hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. a beloved former civics teacher and football coach from the midwest who served on the

veterans affairs committee while in congress, and won instant acclaim from aoc and joe manchin as the news broke this morning, is vice president kamala harris' pick to serve as her vice president. minnesota governor tim walz releasing this video as part of his introduction to the country. watch. >> sometimes life is as much about the lessons you learn as the lessons you teach. when i grew up, community was a way of life. my high school class was 24 people. i was related to half of them. i learned to be generous toward my neighbors, compromise without compromising my values, and work for the common good. my dad was in the army, and with his encouragement, i joined the army national guard when i was 17. i served for 24 years. i used my gi benefits to go to college and become a public schoolteacher. i coached football and taught social studies for 20 years. and i tried to teach my students what nebraska taught me,

respect, compromise, service to country. when i went into government, that's what i carried with me. i worked with republicans to pass an infrastructure bill, cut taxes for working families, signed paid leave into law. i codified abortion rights after roe got overturned, because i go to work for the common good. but enough about me. let's talk about you. because that's what this election is about. it's about your future. it's about your family. and vice president harris knows that. she, too, grew up in a middle class family. she, too, goes to work everyday making sure families cannot just get by, but get ahead. we believe in the promise of america, in those values i learned in nebraska. and we're ready to fight for them. because as kamala harris says, when we fight, we win. >> there you have it. vice president harris having a plethora of a-list political talent to choose from, the chemistry between harris and walz may have been walz's ultimate advantage. nbc news reporting, quote,

ultimately harris had very strong chemistry with walz when they met sunday at her residence. that's according to four sources familiar with the selection process. playing a key role in her decision, because it was clear with him than with the other top contenders. harris also appreciates how different walz is from her in terms of the contrast he can provide, sources said. a fifth source close to the process puts it like this, quote, is this someone who you would want to have lunch with every week for four years? but harris' decision today goes beyond just finding a trusted partner in walz. the governor's devastating takedown of donald trump and j.d. vance as being plain old weird has gained serious traction in the party over the last few weeks. watch. >> these are weird people on the other side. they want to take books away, they want to be in your exam room. these are weird ideas. he's talking about hannibal lecter and shocking sharks and whatever crazy thing pops into his mind.

and i thought we give him too much credit. one of the things is when you just ratchet down some of the scariness or whatever and just name it what it is, i've got to tell you, my observation on this is, have you ever seen the guy laugh? that seems very weird to me that an adult can go through six and a half years of being in the public eye, if he has laughed it's at someone, not with someone. that is weird behavior. and i don't think you call it anything else. they're awkward. and it stems from who is asking for this crazy stuff? who is asking to raise the price of insulin? who is asking to get rid of birth control? who is sitting in a bar in wisconsin saying, we need to ban animal farm? nobody is. >> walz's role as a super effective messenger for democrats is backed up by a long resumé that many hope will help the ticket appeal to a wide swath of voters. he's a veteran, a gun owner, a plain spoken former high school teacher who spent years in

congress representing a rural district that went for donald trump in 2016, who as governor passed a slew of top democratic priorities, things like paid family leave, background checks for gun owners and enshrining the right to an abortion in the state constitution. in the next hour, walz and harris will appear for the first time together as a ticket at a rally in philadelphia. we'll bring it to you live as soon as it happens. nbc news correspondent is in philadelphia for us ahead of tonight's rally. also joining us, former u.s. senate and cohost claire mccaskill is with us. professor from columbia university, and chief political columnist, host of the podcast in public, national affairs analyst. i know all of you are brimming with reporting on how this came to be and what happens next.

i start with you. >> reporter: i wanted to start by telling you about the reporting i've been doing on how we came to the decision that tim walz is now the running mate that vice president has settled on. and it was that on sunday she had three finalists. it was mark kelly, the senator from arizona, josh shapiro, the governor of the state i'm standing in, pennsylvania, and i'm walsh, of course, the governor of minnesota. when you start with mark kelly, i was told that he was someone seen as not supportive enough of president biden in the weeks when people were trying to push him out of the election, trying to get him to drop out. mark kelly was neutral and that was seen as not loyal enough. it was also brought up that he was not seen as loyal enough when it came to immigration policy and that overall he was not seen as a senator who was helpful in passing the legislation they wanted to pass. josh shapiro, there were conversations about whether or not his stance when it comes to the war between israel and hamas might anger protesters.

this issue did not sink him, but it was a conversation around whether or not him giving a speech at the dnc, whether that would anger the base of the party. and then tim walz, i was told this was really a gut decision. she had a conversation with him, felt the chemistry, and she ultimately settled on the fact that she is somebody that he can trust not just as a campaign running mate, but if she governs with him, there's a difference between vice president walz or president harris, he wouldn't be leaking to press or complaining. whatever the decision was, he would feel comfortable being led by a woman, a black and south asian woman if they make it to the white house. the thing that one source told me, this was kind of like picking a husband. none of them are perfect, but this was someone she felt was the best of that. i will note, my husband is perfect. he's an eagles fan. but in this instance, that's what they were thinking. >> i'm going to stay far away

from the husband stuff. claire mccaskill, you've been talking to folks as well. what do you understand about how this decision -- which it is stunning that in the seconds after it was announced you had congresswoman ocasio cortez and joe manchin heaping praise on this. >> i think this did boil down to a couple of things. number one, is this going to be the kind of communicator and partner that can hang out with her for a long time in a lot of stressful situations, be supportive, be strong, be persuasive. and i think everybody needs to remember, honestly, nicolle, his people called us to be on our podcast a few weeks ago, and i kind of was dismissive of it. i wasn't that familiar with tim walz and i thought the guy is kind of thirsty. he's popping up now immediately

when this talk of who the vice president is going to be to get on this podcast. but that podcast converted me. he is so real, so genuine, speaks so plainly. he screams anti-elite. he screams i am not an ivy leaguer. he screams mac and cheese and a trip to the hardware store. i can't imagine him ever walking in a room where he saw anybody as a stranger. i think the reason all those children were hugging him is because you gives you that impression that he wants to be hugged. he's a huggable guy. i think it was that chemistry that really made the difference. and the other thing i really think made a difference was the difference in their resumés. josh shapiro's resumé is not that different from kamala harris'. prosecutor, ag, then governor. prosecutor, ag, then senator. tim walz brings a lot more to the table.

football coach. and i might add he was the coach of the football team, the defensive coordinator the year they won the state championship, and that same year he volunteered to be the faculty adviser for a group of kids that wanted to form a club that was called the alliance between gay and straight kids. so that's stuff that is really good stuff. his resumé was different. and i think in the long run, she saw that as something that would help the campaign more than a resumé that was very similar to hers. >> i love all this. i, too, did a deep dive today, and these are some of my favorite things that he said. this is him explaining the weird label, which stuck like crazy glue onto the trump-vance ticket. this is on the podcast save america. >> this weird thing is not an insult. it's an observation.

people saying governor walz came up with this. no, people are telling me this. my republican friends are telling me this. who is asking for some of this stuff? who is asking for health care to be taken away? who is asking for birth control to be taken away? who is asking? you picture some guys, they always do the, oh, the guy sitting in wisconsin in the bar, what's concerning them? i damn sure guarantee you it's not banning animal farm. it's too damn expensive to pay for child care. you listen to him, there's nothing there. and it opens up a huge space if you can shrink him, shrink the message and then really start to focus on it. i want people to be very clear. i'm not talking about republicans being weird. i'm talking about that dude. my point on this, he's making fun of kamala harris laughing. i've got a bet out there and he'll never collect on it. he will not laugh in public. he's incapable of it, and that's just strange. >> i think people are hungry to see trump brought down to size.

i think we, and i mean the collective we, the pro-democracy coalition, the democratic party and all the stray cats and dogs like myself who have clawed onto it in hopes of trump not serving a second term, our fear of what he's saying out loud, which is certainly legitimate, it is the project 2025 agenda, turning doj into a personal political police force, it is taking the supreme court's newfound total immunity for official acts and doing unthinkable things. since that decision, no one has talked about what joe biden or potential kamala harris would do with absolute immunity. no one. not a single story, not in this news organization, not at fox news. nobody is worried about what joe biden would do with absolute immunity. it's what trump would do, tried to do in his first presidency. but walz has a totally different frame around trump, and it's to, in his words, shrink him.

it's fascinating. >> yeah, and you have to -- anybody who wonders whether this guy is going to be a good candidate on the national stage, he just ran a campaign. he ran a campaign for this office. and i say that with admiration. claire just said, how many people do you think would say, i've never really heard of that guy a couple weeks ago. and he has a significant resumé. we've seen his resumé, both in and out of government. governor of minnesota, i'm not demeaning it to say that he had not broken through. people knew who josh shapiro was and andy beshear. people knew who a lot of the people on the short list were. he was three weeks ago unknown to all but the top 0.1% of the political class. he did claire mccaskill's podcast and cnn and campaigned

for the job of vice president as kamala harris has campaigned so far for the job of president since she's been the nominee. so you have to give the guy some credit. i will say that you can't take this out of the context in which it exists, the context of a democratic party that's just been through hell before vice president harris became the nominee. all drama, more drama than you would want, any party would want in six election cycles. they had it in six weeks. and you go across the aisle and you see j.d. vance. not just as a target, but as a cautionary tale. you have been through this in politics, what it is to not pick a do no harm candidate, to pick a candidate who is a wild, bold pick. it turns out that sometimes doesn't work out so well for you. so in this moment when democrats do not want -- they want a no drama pick. they did not want somebody outside the box thinking here. we're pretty far outside of the box already in terms of how kamala harris became the

nominee. they wanted a unity candidate that the party could agree on, that's going to keep the enthusiasm high. they understand how important that is. any chance there's going to be an upheaval in chicago, now gone. love fest guaranteed. they know in 91 days, they don't have much time. and to win this election, you have a very short number of news cycles. you've got to keep winning news cycles. you can't have some giant screw-up that consumes ten days of your campaign because you'll never recover from that. this guarantees she will not have that, in addition to all of the vernacular you're talking about. this guy does not read like the squad. he may be progressive but he doesn't read like far left. he reads as claire said, a funny rotarian, a guy you would be really happy to have a cheeseburger with because he has funny things to say about that

weirdo, donald trump. >> funny and accurate. >> funny things usually are accurate. >> oh, my god, we have to get to the comedian -- i think it was the call where they were -- it's not in this block. stick a pin in that. we're going to get to funny. i want to get to his unapologetic defense of his record. this is an interview with jake tapper. >> do you think your record is an asset to the ticket or would it risk trump attacking you as being a big government liberal? >> what a monster, kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn and women are making their own health care decisions, and we're a top five business state. we also rank in the top three of happiness. look, they're going to label whatever they're going to label. he's going to roll it out, mispronounce names to try to make the case. the fact of the matter is, where you see the policies that vice president harris was a part of making, democratic governors across the country executed

those policies and quality of life is higher, the economies are better. all of those things. educational attainment is better. so, yeah, my kids are going to eat here and you're going to have a chance to go to college and you're going to have an opportunity to live where we're working on reducing carbon emissions. and, by the way, you're going to have personal incomes that are higher and you're going to have health insurance. so if that's where they want to label me, i'm more than happy to take the label. >> he had me at what a monster. i mean, this has been absent for really eight years in the politics of trumpism. you want to turn it on me, oh, yes, what a monster i am, feeding kids, educating them, and, by the way, top five states in the country for the economy. >> there's a lot i'm going to say about this pick, but let me first talk about the kamala harris campaign and how smart they were and how shrewd they were in making this choice. because tim walz represents so much of what we haven't been hearing in the last several

years, certainly coming from the right. and if there's something that you might miss about joe biden not being on the ticket, this man has it. because as claire talked about, somebody that you might want to hug, he has said, the way out of all of this is through grace and optimism. what he's talking about is empathy. that kind of empathy for all americans, and even in the clip that you played, he's saying, look, it's not just about being far left. it's about making good policy. you can label it anything you want. but the reality is he's saying, i care about children and i care about families, thus free breakfast and lunch. he's about restorative justice. and, by the way, adding on to that, being able to bring college into prisons. he's a social studies teacher, for crying out loud, at a time when folks are trying to ban books and take history out of our k-12 classrooms. so all of these components really does stand up really well

against the trump campaign, creating that split screen, creating that juxtaposition at every single turn. another very quick point. since 2016, certainly since 2020, we've talked about permission structures. donald trump loves the permission structure, particularly when it comes to african american votes. he puts amber rose up there and so on and so forth. what's so great about this pick and because of the state that walz represents and the kind of impact he'll have, donald trump is running out of permission structures to add to his campaign. campaigns are additive. he hasn't been able to do that. that's why he sounds the way he does, that's why he's flailing in the way that he is, because there is no additive effect to the j.d. vance pick or anything he's said or done. he's running out of permission structures to be able to get him into communities. what this pick does, is it seals off more of those avenues and pathways. brilliant pick, smart pick for the harris team.

>> we have a growing list of things to talk about. you talked about the democratic party and i think everyone felt terrible. i haven't seen you feel this good and optimistic. >> he's like mr. giggles. >> i wonder what's in his cup. i want to come back on something that i think your reporting is getting at and the chemistry reporting you've done. he makes people feel good. you watch him, and whether you sort of come to this as a lifelong liberal or as a veteran -- i got an email today from a veteran who said he brought legislation, then congressman walz, obama signed it into law, really changing and improving the quality of life for veterans, especially those suffering from mental health, tragedies after their service and their time. you see every pocket, not just

in the democratic party, joe manchin and aoc, out with resounding support for him. adam kinzinger with an equally glowing endorsement. he clearly makes people feel good. and i wonder if there's something that sort of basic about the selection. >> reporter: well, that definitely factored into this decision. when they talked about executive experience, they wanted to not only focus on sort of him having been a governor, but what he did while he was governor. and i was quickly sent a list of things that the harris campaign thought were things that added to his resumé that they really liked and that appealed to the vice president specifically. so i'll just run through some of them. the fact that he passed the child tax credit for minnesota, the fact that they have paid family leave, he codified roe v. wade so there's access to abortion. he ensured universal school lunch. they were pointing to those things as progressive things, but also as things they see are really part of the democracy argument that they're making.

because one of the things that the vice president has been talking about is sort of our vision, meaning democrats' vision of america versus republicans' visions of america. some people said, is she turning away from the idea of democracy and sort of former president trump being a threat to democracy? i was told by sources close to her, no, the idea of a working democracy is that women have control over their bodies, children can be fed at schools, when a woman has a baby she can take off and not lose her home and not have to survive and scramble on what she's going to do to feed the baby. their idea is that tim walz is an extension of what the democracy should be looking like, and donald trump is really what the democracy should not look like, nicolle. >> the event in philadelphia is getting under way, and i can see

the massive crowds in philadelphia, a key state. we expect governor shapiro to speak at this event as well. we will turn to that as soon as some of those speeches get under way. thank you for your reporting and starting us off. when we come back, someone who worked alongside tim walz for nearly 20 years in congress and in the state and minnesota, keith ellison, our next guest. plus, why people are fired up, as fired up as basal here. the youngest lawmaker in washington, d.c. will be here on why he's all in. in the next hour we will go back live to philadelphia for vice president kamala harris' big campaign rally with her brand new partner and running mate, minnesota governor tim walz. we'll bring it to you when it begins. after that, i'll join rachel maddow and all of our prime time friends and team for special coverage about how this pick

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nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) tim walz is wonderful. she had many good choices among the six, and certainly among the two. i'm a big fan of governor shapiro. tim walz i know very well. he served in the house. to characterize him as left is so unreal. it's just not -- he's right down the middle. he's a heartland of america

democrat, and he was the chair of our veterans affairs committee. and i don't want anybody to forget that because he made tremendous gains for our veterans, working with folks on the appropriations committee and with the speaker, we made more progress than has ever been made in the history of our country, since the gi bill, under his leadership. 25 years in the national guard. longest serving non-commissioned officer to ever serve in the congress of the united states. so he brings the security credential, and he will do well in rural america. >> that was former speaker nancy pelosi. quite possibly the most powerful person in american politics today, as the news broke this morning about vice president kamala harris' selection of walz as her running mate. joining our coverage, minnesota attorney general, keith ellison

has worked alongside tim walz for nearly 20 years, first in congress and then elected into the state office together in 2018. it's so great to have you here. for anyone who didn't know who governor walz was three weeks ago, tell us what you've known for decades. >> well, he is an accessible guy, he has a wonderful sense of humor, he's a listener. he doesn't think that he knows everything. he's one of those who is very smart, but smart enough to know that consulting with people who have some experience and some background is a good thing to do. he's an informal fellow. tim walz can put on a camo hat and a buffalo plaid shirt and nobody would blink an eye because that's just who he is. he is a small town guy. he's from small town nebraska, came to minnesota and did a wonderful job. you can go to the most urban

parts of minneapolis and he relates well to everybody. so i think this is a very smart pick, because it's not a big that says, let's just try to win this state or that state. it's a pick that says, we're going to win every state, we're going to be competitive in every state. so i think it's a very sharp pick. >> yeah, i mean, the smarter political minds have already been carving up not just states, but counties within states, and saying you can send him there, send him here. he helps you win over the country. i have this theory that maybe what the vice president is trying to do is getting back to a politics where the ticket that really inspired people made them feel better, it's as essential as landing the blows as he's done effectively on trump and vance. talk about how he balances feeling good and optimistic, with what he's clearly shown himself to be over the last few

weeks, an effective campaign attack dog. >> because he is a person who carries a sense of joy. he's funny, and even when he's getting on your case like he's been getting after the republicans, he does it with humor. this whole thing about calling them weird, it's very him, it's authentic, it's funny, and it's true. so it landed, right? he has a certain sense of joy. he loves kids. he is one who does not mind -- he used to be the hall monitor and he was an educator, he was a football coach. i mean, he is that guy who has that approachability, and i think americans are really going to like him. i'm going to tell you one more thing you might not have heard, you're going to like his wife, too. gwen is a queen, a wonderful woman. i think they're going to take america by storm because they're genuine, decent, caring people.

>> it's interesting, you mentioned that. this is the reporting we have from josh shapiro, who is reported to have been maybe the other finalist for the pick. and he just put out this statement, lori and i consider tim and gwen to be good friends. we're excited for them and for the country to get to know the great people we know them to be. they instantly had the endorsements and the enthusiasm from aoc and joe manchin, add many kinzinger. i got a note from a veteran who had worked with him in congress in passing legislation to help veterans, particularly those suffering from mental health issues after their service. >> right. >> just talk about sort of the policy swath he's carved out. >> well, he's been an amazingly effective policy leader. just take education for a minute. he and peggy flanagan helped make the most substantial investments in minnesota education in a generation.

they made it so that kids can have lunch and breakfast at school for free, which is very important, and tim walz knows that because he actually taught kids in school. so he knows how hard it is to learn on an empty stomach. the other thing he did, he made investments on mental health for kids. a lot of our kids were going to school with anxiety, depression, and they need someone there. he made those investments to make sure that we could get there. the thing is, he's one who believes in our liberties. when tim walz puts on that flag pin and wears his military -- his veterans background, in his mind he is protecting the freedoms of our country, among them, reproductive freedom. in his mind it's a pragmatic matter that adults should make their own health care decisions, regardless of sex. and he's strong on that point of view. he helped us also ban the cruel ask outdated practice of conversion therapy.

so he doesn't take to our lgbtq community being bullied. public health, he's been great on the issue of public health, whether it's driving or protecting kids from tobacco, or whatever it is. he has been an inclusive leader. he's also not afraid to walk a picket line. he's a labor guy. he is a union member himself. he doesn't just support unions, he is a member of a union. and he believes in that and helps to ensure that we establish paid leave and paid sick days and ban noncompete agreements. so tim walz is the package. when he laughs, he's really laughing. he's a joyous person with a wonderful sense of humor, and he's a fighter. he's a military man. he's commander sergeant major walz. he is credible to veterans. my son is a veteran and i often

consult him on, you know, how to make sure that my son gets treated with the respect that every veteran should be treated with. so he's the package. i just think it's a brilliant pick and it says a lot of good things about kamala harris. >> so you like him. >> yeah, i'm a fan. he and i went to congress the same time. we left congress the same time. we went to statewide office. i was the attorney general, he was the governor. we went through the pandemic together. we went through the george floyd crisis and aftermath. he's the one who appointed me to prosecute that case. and i can tell you, and i don't think he would mind me telling you, that he said, i'm apauled by this, and i want you to take this case and achieve fairness. i said, absolutely, governor, that's what we're going to do.

this is the guy that he is. >> i think the first time -- maybe the only time i've ever said his name on this program was when he made the decision. let me read from the local coverage of that decision. this was from the minneapolis star tribune. this decision is one that i feel takes us in that direction and the step to start getting justice for george floyd. when i spoke to the family, they are very clear, they wanted the system to work for them, they wanted to believe there was trust and they wanted to feel like the facts would be heard and justice will be served. facts, justice, and listening to the victim's family was how, perhaps, the national press first got to know him, through his decision to appoint you. just take me through that sort of pivot or hinge point in history, in the history of having justice for george floyd. >> well, it was a tough time. it was the pandemic. this is may 2020.

we didn't really have an effective vaccine yet. we were doing social distancing, and then this tragic situation happens, where derek chauvin stands on george floyd's neck for ten minutes, and the world erupted because we all saw it. and they deal with serious problems and they act effectively and the governor said, keith, i need you to step in here. i'm, like, absolutely, i'm here to do my duty. he was decisive, he was clear. he listened. and, you know, i'm not sure that justice for the floyd family would have occurred without tim walz, quite honestly. and then when things got out of hand in the streets, he deployed the national guard. they approached the residence demanding that there be order and brought the situation under control in an expeditious manner. we had a tough situation.

we've seen them in l.a., miami, all over the country. he acted decisively and he helped bring order to the situation. that's one reason why i am sitting here telling you that the guy is a real deal and he's going to do great things for the country. >> someone whose perspective i'm sure is being sought by everyone everywhere, we are really grateful we got a chance to talk to you. minnesota attorney general keith ellison, thank you so much for being part of our coverage. really great to talk to you. >> thank you. have a great day. up next, we showed you a little bit of what we've been talking about, some of governor walz's brittle and effective takedowns of donald trump and j.d. vance. when we come back, more on the striking comparison of the apples to apples choice that voters will have. one candidate's vp versus the other's vp. much more on that next.

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sound. pro tip, get out and vote for one minnesota, get out and let's take this state in a direction we know it needs to go. go vote. >> just a little taste of a man the whole country is going to get to know. i love people that can fix things and talk about fixing their own cars. i can't even open my hood. i love that. i love it so much. >> a youtube video. >> i love it. i watched that clip three times today. people are listening to the interviews and the policies. let me bring in tim miller, former rnc spokesperson, msnbc political analyst. tim, i loved -- you were one of the first people sort of putting out the pros and the analysis. take me through as the day has worn on your thoughts about this selection. >> yeah, i don't know anything about headline harnesses or

headlight harnesses. i haven't been to napa auto parts in a while. that's one of the pros. >> i love it. >> cards on the table. i prefer josh shapiro, i thought someone from pennsylvania from pretty appealing. i think what tim walz brings to the table that shapiro didn't was somebody that is authentically from the heartland, that can speak the heartland language, was a football coach, that served in the military, grew up in rural america, won in a district. he won in a red district in southern minnesota, like on the minnesota/iowa border, that included some of rochester, but a lot of rural minnesota. that is a big advantage. i think particularly as you look at the contrast with j.d. vance, they did both serve in the military. after that, j.d. vance came back home, went to law school, went to work for vc, made friends with silicon valley tech bros.

turned his memoir into a movie and now he's trying to say he represents the people that he left in the dust. tim walz served and then went home, went back to the heartland, was a teacher, football coach, gave back to his community. knows how to fix a car, clearly. i think he will expose the phoniness of j.d. vance's appeal to the midwest in a way that maybe some of the other candidates didn't. i think that's the biggest pro that i see for him, just looking at this purely as a political matter. >> tim, i'm a huge unapologetic fan of josh shapiro as pennsylvania's attorney general and governor, one of the hottest spots after 2020 was pennsylvania, and he was steady and ran a sort of textbook coalition campaign for governor there. but if i understand claire's reporting, my sense is that the vice president approached this

process not finding another her for the ticket, but maybe finding some of what president joe biden left when he left the ticket. and i wonder what you think about that analysis. >> there's a lot of parallels between the obama pick of biden, really. and i think that there is something to be said about somebody that is breaking a glass ceiling on the top of the ticket, obama being the first black major party candidate, and then now harris, the first black woman of south indian decent, to be able to say, hey, i want to pick somebody that gives off a different aesthetic, a different vibe. maybe our values are the same, but they can go into green bay, wisconsin, and speak the language, they've been to a culver's before, they can talk about the packers/vikings game in a way that feels authentic,

that he's demonstrated that he really cares about the community. and i notice in the first video he used the words common good and compromise a lot. he said, i care about rural values, working together, compromising for the common good. i think that's his way of trying to reach out to that obama/trump part of the electorate that joe biden did well with and it was more of a stretch for kamala harris. >> claire, you've been invoked. i want to bring you in and read you some of what we expect to hear from governor walz tonight in his speech, the first speech, the first time the country will hear from him as vice president kamala harris' running mate. he will say this, quote, minnesota's strength comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to lending a helping hand. these same values i learned on the family farm and tried to instill in my students, i took to congress and the state capitol, and now vice president and i are running to take them

to the white house. donald trump, he sees the world differently. he doesn't know the first thing about service because he's too busy serving himself. those are some excerpts from this evening's remarks from governor walz. >> yeah. this is going to be a campaign about freedom and aspiration and opportunity. we're going to be back to a very clear contrast between one party who wants to lift everyone up and the other one who wants to grind everyone down and tell everyone how america sucks and we're terrible and it's a hell hole, and aren't we awful. it's quite a contrast. and i think they've got the winning side of this equation. and the other thing we really haven't talked about today is the very big looming issue of women's reproductive health and freedom. tim walz comes to this with a particular background that i can't wait for the debate, because tim walz went public

after the alabama court decision telling people in minnesota that he and his wife had gone through seven years of ivf in order to have their daughter. and told that story from his own personal experience, how important it is that we protect ivf. and at the very same time he was opening up about this very personal detail in his life, j.d. vance was on the floor of the senate voting no on protecting ivf in america. drop the mic, you know. you can't have a better contrast in terms of where america is on this subject. and he's actually signed into law what i know kamala harris wants to sign into law, and that's a codification of roe v. wade. >> it's a brutal issue for republicans, they're losing statewide in places like kansas. as claire said, he's not just on

the right side, but opening up about his own. >> that's what's so appealing about tim walz, and i think pete buttigieg talked about this before, that for all of the hate that donald trump injects into this race, there's a policy solution for everything that he's addressing. and if you have a ticket that's actually interested in public policy, that has the ability to energize people. yes, i can get around that, that actually touches me where i live and touches my family, and that's what's so critically important. that hate is powerful, that fear and anger is powerful. what's more powerful is the solution to the thing that you're concerned about. that's what the ticket brings. >> matt talked about a gut candidate, a gut campaign, and want to stick just with the policy in the white papers. this is a gut ticket. kamala harris is speaking to people's hopes and aspirations. there are spontaneous organic chants at her rallies, chanting

we will not go back and now they have someone else that gets to people's guts. >> we're talking about off camera a couple of minutes ago about the minnesota lineage. the third minnesotan to be nominated to be vice president. we've had two vice presidents, humphrey and mondale. none of them went on to be president of the united states. but happy warrior and the politics of joy. and in tim walz, you have that. you have that sense of him. we haven't seen -- none of us have seen enough of him other than the cable hits over the last couple of weeks. but even in his affect there, he's a heart and a gut candidate you but there is a lightness to him. and i think that -- the joy -- the happy warrior joy thing also correlates to something else which is a word that everybody -- i sound superficial but it is not a small thing in

politicals, which is fun. >> 100%. it always wins. >> often people say the taller candidate always wins. the candidate with more fun wins. and he is going to be fun. fun to watch. when he said to j.d. vance, none of my hillbilly cousins went to jail. that is pretty good. >> and you know who else is tuning in, are younger voters. i think there is something about our politics that have been so bleak and they've been repellent to other viewers and we have maxwell frost of florida. i know the thing that younger voters hate the most is older people like me telling them what works. so erase everything i just said and you tell me, i've been watching your post, you seem to approve of this selection. explain. >> yeah, we're really, and i'm really excited about this choice. i'm going out canvassing right

after this because we have to work. but we're excited. and gen z are also very excited. you know, oftentimes young voters get a bad wrap. people think we are not engaged or substantive but we are engaged and one of the most substantive young generation of voters that we've ever had. the highest youth of voter turnout in the last few cycles but also asking the real questions. and not just about how old someone is, it is about are you for us? what are you going to do on the climate crisis or end gun violence or promote peace or to make sure that everybody has the resources that they deserve. i always joke around that the age of the single issue voters is going away. it is dying because young voters, when you ask them what they care about, they don't tell you one thing. they tell you several. they tell you ten things. they tell you 12 things because they see how all of the issues are connected and when you look at governor tim walz and his

amazing agenda that he passed through the minnesota state legislature with a slim majority, think about this. the republicans have a slim majority in congress and they've done not guilty. it is been one of the unproductive congresses and he got more done. he got universal school lunch for every child in minnesota. he was able to pass good labor protections, he was able to get money for affordable housing and transit. so that is what we needs on this ticket. we have kamala harris, who has been a champion, who has been exciting young people and now with tim walz we see someone that has appeased this entire party. i never thought i would agree with joe manchin on something like this. but with the statement he put out, we're excited about tim walz and this is the energy that we need and i agree with what was just said. i think oftentimes we as democrats dismiss the politics of love and joy and to be honest with you, this is something that

the republicans have really leaned into it. not on love and joy, but the politics of vibes. it is why in the state of november, we will codify abortion rights. but they will vote for donald trump an the question is what is going on. it is because trump is about the politics of the vibe of freedom. we have to be about freedom. and when we do that with love and joy, it cuts straight through the bs that the republicans are trying to feed people. that is what tim walz has done and huge kudos to or vice president for picking such a great pick here. >> congressman, i need you to say more about vibes. i feel like you're on to something ref latory. >> this is part of the reason, why when you poll the state of florida on issues, we've the progressive state. $15 minimum wage and voting rights to people with previous felonies and medical marijuana and they voted for politics who

are completely against all of the things they're for. expanding kmard medicaid. and it is the red hat and for them it is bald eagle and beer and flag and that is it. and i love beer and the flag. but patriotism for us is about actually giving a damn about the people who live in the country. and that is what the politics of vibes are about. and when we connect the policy with the people and the love, that is what makes us unstoppable. that is barack obama. that is why we got so close in florida with andrew gillum and that is going to be kamala harris and tim walz this november. it is going to be yes to policy for not letting go of what we're going to do for people, but when we understand that the way people feel is important, that is when we unlock our true potential as a party. that is how i got elected. it was my platform. but when i have requested come up to me and say they voted for me or young people say they voted for me, they brought the issues but what they brought up

is they said i feel like you'll have my back even if you disagree with me on an issue. america needs to know and they will know that vice president kamala harris and governor tim walz has their back. and that is how we take this politics of vibes and transform it into a politics of substance and love and emotion and that is what we're spreading on the campaign trail over the next several months and at the dnc in two weeks. >> congressman maxwell frost, taking us to school on that which can not be made in a lab or concocted by a pollster or a strategist. real i have invaluable insights. thank you so much. and tim miller and claire maccask ill and basil, thank you. on this another extraordinary day in this 2024 presidential, i don't know how many times coy say that. they're all extraordinary. >> talk about extraordinary day tomorrow. you know what day tomorrow is. >> the day nicolle wallace is on the impolitics podcast.

>> my schedule meshing, that is true. we have much, much more of the special coverage of the harris-walz kickoff rally. stay with us. we'll be right back. f rally. stay with us we'll be right back. (man) yes! ♪ (vo) you've got your sunday obsession and we got you. now with verizon, get nfl sunday ticket from youtube tv on us and get every out-of-market sunday game. plus $800 off samsung galaxy z fold6. only on verizon. (jalen hurt) see you sunday. moving forward with node- positive breast cancer... ...my fear of recurrence could've held me back. but i'm staying focused. and doing more to prevent recurrence. verzenio is specifically for hr-positive, her2-negative, node-positive early breast cancer... ...with a high chance of returning, as determined by your doctor when added to hormone therapy. verzenio reduces the risk of recurrence versus hormone therapy alone.

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it's not about hate. it is not about collapsing in. the golden rule there is mind your own damn business. their policies are what destroys rural america. they've divided us. they're in our exam rooms and telling us what books to read and i think kamala harris knows bringing people together around the shared value and strong public schools and labor unions and health care. those are the things. think this is going back to the bread and butter getting away from this division. we don't like where we can't go to thank dinner with an uncle because you end up in a weird fight that is unnecessary. >> hi, again. it is now 5:00 in new york.

a new poll found that 71% of americans had never heard of or had no opinion of that guy. minnesota governor tim walz. that is all about to change. as of this morning, walz was chosen by vice president kamala harris to run with her to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential contest. in just a short while, for the first time, we'll see the two of them together as a ticket at a rally in philadelphia. we'll bring it to you once it gets underway. we'll first hear from josh shapiro who along with walz was among harris's top two final choices. today's rally in philly marks the start of a barnstorming tour across the u.s. for the democratic ticket. harris and walz will visit five swing states in as many days. the vice president choice in her running mate, a former high school civics teacher and football coach and a meb of congress who flipped in 2006, has received growing praise from

aoc, to adam kinzinger. and president joe biden voices his support. the harris-walz ticket will be a powerful voice for working people and america's great middle class. they will be the strongest defenders of our personal freedomsond our democracy and ensure that americas continue to lead the world and play its role as the indispensable generation and every generation faces a moment to defend american democracy, that moment is now. and that is where we start the hour with our favorite reporters and friends. from the 19th, host of the podcast the amendment, msnbc political analyst aaron haines is back and plaus david jolly is here. he served in congress with tim walz. and joining us at the table. here on msnbc, president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton is here.

and joining us, donnie deutsche is back. i think we're going to hear from governor shapiro in a minute. i don't want to cut anybody off. you're always in the middle of everything and talking to everybody behind the scenes. tell me your understanding of how vice president came to settle on governor walz? >> well she called me about an hour and a half ago when she was landing in philadelphia and she said it was about the kmift -- chemistry. and she did not call me before when she was given an endorsement by biden. i had nothing to do with even advising at all anybody. i thought all of them were good candidates. but i knew this governor unlike 71% of america because he was the one we called saying that the local district attorney in minneapolis had said things that we did not trust on the george floyd case and he had the courage to appoint keith ellison, the state attorney

general that handled that case and led to convictions. and during the trial, there was a police killing not far from there in adaunte wright and he came to the funeral, governor walz and so i knew him from that. he's a mid western guy, conservator, he's no radical by my stretch of the imagination. but that had the sensitivity to stand there and denounce, he said there is too much racism in these police shootings so i knew him from that. and he called me a week ago. i've not talked to him since he got the appointment. but i talked to her the other night and she said it was about the chemistry. i disagree with some of the things in terms of how gaza is treated but i there were a lot of signs in anti-semitism with shapiro because he stood up against netanyahu. if we're going to disagree and let's be fair and clear. you doent have to support them but don't distort them. >> i'm glad to hear you say

that. >> i think walz is -- i still think shapiro was the right choice, he gives you pennsylvania and you get tomorrow versus yesterday. there is something in that. and i also think he's more centrist. at the end there was a nasty campaign against him based on his gaza stance. but he was no different than the other candidates. so that is something that the democrats have to work through. >> aaron haines, i want you to bring you in on the selection of walz and i -- i sort of -- i think it is, one, the fact that none of this leaked is a sign of respect for this candidate and the process that she went through in vice president harris. two, i take claire mccaskill at her word and yamiche, that she was looking to balance herself and she and josh shapiro would have come to the ticket with a similar resume. they both served as big state

attorney generals and then sort of moving on to a white house ticket. your thoughts about the selection of governor walz? >> yeah, nicolle, and also, i mean, governor shapiro, a rising star in the party. governor walz, does not seem to be someone that has higher ambitions. seems to be someone that wants to support vice president harris as the democratic nominee for president. and to be a loyal governing partner should they be elected. i think that is a priority for her. this is not someone who was at the top of the vice presidential veep stakes. this is not who we were talking about when we talked about mark kelly and josh shapiro and talking about other candidates and yet his candidacy surges with all of the television and podcast appearances. he honed that message, calling republicans weird. and we know, but we do know that most of the them were white men

and governors and he had the experience, he's focused on the middle class, that is something that the vice president has been hammering in her message on this campaign stump and he has this mid western appeal. he checks a lot of boxes. he's a football coach and hunter and translation gun owner and so just the personality that came through the clip you showed. he wants to make things -- and that resonated with americans. >> david jolly, i don't know that i appreciated how much love president joe biden and kamala harris had for one another until we got to listen in to the two of them when she first went to the wilmington campaign headquarters the first day that she was the candidate and president biden called in. he was home quarantining with covid. and he listened in and he said, you know, i love you, kid. and she said, i love you.

i think she was hungry to sort of have someone with whom she could build that kind of affection and bond and i wonder your thoughts on the reporting about their chemistry. >> the chemistry between a president and vice president is critically important. we're in a world at war in many places and might see expansion of wars in the middle east and an economy that is still fragile and has questions despite et cetera growth. so having a working partnership is important on a personal and professional level. and i think what you saw in that moment between joe biden and vice president harris was so important because everybody remembers how it started. on the stage in miami when the vice president went after joe biden about his record when it came to civil rights legislation yet they bond and found a way to govern together and it became a strong personal relationship of trust and think that is what harris is looking for. harris had a lot of qualified

people to choose from. i think the story that rules the day, though, is that the chemistry between these two, this is a happy ticket that wants to work for america and all of america. at a time when donald trump is trying to repackage the anger of eight years ago. the reason harris and walz are going to win in november is because hate and anger are kind of eight years ago. that bad mouthing america and our own people, that is eight years ago. demeaning and challenging democracy is so eight years ago and that is not a big enough coalition to hit 60% or 70%, but it is big enough to win the race. when they look at harris and governor walz and say, those are people that believe in our country. they don't wake up every day trying to bad mouth our own team. they're fighting for our own team and i think on the question of policy, i know democrats had to wrestle it with more than even some republicans and independents because what bonds the harris coalition together, that is a little different than the biden coalition, is it is no longer really about questions

about ideology. it is knowing that we're all rolling in the right direction. we're all rowing in the right direction about behalf of the country trying to get to the same place. the finer points of ideology and policy will take care of themselves when we all on the same team together. that is this team. that is the harris-walz team. this is the team that is fighting for you and you know it and you could feel it and that is why they're going to win. >>ib want to talk about you about this branding of them as happy warriors. we think josh shapiro is going to walk in my minute and this is what david plouffe said. i think they're both happy warriors and that matters. >> warrior is important but the happy thing, even before walz showed up, kamala harris is smiling and trump is grumpy and miserable and dower. >> and mean. >> and so is vance. so the most simplistic things that were taught, be happy. don't worry, be happy. and so now you have a guy walz that have a very amenable

midwest way. that is a visceral thing that people feel. >> it is contagious. and i've heard from people anecdotally that don't follow the show or follow politics, saying is it safe to exhale and i think so. >> and i've known her in private, she's genuinely a happy kind of person. and trump is not only grumpy, he seems to be angry at people that are happy. he makes derogatory statements about her laughing. i mean, why are you mad when someone that can laugh while they're doing their job. so i think that it is good to have someone leading the country that could give us a little kind of ease and get back to where, yes, we're facing challenges but we don't have to be so burdened down internally. let's have a spread of happiness to return this country to where it needs to be. >> she's cracked the code and he

has as well. i mean, they use the word -- walz, i played a long mash. i'm going to interrupt myself, i feel like donald trump talking about myself. but he talks about shrinking trump. shrinkage. there is no better way. >> he does it in a way that no one else could do it. he goes after him with a smile and a twifrpgle. >> and a dagger. >> and punching him in the gut at the same time so he has the marvelous way about him. and i think kamala gets him and he doesn't know how to deal with a woman of color. >> and i see the lights going on and off. we're waiting for josh shapiro to come out. he's central to this campaign. >> but look at that crowd. when you look at the crowd, and trump's now trying to make excuses for why he's not drawing crowds like that any more and they're holding people outside like reporters can't go outside and see there is nobody outside. i mean, he's -- this is driving him crazy, just that shot right

there. >> we'll leave it up. we'll leave it up. >> that is driving him crazy. he's probably going to social media right now saying some of the ugliest things in the world. >> they've been doing it all day. >> this momentum, we were talking with maxwell frost in the last block about vibes. he took me to school. this is not something that i worked on campaigns, and this could not be manufacture and these people that took time out of their day today to see their candidate for president, vice president kamala harris. >> yeah, and those vibes in philly sound like the vibes that i saw in atlanta just last week when she was at the rally here. the doors were open for hours. they have the same level of enthusiasm. and it reaches a fever pitch by the time you get the candidate on the state. that is what you'll see here in philadelphia. she's got momentum and now with this vice presidential pick and on the happy warrior thing, this is also probably going to go a long way to the other thing they

want to do which is to reunite the country. that happy attitude leads to together on this ticket and together governing are also about the business of trying to bring this country back together and just the way that governor walz even talks about what that is going to take. the empathy that will take and his commitment to that i'm sure will be a big selling point for him as well. >> david jolly, if someone could crack the code on that. the comments about thanksgiving. they're said in jest. but there is a lot of families that are divided about election denialism, about the lies that have been pedalled to the 30%, 40% of the country for eight years now. it is truly aspirational to want to bring the whole country together. >> it is aspirational and inspirational and walz and harris bring the receipts and you saw that with tapper last week which caught everybody's attention. he didn't say let's argue about the left right paradigm in

ideology. let's talk about working for families and children andelerly people an the work force and increasing wages and providing for the happiness index. this is someone delivering results and that is what kamala harris could run on as well as a result of her service with joe biden. and that is where a contrast does matter. yes, a happy warrior but for what. because donald trump demeans the country every day and walz and harris are saying under vice president harris's leadership, we're going to deliver real results but there is that ethos for people to see. our own daughter would knows who joe biden is, the president, started asking, who is that woman. who is kamala harris. she might be the next president of the united states and at 5-year-old, is he said i'm on her team. she was 5. she saw something that said i want to be on her team. that is enough to carry kamala harris with all of her qualifications to the white house in november.

>> we have gone so far from feeling like we could help for that. what david jolly just said. having daughters that see themselves in our candidates. in part because of the age, but in part because of the way hillary clinton was treated, there is so much pent up desire to cross this sort of boundary in american politics to elect a woman, especially one who is on the right side of just about every policy debate. and we don't have a lot of division in this country around roe. 75% of americans thought it was rightly decided. not a lot of division around gun safety. 85% of americans are for common sense gun safety. we're not divided around the policies that harris and walz stand for. >> and going back to the women, i've said this on the show, women decide a selection. and i believe it. and i think that in a weird way trump was able to go after hillary and it was okay because she was a clinton and attached to bill. go after her in a mean and nasty

way. kamala harris, because she's different and younger and a woman of color, you can't do it the same way and i think he's going to struggle and i think women will watch him like we saw last week in the conference of black journalists, you couldn't believe you were watching that and you saw the disdain from him coming out as he what was sitting there, who are these women of color questioning me. that is what that felt like and voters will see that and feel that and i think that is going to be his downfall. >> i want to bring into our conversation with my apology ahead of time if we cut you off to take a speaker, but mini timer is here. and one of the things that folks have talked about today is governor walz and his wife gwen going public about ivf and how they owe their beautiful daughter, her name is hope, to the miracle of ivf. all of that on the line in november's election. >> yeah, governor walz and gwen have really been so transparent

in telling their story. minnesota was the first state to codify rights and right after the dobbs decision. they were the first. that tells you so much about tim walz and gwen quite frankly. they also instituted protections for patients and providers not to be extradited to states with bans. they were clear about where they were in terms of protecting a nationwide population that will have to come to minnesota. and then on the the ivf story, nobody understands how profound that process is other than folks that vn-v been through it themselves and they've been kind in sharing their stories an passionate about it. i think if you put j.d. vance next to tim walz in the way that they talk about families and who gets to be a family, this is important, who gets to be a family in this country and how and who does not have a right to be in these decisions, the contrast couldn't be clear. >> and it is another issue that is not divided along partisan

lines. the reason the extreme bans fail in kansas and north carolina is because republicans owe their families to the miracles of ivf and surrogacy and all sorts of other things that are deeply and directly and explicitly threatened by the prospect of a trump-vance administration. >> and what i love about tim and gwen's story, they look like all of the americans we've been talking about. we're the majority, as you've said. eight out of ten americans support this. more support contraception and ivf and this is a rural family, former football coach. man of the people. fixes cars and loves to go to the state fair with his daughter who is an ivf baby. they really give a great contrast. it is not just coastal elites that use ivf. it is americans of all walks life. this is a mainstream reproductive technology that folks assume they have the right

to have and tim walz are out there protecting the freedoms and it goes a long way and for the empathy and the relate ability of him as a candidate. >> if you're just joining us, we're waiting for we believe pennsylvania governor josh shapiro is next to speak. he will be followed by vice president kamala harris, and her brand-new running mate minnesota governor tim walz selected this morning in the 9:00 hour eastern to serve on the ticket with her. i want to come back to you, rev, on the state of the race. she has run flawlessly since this real political earthquake, president joe biden stepping off the ticket, handing her -- endorsing her and the party coalescing in miraculous speed and enthusiasm. and i'm just so taken by what congressman maxwell frost was saying about the vibes. these are not things that could be tested ahead of time.

youldn't have a poll to figure out how many first time grassroots donors that would be in the first 24 hours but seize so far run a flawless candidacy. >> i think you're right. you could never predict where energy is going. you can't manufacture it and you couldn't contain it. and the energy we've seen around vice president kamala harris running for president has been enormous. i've not seen it since '08 and i think that it is really even baffling to them, that they've got this outpouring. >> that is funny. >> and they're managing it well. because when people usually get this kind of attention and this kind of momentum, it -- she loses a balance or he loses balance. she's the same person. she's focused and she knows this is going to be a tough fight no matter how many auditoriums or arenas she fills.

donald trump is fighting for his life. he's not just running for president, he's facing three trials and a half a billion dollars lawsuit against him that has been ruled against him. he's fighting for his life and there is nothing he won't do. but i think that she's the perfect candidate that will not let him get her off of her stride and get down in the mud with him. but not be intimidated by him. >> to that point, i think any other human, not just woman and not just a woman of color, would have been pulled off her message by his abomination of a performance last week at the conference. and i think when you don't get points for the mistakes you don't make. and i'm not sure it would have been a mistake. but for her discipline as a candidate is so far an underreported story, she's so focused. if she didn't get drawn in, the average candidate would have responded and probably emotionally so to what he did,

the degrading and humiliating way he treated those women as donnie said. forget what he said. i mean his attitude, she did not play into that at all. she remained above the storm. yet she addressed the rain drops that are falling on everyone. and if you can stay above the storm and understand everybody getting wet with the rain drops, that is the kind of leadership that country needs at this point in history. >> i worked on campaigns and when you win, everything you did was brilliant. and when you lose, everything you did was idiotic. but it leads to the flattening of campaigns and i don't think there has been enough credit paid to her and the fact that they screwed the wings on at 50,000 feet zipping -- a concord at regular speed and altitude, and they've been flawless in news cycle after news cycle. >> it has been a flawless two and a half weeks, we'll see how

she is when the incoming starts. we haven't had the horrible advertising against her. so it is all her performance. so far she gets an a-plus-plus. and we could talk about all of the issues but it is about how she performs over the next 90 days. and the show is the thing and america is going to be watching cameras don't lie. so far she's come out with a confidence, with an aura of strength, with a relate ability to her and it is going to -- once the missiles start flying, then we'll see really the performance and that is thing. >> david jolly, i think there is something in how walz frames trump that just from watching her on the stump from the two weeks that she's been the nominee, he doesn't talk about him -- he doesn't diminish the threat, but the verbs he uses are around shrinking him. we have to shrink him.

it is meant to both demystify him, i think that happened for everyone in the national media who had to sit through his 11-hour convention speech. it wasn't 11 but it felt like 11 hours. but that he's beatable in this november election. something was going on in our politics ahead of that republican convention where a second trump term was starting to feel inevitable. she's turned that all around. >> yeah, both vice president harris and governor walz, do not underestimate the threat that donald trump is to democrat. but they're lampooning him and treating him like the joke that he is and it has to be said that vice president harris could do this because she did everything right as the questions were mounting around joe biden. loyal to the end and then watch this happy warrior campaign. >> david jolly, i wasn't going to cut you off. we could watch this together. this is governor josh shapiro, from pennsylvania, with a 61%

approval rating beloved in his state. one of the -- we believe finalists for this job. we heard the last two on that list of six. vital, vital to vice president kamala harris's prospects in the state. promises to do everything he can do do deliver pennsylvania. let's listen in. >> thank you. [ cheering and applause ] >> thank you. thank you. i love you, philly. [ applause ] and you know what else i love, i love being your governor.

thank you very much. you all, y'all fill my heart. and i love you so much. >> we love you too. >> and i want you to know, every single day i go to work for you. i put my shoulder to the wheel, and i focus on three simple letters in our alphabet. g.s.d. i focus on getting shit done for all of you. [ cheering and applause ]

thank you. thank you. thank you. and you want you to know, i am going to continue to pour my heart and soul into serving you every single day as your governor. and -- and i'm going to be working my tail off to make sure we make kamala harris and tim walz the next leaders of the united states of america. that's right. let me tell you -- let me tell you about my friend kamala harris. someone i've been friends with for two decades. she is courtroom tough, she has

a big heart, and she is battle tested and ready to go. whether in a courtroom, whether fighting as attorney general, whether remembering the people who have often times been left behind when she was sitting in the halls of power in the senate, kamala harris has always understood that you got to be every day for the people. for the people. and she has served with honesty. she has served with dignity. and every step of the way, she's broken barriers to serve all of

us. now, philly, hear me on this. that is a hell of a stark contrast from the guy running on the other side. you all know who i'm talking about, i guess. you see, we remember here in philly what it was like when donald trump was our president. we remember when he was president it was more chaos, fewer jobs, and less freedom. you see, philly, i know y'all. we walk around with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, because we remember, right. and we remember that it was donald trump that ripped away the freedom of millions of

american women to make decisions over their own body. we remember that. we remember [ crowd chanting ] >> we're not going back. >> we're not going back. [ crowd chanting ] >> and here is the thing. we don't want to go back. but let's just go back and remember, let's just remember, because i think there are some folks out there that have a little bit of brain fog remembering how -- having a hard time remembering what it was like. now, listen, he brought all of that chaos and limited our freedoms back whether he was president and let's be honest, didn't know what the hell he was doing. he didn't.

but, this is serious, gang. he knows what he's doing now. he does. and the supreme court that he packed -- the supreme court that he has packed has ruled that he is above the law. he is outside of the law. and now he's got a clear plan, they all wrote it down in that whole project 2025 thing. and they got a clear plan to take away more of our freedoms. they got a clear plan to use the justice department to go against our enemies. they got a clear plan to isolate us in the worl and let me tell you something, i ain't going back. i am not going back. i'm not. and neither do you want to go

back. we are not going back. [ crowd chanting ] we're not going back. no. we're not. and not only are we not going back, we're not going into the future with donald trump. not going into the future with him. a guy who has made clear he's told us what he wants to do, more chaos, less freedom and it was maya angelou who said it, when they tell us who they are, believe them. and i believe them and i don't want to see that. and donald trump, well, he's now got a partner with him. y'all see that guy. yeah. j.d. vance, he's not exactly off

to a good start, i think we could all agree on it. but i think part of the reason why he's not off to a good start is this. and it is serious. he doesn't know who he is. and he's not being honest with himself so he can't be honest with the american people. he can't. [ crowd chanting ] so -- so, if -- if i hear you right, and i think i do, you're chanting he's a weirdo. which means, man, i love you philly, which means, if you're chanting he's a weirdo, then you

heard of my good friend and our next vice president tim walz. because tim walz in his beautiful mid western plain spoken way, he summed up j.d. vance the best. he's a weirdo. and i want to talk -- i want to talk about tim walz, because philly, in a minute, he's going to come out here and want you to give him a whole lot of love. tim walz is a great man. tim walz is an outstanding governor. tim walz is a teacher. tim walz is a guardsman. tim walz is a great patriot.

he is. and i'll tell you what else. i'll tell you what else. tim walz is a dear friend. and i want you to know, lori and i feel blessed to have tim and gwen in our lives. they are outstanding public servants and i can't wait for you, philly, the rest of this commonwealth and our entire country to get the chance to know the walzes, the vice president and second lady of this nation. now, i think it is fitting and it is special that kamala harris and tim walz have chosen to launch their campaign right here in philadelphia. in the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.

and importantly, they chose to launch their campaign right here in the birthplace of real freedom. you know, the other side, trump and his sycophants, let me tell you something, they love to talk a big game about freedom. they love to cloak themselves in the blanket of freedom all of the time. they love to talk a good game. but hear me on this. it is not freedom to tell our children what books they're allowed to read. that is not freedom. it's not. it's not. it's not freedom to say you could go to work, but you can't join a union. that is not freedom.

it's not freedom to tell women what their allowed to do with their bodies. that is not freedom. that's not. it's not. it is not. no, it's not. it is not. and it won't be that way when kamala harris is our president. and it sure as hell isn't freedom to say you can go vote, but he's going to pick the winner. that is not freedom. that's not what patriots have fought for over the years. it is not. you know what we are for? you know what kamala harris and tim walz are for? they are for real freedom. they are. the kind of real freedom that comes when we look at young girl in north philly in the eye and

we invest in her public school because we believe in her. we believe in real freedom that kind that comes when we invest in our police and we invest in our communities because we believe that young girl should walk to and from school safely and back to her mom at the end of the night. we believe in real freedom. when the young girl could grow up and be whatever she wants. she can be a welder, she could go to college, she can be what she is, that is real freedom and that is what we are fighting for. we believe in the kind of real freedom where she grows up in a community where she can breathe clean air and drink clean water and know that she will leave an environment to the next

generation that is great for her kids and her grandkids. and kamala harris and tim walz believe in a real freedom where you can marry who you love and be who you are. now, freedom, freedom is on the ballot. and our fundamental freedoms are at risk. and i know -- i know when it is at risk it is easy to feel uneasy, and it is easy to get down. but let me tell you something, philly, let me tell you something, pennsylvania, let me tell you something, america, i am more optimistic than ever

before. and the reason, the reason i'm more optimistic than ever before, is because of all of you. and because of what a band of patriots started here in our taverns and our town squares and in independent hall, justice a couple of miles here nearly 2 1/2 centuries ago. you see, they came together, they came together to declare our in dependence from a king and we're not going back to a king. and we're not going back. [ crowd chanting ] >> we're not going back!

>> and when they declared that independence from a king, they came together and they said, we are going to form a union. and over the last 248 years, the reason why i'm optimistic, the reason why i'm hopeful, is because as we have written this american story, over the last two and a half centuries, it is been ordinary americans taking up the baton from those patriots and saying, we're going to do extraordinary things. october tavius kettle understood that responsibility. cecil b. moore understood that responsibility. gen z, when their organized and on tiktok, they understand that responsibility. and i'm optimistic today because the task of perfecting our

union, the task of defending our fundament freedoms, is now falls to all of you. to freedom loving americans, all across this great country. and to the good people of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, who will decide this next election and understand our unique responsibility. i love you too. and this is a moment where we all have to understand that while we'll see kamala harris and tim walz's name on the ballot, that this election isn't just about their names on this ballot. this election is about all of you. and whether or not you're willing to do this hard work to fight for our freedom. whether or not you're willing to do this hard work that started

here 248 years ago. i want to just say this. i lean on my family, and i lean on my faith, which calls many he to serve. and i am proud of my faith. now, now hear me. i'm not hear to preach to you all, but i want to tell you what my faith teaches me. my faith teaches me that no one, no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it. that means, that means that each of us has a responsibility to

get off the side lines, to get into the game and to do our part. are you ready to do your part? are you ready to form a more perfect union? are you ready to build an america where no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, or who you pray to, that this will be a place for you. and are you ready to look the next president of the united states in the eye and say, hello madam president. i am too, so let's get to work. ♪♪

remarks from pennsylvania governor josh shapiro shouting himself horse before this big very fired up crowd at temple university in philadelphia, pennsylvania. josh shapiro of course coming very near to himself being named as the running mate for democratic nominee kamala harris. he will not be the nominee. it will be tim walz, who we will hear from tonight. the crowd is about to see a short -- we believe they're holding it, we believe this

crowd, and you could see how packed this 10,000 seat arena is, in philly. we believe they're about to see a short biographical video, essentially introducing them, tim walz, before harris and walz are expected to emerge together. we'll then hear remarks from kamala harris and then from tim walz. i think we're going to be able to show this video as it airs in the arena. i'll just shut up here for a second in hopes that we're going to see it. okay. they said it is about -- see how they dimmed the lights there. that was just to create a drama. apparently it is two minutes until the video. and again, i think we're going to be able to show you the video, but do not take that to the bank. it is a short biographical

video. i'm rachel maddow and here at msnbc headquarters as we watch this first unveiling of the democratic ticket. you know, there was no real drama after president biden decides to aband on his bid and the party coalesced around her so fast you would have thought it was preordained. there was worry about a potentially messy or divisive process or long, drawn out process that would cause internal wounds in the democratic party. that did not happen. not even for one second when it came to the top of the ticket. bottom of the ticket, there was a little bit of drama. because there was a short list. a bunch of well regarded well liked candidates. including the men who it reportedly came down to in the end, last two, tim walz, who we're going to see introduced here momentarily, and the man who you just saw, give an

absolutely rip roaring speech. part of the reason that josh shapiro had been considered by observers to have such a good shot at this was just the logistics of this event we're watching right now. we knew that the first event unveiling the ticket would be in philadelphia. if you're running mate is the governor, the well regarded governor of pennsylvania, that would make sense. but instead we got that speech from shapiro shouting himself horse in an incredible sort of call and response with the crowd, we're not going back. and emerging as the sort of signature call and response from harris campaign events now. and shapiro is showing off the rhetorical skills, response fro campaign events now. and shapiro showing off the rhetorical skills, the stump speech skills that put him, among other reasons, but one of the reasons it put him in good stead as a running mate.

nicole wallace you just finished two hours of coverage here and we dragged you into the afterparty. i'm sorry. let me ask you, fact check me a little bit on the little bit of drama at the bottom of the ticket choice. >> you know, i described the pro-democracy coalition as the democratic party and all the stray cats and dogs like myself that have glomed onto it in the interest of america remaining a democracy. with that stipulated, i think that giving kamala harris the space to make this first decision in the pro-democracy coalition we want her to be leader of the free world, she should certainly be free to make her own choice. she chose someone with whom i think she seeks to have the bond she has with joe biden which burst into view in her first event as a candidate.

you heard him say i love you, kid, you heard her say i love you. it's that understanding she was looking for as well as tim walz's successful campaign for this job. i didn't know who he was until she was the nominee for the party. >> i knew him from when he was in congress. >> i got an email from a veteran saying let me tell you about these things that tim walz did and the laws that president obama signed into law. i think that josh shapiro some day will likely be the candidate or a president himself. he's extraordinary. i first interviewed him after the 2020 election. you, i believe were quarantining. i had him on about the delayed calls in, and his son walked behind him and he became famous. >> that's right. >> he's a star. he's so good. makes people feel so gifted.

and so gived at the governing part of the job. not as important to the republicans. and he had a campaign, he had the prominent republicans in the commonwealth behind his candidacy, he ran against mastriano, one of the trump wacko birds and it gave shapiro a chance to come out of the gate, and he has a 61, 65% approval rating depending on the day in the commonwealth. >> thinking about shapiro having risen to become governor by defeating mastriano -- what's the word you used? >> wacko bird. >> with walz he had a couple of successful runs for governor one was against a covid con spear

si. >> one thing that's so striking is to look at the other side you have a 39-year-old senator who won two races in his life, a primary where he got donald trump's endorsement, which basically was the whole thing and then ran in a red state where he underperformed with republicans in the that state. >> he benefitted from the single largest, single person campaign donation from the guy he interned for. >> exactly. and looking at that guy and his unveiling and the first two or three weeks of him on the stump. this is not a person who maybe he will learn how to do it. he doesn't know how to do politics really. that's evident. this is one doing serious on the job learning. both josh shapiro and tim walz know how to do politics. josh shapiro started young, 31 one his first race.

tim walz won a race in 2010 after he voted for the aca and cap and trade in a republican district in a race i covered other people who got their butt kicked in that, and managed to win that race. this is someone who has run a bunch of tough races. these are both people -- the final two people that it came down to, alongside governing, know how to do politics. they're battle tested, run tough races, they stumped, knocked on doors, talked to volunteers, they've done all the stuff of politics. it's something that the harris campaign was looking for, the democratic party is keyed into. like we're not going to roll out peter's intern to come -- >> come and tell you that people who don't have children should get fewer votes than everybody else. and that's a good point that chris is making.

when tim walz got into congress he was coming from being a high school teacher and football coach it's not like he had a career in politics. but he knocked out a republican incumbent, served six terms -- >> a trumpy district. >> yes. once he left to run for governor a republican won that seat. but he knows not only how to campaign in conservative areas but he is a white, middle class, rural conservative district. grew up on a farm, veteran kind of candidate. and still has this incredible list of progressive achievements of the governor of purple state minnesota. >> i love how dei worked, they found the inclusivity they needed with kamala harris. if you talk to the process of it, that is what they were looking for. because the way the harris now harris/walz campaign is framing this, it's not just past versus

future, backward versus forward. it's weird versus normal. it's weird versus relatable. one of the things that comes to mind about governor walz, he's relatable. and his policies in which the republicans are going to try to cast as bizarre socialist madness are like kids getting to have school nutrition or women getting to control their own bodies. he's done really pragmatic things that have made his state ranked one of the happiest states one of the states you have the most access to health care. he's done like cool cultural things like name a road after prince. he's had beyonce day. he's a normal guy that's normal to the culture but also a military veteran. i think the longest serving military veteran in congress. he was a moderate when he was a house member. look, hold on, here he is. >> i think we'll get the video before we get them. but they keep doing this thing with dramatic lighting to make

it -- >> it looks like they're going to do the kool-aid break through the wall thing. i don't think they will -- >> he's like a sitcom dad. he's comforting and interesting but also normy. >> just to reaffirm what you said -- >> the vice president of the united states, kamala harris and tim walz. >> seeing them here for the first time as running mates. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ]

[ cheers and applause ]

[ cheers and applause ] >> good evening, philadelphia. good evening. good evening. [ cheers and applause ] >> good evening, everyone. good evening. good evening.