Tim Walz on Getting the Call from Kamala, Trump Being Weird, Doing Lunch Duty & School Gun Violence

Our first guest tonight is running for Vice President of the United States. In his spare time, he puts helmets on his gutters and listens to 8-track tapes. He's here in California and is all jacked up on Diet Mountain Dew. From Minnesota, please welcome America's Sweetheart, Governor Tim Rohl. It's great to have you here. You're a real person. I mean, I thought maybe like our fantasies conjured you up. We're like, we need a really nice man to come in and help us. Wow. And here you are. Yeah. Can you really control the weather? And be honest with me, because I have a pickleball game this weekend. I love it. You can just dial it down a little bit. It's been a little bit hot here in Los Angeles. Yeah. It never ends, does it? No, it does not end. The election is four weeks from tomorrow. You know that. What are you thinking of today? What is on your mind today? Yeah. Well, good to see all of you here. Today I think is a little heavy today. I think most of us know a lot of folks have heavy heart today. It's the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. And I think for many of us, there's 1,200 folks dead, 46 Americans. And the vice president and I are talking about making sure that it never happens again, that Israel is secure and the hostages are brought home and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza ends. These are things that we all talk about. And bring that to an end. And I had the chance to go through the NOVA exhibit here, which was the NOVA music festival, and a young woman named Noah, who was a survivor, walking through that and just thinking, these are kids, same age as my kids. And so I think for all of us, the vice president's committed to Israel's security, but committed to bringing peace throughout the world. Noah said, you know, we just want to dance again. That's what we want to do. And I think that's a sentiment. It must be. I've been thinking about you a lot this weekend. And I've been thinking, it must be so strange to have been a social studies teacher and now to be in the middle of the very things that you were teaching. It's strange that Jimmy Kimmel thinks about me. That is strange, so yeah, it's different, so. I wasn't great in social studies, I have to admit. What is one thing that you hope every adult remembers from their social studies class? Is there something that we've key we've forgotten? Yeah, well, you know, that little, I'm just a bill sitting on Capitol Hill. That is totally wrong, totally wrong. No, I think about this and for each folks out there, thinking about what those social studies teachers talked to you about this, this idea, you all remember it when we grew up, this idea that we could have different ideas, but we have unity, love the democracy, have an election and then shake hands and admit the person who won, won. I think some of those things we all grew up with pretty commonly. Yeah, that seemed to be the biggest moment of the debate when you talked to J.D. Vance and you asked him, you know, do you believe Donald Trump won the election and he wouldn't answer that. That should have been the lead, don't you think? Yeah. 85 minutes before. Yeah, yeah, it's crazy, although you have to remember also the last vice president who said he thought Trump lost the election wound up being chased out of the Capitol building. So it is something, it probably was in the back of his head. A self-preservation mode? Yeah. No, it was very surreal to sit there and listen, and this is kind of the situation we're in. But I said, for me, being an eternal optimist, I always say that, I supervise the high school lunchroom, you're an optimist or you're dead. And I loved it. But this idea that, look, we get to turn the page on that. And I plan on waking up on November 6th with Madam President. And then that will be it. This should be, I just want to be, I want to be clear, you won't be waking up together Unless you guys have gotten closer than we thought. I have a problem about not being specific with my language, so thank you for that. Specifically right. I do want to ask you about being the lunchroom supervisor. What does that entail? What are you watching for? Well, it's preparation for Congress, first of all. You're taking the tickets from the kids, and then you're just making sure that everything's okay. This is No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. One of my first years in there, I went over to the freshman table, and they're getting kind of loud. And I'm like, fellas, calm down. I look over, and the kid's got milk coming out of his mouth, turning kind of blue. I look down, half a Polish dog there. I realize he's choking on the Polish dog. So I grab him, and I wondered if it always worked, and it does. I gave him the Heimlich, and I popped the Polish dog across the room. I got lunchroom duty every year after that. That was what it was. You were the football coach. You were the Gay-Straight Alliance counselor. Yeah. I mean, this is ... Were you popular with the students? I think so. They picked me to be Santa Claus. I think it was luck. So I was Santa Claus every year. Seems like, okay. Would you go to the prom and watch and make sure the kids weren't touching each other too much? My wife and I built the proms. What do you mean? And nothing. You have to build the set. So if it's under the sea or whatever, you build an undersea set, and then we did a night in Paris. You build the Eiffel Tower. And for me, as my wife says, nothing in moderation. She says, you couldn't just go vote, and then you have to run for Congress, and you do all this. So we would build these elaborate proms and the sets together. That's so crazy. And now you're in this position, I would imagine for your wife, this must be something that you guys look at each other from time to time and go, how did this happen? Yes. And she just shakes her head and says, it's just the way it goes with us, I guess. We're both teachers, and you just kind of throw yourselves into it. But I think Vice President Harris talks about this. It's the beauty of America, truly. Where could a girl from Oakland, a middle class family with a single mom, and a kid from Nebraska, and she says this to me, and she says, and look it, we're running for president and vice president. It's something. And she said, that's America. How did it happen? Because I feel like we're so desperate for great leaders, for people who seem to know what life is about and what is important, and you are not somebody that I was familiar with beforehand. Meaning I don't know those things? Well, no, not at all. Meaning you do know those things, and meaning that we didn't know you. Why didn't we know you? How did you get picked? Do you know how it happened? Well, I certainly said, I never planned my life to be here, but I think my life prepared me well. I think the vice president was looking. I'm very proud of what we've done in Minnesota. I ran and won a congressional seat in a very red district for 12 years, and then governor of Minnesota, I think people watched, and we're doing things, and I know the Republicans say they're super radical. Yeah, we feed our kids breakfast and lunch at school. It's a radical idea. And so I think she saw that, and I think the one thing is, and it's kind of, as all of us know in life, something's just meant to be by fate or whatever, and we get along really well. She's amazing. She makes me laugh, and I think it's a good thing, by the way. I think a president should know how to laugh. Not at someone, but laugh with things or whatever, so. And I like that. Yeah. So, yeah, because this- You might have thoughts on that. This guy who used to be president is a little sore with me for a joke I made. Yeah. That wouldn't bother you? You don't get bothered by people making fun of comedians on Saturday Night Live or whatever? No, you started this. I taught school. I said, the only thing, if you're going to do profanity, spell it correctly towards me. Write that on there, so. I think your school experience, it's so interesting, because life is so much like school in so many ways. Even just talking about taking tickets from students at lunch. Some of the students probably didn't have tickets. That's right. Every teacher who's done that job had another account where they just paid for them. And that's just the way it worked. But we made the case in Minnesota, why should we even have to go through all that? You don't have the kids come in and say, have you paid the heat bill at the school today? We just got new carpet. Where's your money for this? Or whatever. You go to school, take care of them. And what we found out is when you do school meals, guess what? More kids show up for school. They do better. You can't learn on an empty stomach. And you also have, I think, a very unique perspective on the school shootings and this horrible gun violence that is happening in our schools. During the debate, J.D. Vance suggested that we have stronger windows and stronger doors. As a teacher, what do you think when you hear, and what can we do about this? And their idea is to arm teachers. That is a very, very bad idea. Teachers are not why they don't want it. I just, like the vice president, I simply refuse to accept Donald Trump tells us to get over. J.D. Vance says, you know, it's just a fact of life or whatever. We have got to get to the point, and I'm a hunter, I'm a veteran, pheasant season opens in Minnesota this week. I'm excited about that. You can pass common sense things, not infringe on the Second Amendment, but our first responsibility is those kids. And I think listening to them make these things up, try and tell you, and then pivot to like it's a mental health issue, trying to demonize people who are trying to get mental health care. Oh, at the same time, they're cutting the funding for mental health care. We don't have to live this way. And I brought up in there, and he batted it down, countries that have just as much gun ownership as us, but common sense things in place, their children don't get shot in school. That was the word of the day. Weird, weird, weird. They're all gone. But we're not weird guys. We're very solid people. He's not weird. And I'm not weird. I happen to be a very solid rock. We're not weird. I think we're the opposite of where they're weird. You know, he said that J.D. and I are weird. I think we're extremely normal people would like you exactly. He's weird. We are back with Governor Tim Walz. You kind of got the weird ball rolling, didn't you? If you have to tell people numerous times you're not weird, you might be weird. You know what? I have a little quiz for you. Help us decide what is weird or what is not weird. Weird or not weird. Families wearing matching pajamas at Christmas time. Oh, not weird. Not weird. Oh. No. Wearing a shirt in the pool. Weird or not weird. Not weird. People who ask you to take your shoes off in the house. Is that weird or not weird? No, not weird either. Oh, okay. All right. Tofurky. Oh, that's weird. All right. I'm going to skip to the last one. A six-year-old man drinking Diet Mountain Dew. That's just life right there. This has got to be weird. Bruce Springsteen made a lengthy video endorsing you on Friday. Did you know he was doing that? No. Those of you of six-year-old, this is a high school kid and got the river. Changed my life. It was a religious experience. Bruce Springsteen's the river. When you say a high school kid, you mean this high school kid? Look at that corduroy suit. No, didn't know it. To have Bruce say that. And my daughter said, Bruce Springsteen knows your name. That was the strangest thing over the last few months. That's pretty crazy. Have you not met Bruce yet? I have not met Bruce. Were you married in high school? What's going on here? That is a class ring. Oh, all right. Look at that hair, though. That's the thing I'm looking at. Yeah, that hair is spectacular. Yeah, there you go. You are, without a doubt, the only vice presidential candidate in history for whom this would be an enticing way to raise funds. And people want your recipe. And have they been making your recipe? They haven't. We're raising money off that recipe. I know that, yeah. A hot dish. All the food groups. Tater tots, cream of mushroom soup, a protein, cheese. Spam is the protein that wins it. That's how I like it. When you got the call from the vice president asking you to be her running mate, is it true that you let it go to voicemail? Yeah, in typical me fashion, I missed it. It was an unmarked number, so I'm thinking it's like a car warranty thing or whatever. Then I got a call from a high-ranking aide who said, pick up your dang phone. They called you, you had their number. And is she in your contacts now so that that doesn't happen again? She is. May I ask, how do you have the vice president listed in your contacts? My dry cleaner. Is it really? Is that right? Yes. My dry cleaner. They told me to come up with something. It's all I could think of. Well, you're probably going to have to change it now. Yeah, I know now. Sorry about that. But then what happens if your dry cleaner needs to get in touch with you? I didn't think that far ahead on that one. Your dry cleaner can be Madam Vice President. That's it. So you're on tour right now. You're talking to people. You're meeting people. You've been to L.A. before, I assume. Yeah. You like it here? I do. I do like it. I defend California. I say it's beautiful out here. You know, they always, in Minnesota, they're always like, oh, you're trying to turn Minnesota into California. They never say it in February. No one ever says it then. Look, it's a beautiful state, and coming out here and seeing folks. Who's running Minnesota while you're gone? Is there a babysitter there? I'm still there. I stop in, and our team is there. I went back and did some interviews for judges, you know, continue to hire judges in Minnesota. Folks who follow the rule of law, that's a good thing. Yeah, that would be nice. Yeah. So, yeah. So we still make it work. Good team. Well, it's great to have you here, and, you know, I think a lot, I speak for a lot of people, and I say we like you a lot. I mean, you're a very, very, you seem like to me, honestly, and I can come up with no higher compliment than this, but you seem to me like the kind of guy who cleans the lint out of the dryer after every use. Every use. Governor Tim Lulz, everybody. We'll be right back with Jim.