The forum began Friday afternoon with a welcome from Farkas and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who described the late Sen. McCain — the institute’s namesake — as someone who “embodied the Arizona way of doing things, a maverick who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and buck tradition.”

The first event of the forum was an interview with U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, conducted by Margaret Brennan, CBS News’ "Face the Nation" moderator and chief foreign affairs correspondent. It aired as part of Sunday’s "Face the Nation" episode.

The 40-minute interview focused on negotiations to raise the country’s debt limit, which faces a June 1 deadline, and covered topics ranging from democracy and partisanship to immigration.

“It’s so great to be at a forum that celebrates so much of what Sen. McCain stood for, which is straight talk,” Brennan said. “We do that on ‘Face the Nation’ every Sunday, and we looked at the records — and in the 69-year history, John McCain had the top number of appearances on the broadcast 112 times.”

Sinema acknowledged that is a record she is unlikely to beat, but she said that McCain’s commitment to country over political party is something she does hope to emulate.

“The last floor speech that Sen. McCain gave, he talked about the concern he had with the ‘partisanship at every cost' mentality that had taken over Congress and much of our political system …” Sinema said. “In his decades of service, as you mentioned, he was a man of strong opinions, often voted with his party, but was unafraid to stand alone and break with his party when he thought he was doing something right. But he always did it with dignity and honor and respect of others.

Following the Sinema interview, Hobbs was interviewed by CBS correspondent Major Garrett. They discussed Arizona’s unique place in the election denialism debate, as well as water policy and homelessness.

A dinner on Friday night was punctuated by a conversation with Admiral John Aquilino, the 26th commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, the nation’s oldest and largest combatant command. It was hosted by Josh Rogin of the Washington Post.

Saturday’s agenda included former U.S. presidential candidate and current U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, who was introduced by ASU President Michael Crow. Romney spoke about the threats and opportunities facing the United States in the 21st century.

Individuals and groups were also recognized over the weekend.

Arizona Congressman Juan Ciscomani presented Kelvin Beachum, offensive tackle for the Arizona Cardinals, with the Sedona Forum’s “In the Arena” award for his work in World Vision, a group that works to provide clean water access. The Award for Courage and Leadership was given to the women of Iran and accepted by Lily Pourzand, an Iranian refugee and activist.

Top photo: The Sedona Forum, hosted by the ASU McCain Institute, drew lawmakers, journalists, military leaders and business executives from across the country and around the world to Sedona, Arizona, on May 5–6. Photo by Stephen Jaffe