition of greater Phoenix leadership?

>> It's a collection of the CEOs around the valley that come together to help what I often phrase as moving Phoenix from a town to a city.

It's a group that underneath -- in a way underneath the surface, helps guide the community, helps support issues that are important to the community.

And helps the community move forward for everybody.

>> Yeah.

And Pam, far right now we are a city, a big city.

>> We are.

But there is a little town aspect as well.

>> There is.

I actually moved here eight years ago and I thought it's a small city.

It's not.

>> Yes.

>> The outside perception it's a small city.

>> How do you bring together, talent, leadership, how do you bring everyone together?

How do you find consensus?

>> That's a great question.

We have 124 CEOs their members of greater phoenix leader shim.

They all have different opinions and represent different business buzz they are here to make sure that the Arizona economy and business environment is strong.

And so as long as we use that, it's kind of our core North star, that's how we get consensus, what's the best for Arizona, what's the best for the business community.

>> And to create action on priority issues if I read the mission statement.

Define priority issues.

>> We decided the organization into a number of different steering committees and a number of different groups and look at priority including Inning instruction structure, arts and culture, education, and public policy.

We allow each member, along with what Pam was just saying, each of them to getting involved where they think they can add the most value.

They can have the most impact.

That leads to him coming together in groups for different causes and different purposes to have a well-rounded community and serve everybody.

>> These meetings and groups turning them into action, what's involved there?

>> It's getting consensus as you said first.

And then mapping out on course and talking to the individuals that can be up packed.

Whether it's at the state level Lawmakers.

It's comprehensive.

It's using our power.

Or our presence to influence.

>> Seems like GPL is offense mentioned in terms of regional transportation, that's one of the many issues but that's a biggy, isn't it?

>> Yes.

>> It is a biggy as you grow, expand, connect, you need infrastructure in place park it's not just roads.

It's water, power, wastewater.

It's everything.

One thing that we do is we all have you had a question a couple of times about how do we build consensus, our goal is to make it a better community.

And all the CEOs wants to do that and we can come together with that as a goal.

Even though we come at it in different directions and that's how we make decisions.

>> The chamber of commerce does what?

GPL does what?

>> Do you want to take that one [ Laughter ] >> You know, GPL is an organization that is made up of the leadership of the businesses.

It's the top, it's the CEO.

It's the true leader of the business.

It comes together to help guide and support government.

People running for office.

Different organizations out there.

Whereas the chamber of commerce is a group of businesses that have designated members to it from the businesses that come together to help grow the business.

We are helping grow and make it a better community.

>> Education I would think would be a biggy.

It's always big, especially when it comes to funding.

GFL's place there.

>> Big place there, that's one of our top priorities and has been since we started 50 years ago and we looked at the issues they were focused on 50 years ago, education is one of them.

It's our top priority one of the things that we spend a lot of our time.

>> Greater Phoenix leadership came out of the Phoenix 40.

No who have been here a while will remember the Phoenix 40.

What did it change?

>> It tart ed in 1975 with the meeting of the governor Raul Castro at the time.

With business leaders at the iconic Arizona biltmore.

To come together to address the issues of the time, crime, education, I think structure.

As it drew and as the city grew now that we are a big city, it was a big tent and we needed to bring more people into it and within it.

1993, 1994 Mike Demichel, Jerry CoAngelo got together and said we need more people in the tents.

We need to understand how they can help.

And we grew it to go with the city.

It is today with 134 members very broad and large tent.

>> Last question.

Biggest challenge right now that you see facing GPL and the city?

>> Education is probably continues to be at the top of the list.

We have prop 123 that is looming.

And we've gotta get an answer for that very quickly.

>> And I am sorry, but this is the last question.

>> Okay.

>> Politicians, how do you decide who to endorse?

Or do you endorse?

>> We look for and support leaders who believe that business is a way to drive the community.

That helping our citizens is through agreeing our businesses, having a vibrant economy and we lack for people who are running for office and we support people who are business minded, business oriented, and want to see our economy and our city grow.

Regardless of what side of the aisle they are.

>> Ken, PAM.

Good to have you here and congratulations on 50 years of GPL.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you so much.

♪ Music Playing ♪ ♪ Music Playing ♪ >> A mother/daughter duo has teamed up to write a new children's book about the wonders of nature, including the medicinal and practical value of plants.

The book is titled "chasing Jacarandas."

The coauthors join us now Erin and her mom.

Good to have you both here.

Thank you for joining us.

>> Thanks for having us.

>> You bet.

Marybeth starting with you.

>> Okay.

>> How did the idea for this book come about?

>> I always wanted to write a book of some kind my whole life.

At different times in my life it was different kinds of books, but once I had grandchildren.

I knew wanted to write a book for them.

>> How long did it take to get your or her idea to the book.

>> About five years.

>> Talk about the process.

We started in 2020 when everything got quiet.

I said let's make it happen.

>> And the name, why Jacaranada trees?

>> So it began with my older Audrey.

When she was a toddler we would go on family walks around the neighborhood in the springtime and point out the Jacaranada trees, we thought they were beautiful.

And she would count them as we walked about.

That inspired the storyline of, you know, different stops throughout the day and pointing them out.

>> And they are beautiful.

And it's a great way and the book kind of does this as well.

Teach kids about plants, vegetation.

>> Noticing nature, taking a walk, taking quite time.

Some downtime.

>> Yeah.

>> Just enjoy.

>> First of a series about plants, am I reading this right here?

>> We would like to explore that later.

>> Kind of trying to catch our breath.

>> We thought maybe oceans could be the next, you know, medicinal use of marine plant life.

>> That's a way to go to the ocean and have fun by the shore.

>> Right.

>> Exactly.

>> It's a mom and daughter write big a mom and daughter.

>> True.

>> Was that the plan?

Marybeth, I'll start with you.

Did you decide to work together from the get-go in.

>> Yes.

Yes, I love rhyme and we went from rhyme to go not rhyme to go rhyming again, Erin was helpful with the rhyming because she has a music background she would be let's count the beat of the words.

>> That help ahead although.

>> A little iambic pentameter.

>> Yes.

>> You are both pharmacists how did that play into it?

>> My favorite part of pharmacy is the botany part, tied in with the biology, I have always liked that, I have always liked going back in to time and really learning about the early herbalists and how they used herbs for what dismal purposes.

It's still useful in that way.

It was just an interest.

>> Did mom go down a rabbit hole with the medicinal stuff?

>> We wanted to of a stem section in the book somewhere.

We wanted informational facts for kids.

The get smart section is that what that's about?

>> Right.

That's how we tied it in.

>> Erin I want to ask you about this.

This is a beautiful book.

It's wonderfully illustrations who is Brock Nicole?

>> He is an illustrator out of Canada.

When we thought -- when we were writing the words and rhymes and descriptive nature of the book.

We both envisioned a water color type book.

When we went through our list of illustrators and look at their works we wanted to find one that could create what we envisioned for the book.

>> Decree eight what you envisioned?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah, he was great.

He was just -- he took it and ran with it he's so experienced and talented.

>> Did you give him guidance at all?

>> He would ask us questions, just generally things about placement of pictures or, you know, what we actually wanted in the picks sometimes but he knew what he was doing.

>> I was going to say.

Did the artwork give you new perspective as the authors?

>> I am trying to think.

I just was blown away by his art.

Because I felt I can he was spot on creating the whimsicalness that we wanted to achieve and really bring the words to life.

>> Indeed and they do come to life.

So much so, Erin, itch to ask you what do you want young readers to take from the book?

>> We want to encourage children to go outside and kind of step away from the screens and be out in nature and notice the beauty.

Because it is fleeting.

I mean, these trees only bloom a few weeks every year.

>> Yeah.

>> You only get a month to maybe see them.

And ironically I saw the first one blooming this week before we came here to talk to you.

So it's just -- they are just starting to bloom right now here in Arizona.

>> That's great.

I have to mention the inscription, I don't know if you put on all the books the inscription on my book is we hope you will follow nature, it will never cease to fascinate and provided a venture.

>> Yeah.

>> Why do you choose those words?

>> That's just what I believe from my heart and that's what I want kids to get from it.

Because the investigativeness and the creativity that you can find via nature I really think it spurs only indication.

It spurs on new ideas and especially in the plant area.

>> Indeed.

And it spurs on books, too.

Congratulations on this book.

Must be awful fun just to hold this thing?

>> It is.

It's still hard to believe it's actually here.

>> I imagine so.

Corn congratulations to growth of you and thank you so much for joining us.

>> Thank you for having us.

>> Thank you.

>> And 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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