yes it's starting to bloom what do you
think bill hey what's going on everybody
for first we feast I'm Sean Evans and
you're watching hot ones it's the show
with hot questions and even hotter wings
and today I'm joined by Al Roker he's
the longtime host and weatherman at
NBC's The Today Show a 13 time Emmy
winner and best-selling author you can
also catch him on the new web series
cold cuts where they pile on the meats
cheeses and toppings Al Roker welcome to
the show
Sean good to see you Sean good to see
you Sean good to see you popping some
cameras that's a very see them there
there you put him there for a reason
let's use it and 2015 I saw you eat the
world's hottest chip live on TV and he
kept a poker face all the way through so
I take it you're pretty good with spicy
food you know I but it was a small
amount you know to said you need the
whole thing you know so is that's the
secret to anything I think when you're
especially doing food television you
take a bite you don't eat the whole
thing right get that bite take it down
get your feet set in to commercial
exactly all right are you ready get
going yes sir
[Music]
you'll start at the handle at the handle
ah I see of the board there mm-hmm
[Music]
so you can't have an outro peer
interview without discussing the Today
Show you've been involved for more than
20 years it was the longest running most
successful television shows in history
and then the Today Show is unique in
that you'll do these segments live
around a screaming crowd when you think
of all the bizarre faces to face you've
had with civilians on the street is
there a story that stands out well I had
this was years ago there was a guy
holding a sign that said Chris will you
marry me and I thought oh this is great
I'm gonna go over and I'm gonna say hi
and my producer said my you don't do it
don't do what only what does he know I
know so I go up to and I say so you love
Chris he goes well I love Chris but I
love Jeff more and with that turns to
the guy next to him and gives him a big
big open mouth kiss and I looked into
the camera and see they won't even show
you that on Will & Grace
and they went ahead and they roped me
into Will and Grace we're just Jack and
we'll show up at the Today Show to
protest something and they end up
kissing on The Today Show
Wow so art imitating life imitating and
then you can't spend 40 years on live TV
without having some big gaff without
swearing on live TV without breaking
something
what's that al Roker's well one of them
I was trying to say warm air mass and I
said a warm ass and so that that made
the rounds very nicely it was good
another time I was covering a hurricane
Hurricane Wilma there's a camera guy
holding me down and I literally went
down like a ton of bricks I've seen that
glass yeah oh yeah it's that's a good if
you just held on to that wrought iron
gate
hmm these are real tender I like that
one
so I had the honor of being an upcoming
guest in your show
cold cuts where we made sandwiches
together and I know that you're a food
obsessive yourself when you think of all
your cross-country adventures what do
you think is the best regional burger in
America you know it's funny because it
wasn't regional it hadn't gone national
but when I had my first Shake Shack
burger I thought yes oh my gosh this is
amazing and then speaking of Shake Shack
where does having the Roker burger on
the menu rank in your list of
professional accomplishments it's pretty
high up there I mean you know that you
have a creation that people actually are
going to pay money for and like it was
was like high praise and you seemed to
be one of the more curious diners when
your crew was covering the Sochi
Olympics did you make any food
discoveries out there there was this
this stuff this cheesy bread it wasn't
anything fancy but it was great you know
so I mean you'd finish it follows
addictive things where you eat it and
that's great okay that's enough and then
like an hour later you're back in your
hotel room is like I need me some cheesy
bread Oh daddy needs cheesy bread get
daddy some cheesy bread oh hey Ivan come
here
uh yeah cheesy bread Putin probably has
tapes of me ordering cheesy bread
all right so this next one is the
Pirates Lantern her so when I was a
broadcast journalism major at the
University of Illinois my senior
professor shot at John Paul said that my
real calling was as a weatherman and
obviously things have worked out quite a
bit differently but sometimes I
fantasize about what that might have
been like doing local news and central
Illinois so with that in mind yes sir we
put together a weather segment for you
to critique it would be such an honor if
you could tell me if I have what it
takes to make it in this game and so
without further ado roll the tape bust
out your bucket hats and board shorts
folks because we're in for an epic heat
wave sweeping across the country this
week whether you're in Barrow Alaska or
Boston Massachusetts it's gonna be a hot
one today up in Chicago they're reports
that Lake Michigan has reached a boiling
point you can poach an egg off Navy Pier
today and then down in Texas
temperatures of 120 125 130 degrees
schools are closed and what's this yep
Texas Pete says it's too damn hot to go
to work today out new California sunny
with a chance of death wings as we say
in the meteorology community back to you
Natasha and jinx in the studio
stay cool out there Internet what do you
think III I think it's very disturbing I
just I just the the exploding wings and
the bottles of hot sauce over Texas that
it's it's a that's a sick somebody with
a sick little puppy who came up with
those graphics I'm very impressed
I think you need to refer to the map a
little more mmm I think but that's not a
big deal
the other thing I thought was impressed
with was your enthusiasm and
and the fact that you were wearing a
teenager suit an athletic fit exactly
exactly see I like it with me I like
yeah I'd like to have a little room to
breathe that's but that's me that's just
me and then you know what I always
thought was interesting and I'm
wondering if you have any insight as I
always thought that weather was such a
specialized skill it's really a sink or
swim moment for a lot of the students in
the broadcast because there's no safety
net no no they just toss it to you live
and you don't have that prompter you're
just off green-screen you're working off
monitors it's opposite your instincts
what do you think of that do you ever
have those thoughts I thought you know
what I don't I don't think about it and
I think that's why I've actually been
able to fool people is long because it
it is basically an ad-lib situation you
don't write a script your map is your
script so you just kind of wing it
Sarge you did there so this next one is
the son of zombie sounds dangerous is it
true about milkers I've always been told
about milk milk is a good way to cleanse
the palate a little bit but nothing's
gonna totally say no no no just kind of
dampen the flame exactly exactly
so here on hot ones we often ask
celebrities what it's like to be
name-checked and hip-hop lyrics and
you're pretty unique in that you've been
name-checked for decades from das EFX in
the 90s all the way up to push a tee on
his latest album so with that in mind I
want to pull some of the most iconic Al
Roker hip hop lyrics I'm wondering the
ones you like the ones you don't get
maybe they resonate with a certain time
in your career we can just go from there
does that sound good
maybe because that would be great
because I don't really know them so I'll
introduce you to these okay all right so
this first one is from jay-z okay it's
off a song called hate my hustle so
Russell a stretch work yoga you know I
got a down dog Al Roker used to knock
pounds off
that's I guess he's referring to when
I've lost weight so it's that's from
jay-z that's high praise indeed I want
to go by like Al are but it doesn't have
the same that would be a rap name that
would be Al are not see it doesn't
really work this next one is from Pusha
T and it's off a song called if you know
you know dance contest for the smokers
I predict snow Al Roker if you know you
know yeah I don't know I don't know what
I know my my my 19 year old called me
and said dad really push your tea and
like okay first who's Pusha T and
secondly I don't know what you're
talking about then I googled and finally
he's got a beef going with Drake right
and and so I think I think it basically
is because my last name rhymes with a
lot of words okay you know it works so
this is Louis calientes uh-huh put it in
our sandwiches yes yes okay so far so
far so good
are you doing better than you thought
you were I think I am I heard whispers
that ural I was I was planning to stop
at three that's what that was Mike that
was my game plan look at you now you
can't hit me
all right now what would push you're
teasing say he's dropping the pounds
like Al Roker no that was jay-z oh oh oh
all right now we'll recruit segments on
our show called explain that Graham
where you do a deep dive and I guess
Instagram cool interesting pictures that
need more context so I'm gonna bust out
some pictures I'll show you them and
then you just tell me the bigger story
okay good let's go to the laptop laptop
please look at how high-tech this is and
it's a guy in a weird Where's Waldo sure
this is bill hi Bill
Wow are you impressed if I am what's
going on here I'm actually more
impressed that Bill have the guts to
wear that shirt I had a shirt like that
when I was
that's great that's very nice it was
like you're a canary they've met a
jailbird what is that last time I saw
somebody wearing that was like curly
Howard in the Three Stooges keep going
that's right all right al what was a
bigger challenge for you running the
marathon or when you set a Guinness
world record by doing the weather for 34
hours straight uh I think running the
marathon was harder really yeah and and
by running I mean I finished if you look
at the guy next to me he was faster you
know what I was almost demoralized when
a guy ran past me with no life backwards
juggling oh I don't really talk serious
Lalla
seriously come on uh doing the weather
for 34 hours once you get past like the
first hour then you're you're good I
will tell you an interesting story about
that sure because we had never done
anything like that after I got my first
break which was after a couple of hours
I had to use the restroom
except our audio guide forgot to turn
the mic off so I believe I'm the first
guy to actually live stream on the
Internet
[Music]
all this smells hot mm-hmm oh yeah I can
tell
[Music]
because as soon as you bite into it you
know having flashbacks to the world
spiciest chip yes it's starting to bloom
[Music]
what do you think bill yeah so I you've
been a fixture on morning TV for more
than two decades you also have an
interesting relationship with late night
in fact you once had the record for the
most guest appearances on Conan O'Brien
but I'm curious about your relationship
with David Letterman what can you tell
people about what it was like to do
local news across the hall from him we
be on our show live at five would be on
while David Letterman was taping his
late-night show and he would come in
he'd bring in like one time I remember
he brought in zippy the chimp on the
mobile monkey cam and that was a
chimpanzee and it was on skates with a
live pack on its back and a camera on
its element and it comes skating into
the studio it was crazy one time he came
in and said he goes eh how gurnie of the
director how is out Roker doing the
weather and he literally they took a
camera and he walked across the studio
and came in and busted in and did
weather with me crashed your live bra
and Letterman started as a weatherman
you know so to the point where our
anchor guy this guy Jack Cafferty who
didn't find it all that amusing tried to
get them to lock the studio you know so
that and as somebody pointed out yes but
you see if there was like say oh I don't
know a fire we can't get out so not such
a great idea
that's what I was gonna ask you know for
the news director for the production
staff did they find humor and Dave
crashing the set or was he a bit of a
nuisance well they may not have found it
funny we loved it I can tell you know
cuz that's one of the great internet
rabbit holes to go down is to go look at
these vintage clips so I highly
recommend them cuz there's no way we can
clear them but you always seemed you
always seem to have a great sense of
humor about the whole thing and then
sometimes there was a weird energy
elsewhere come on I mean
you're on network television with David
Letterman one of the funniest guys going
I mean please that for a kid who wasn't
even supposed to be on TV that's gravy
[Music]
I can sense trouble already it's kind of
almost up hashey type of smell
nothing nothing Nargis I'm feeling now
it's coming yes I can feel it on my lips
so this is where I think we're on the
Outer Limits here because it's gonna be
lingering now it's approaching that love
as I can sense it now so you've had
remarkable longevity in the game which
spans now over 40 years and why I can
confirm that you are never been the
gentleman that you appear to be I think
it's safe to say that you've also made
some conscious decisions along the way
to avoid the cliche pitfalls of Fame so
as someone who's come in intimate
contact with almost every celebrity I'm
curious about your takeaways when it
comes to Fame do you think it's getting
harder to enter that machine and then
come out the other side with your
humanity intact
well I think it I think it depends on
what you want I like being on TV but you
know I've got another part of my life
I've got my family friends so I don't
feel this need to be on all the time I
don't feel a need I mean I share some
stuff on social media but you know I you
know there's people who aren't
constantly you know and it's like once
you start go down that road I think it's
hard to pull back what did you learn
about being a public figure after your
gastric bypass surgery because you do
seem to be very open about that well you
know you don't see a lot of old fat
people and I at the time had young kids
my dad was not to be a downer but my dad
was dying of cancer and he said the only
thing I'm worried about goes up I got a
good wife I've had I have beautiful
children the only thing I'm really
worried about is you you know that I'm
not gonna be here to help you raise your
kids so I need you to promise me you're
gonna lose weight and I promised him I
would go every morning to the show in
the morning but I'd go see him at
sloan-kettering before the show and when
I came I'd come back and visit him in
the afternoon when I came back he had
lost his ability to talk and he's gone
two weeks later
so I owed it to him
you
I have a feeling this may be the last
one you have to be careful that you
don't rub your eyes or anything when
you're doing this yeah ever done that I
have made every mistake that you can
make and there's a lot of reasons that
you need to thoroughly wash your hands
after hot ones if you catch my drift yes
[Music]
you know some people think that you play
it safe on air but there's also a
faction including a whole section of
Reddit that thinks that your quips are
brilliantly coded like a Drake diss you
have to call your forensics team to
decipher it any comment on the anatomy
of an Al Roker on-air clap back uh Gee I
don't I don't know I I you know here's
the thing I I think people are giving me
a lot more credit because I don't I
don't really think about it life's too
short you know it pops in if I think I
can say it and am I gonna get in trouble
I say it you're around long enough there
you've got enough lines in the back of
your head to fit almost any situation
can I just say one thing
yep one of my favorite one of the best
lines in our doing our show cold cuts
you have one of the best lines the
question when you I don't know if you've
shared this with your viewers what's the
one question that people that the
weirdest question that somebody's asked
you how's their butt all doing yeah
that's a that's a good one I see that I
see I see a line of t-shirts out of that
you know who would wear one bill no what
yeah as long as we stripe it exactly
yeah I'm sorry I digress
I'm afraid
[Music]
that's gonna cause problems Wow
see there's no taste of chicken in that
whatsoever this could be a sponge pure
Hellfire so I know that you love the
mornings morning grind of doing the
Today Show but it does seem that you
have a special affinity for covering the
Olympics
that's so storyline driven which must be
unique for somebody who's a news person
and a fan of the games who is the most
interesting Olympian to cover
I really enjoyed Chloe Kim this last in
this last no let me let me back up
I love Chloe Kim but as far as just kind
of a breath of fresh air
Adam ripoff had probably one of the
greatest lines ever Hoda Kotb and
Savannah are interviewing him and he's
already having a great and Hoda says is
there anybody at the Olympics having a
better time than you he said oh I don't
know anybody who's won a medal it was so
refreshing you know and he's just he's
got this joy I saw him at the time 100
most influential dinner and he just
exudes joy well not to put any pressure
on you how but he did hot ones and ran
the gauntlet
yeah and now but here's the thing he's
an Olympic athlete but you know what I'm
a weather man I sat across the table
from him I looked in his eyes and just
as I'm looking into yours and you know
what what I see the spirit of a warrior
in front of me and I don't think so
so this is the last tab written down so
we call it the last dab because it's
tradition around here to put a little
extra on the last way are you insane
you don't have to if you don't want I
don't know it's okay no it's okay I'm
okay I'm an old man I don't really care
forty years in the game salute to the
legend it is already on the window so it
is I know skate or anything oh this is
one you guys make yourself a purse a
pepper X and chocolate pepper X I have a
feeling never mind
see that was what I hear my wife saying
come on stop it
have you no decency what are you
supposed to tell the children all right
now 'roger here we are at the end of the
Hot Sauce road and as we've discussed
their many talents at Al Roker
broadcaster weatherman author but the
one side we haven't explored is Al Roker
the artist I know that your father
nurtured a love for cartoons and you you
once dreamed of going to the New York
school of graphic art and design and now
we're going to put that to the test
okay we have a graphite pencil a sketch
pad on deck and if you could just hit us
with a little hot ones
inspired doodle okay to take us home out
bill bill Thank You Belle your roll
you're beautiful man - don't go change
it love you just the way you are let's
say
[Music]
[Applause]
hold up that masterpiece can you explain
it to the people out there it's a
sunshine with flames coming out of his
mouth that's how hot it is it's hotter
than the Sun and you know what it's
beautiful hang it up in MoMA Al Roker
all the way through the chicken wing
Gauntlet look at you my man and you
didn't think you could hide now every
now and then you surprise yourself and
now al there's nothing left to do but
roll out the red carpet for you my man
this camera this camera or this camera
let the people know what you have going
on in your life what do I have going on
in my life I have everything I've got
I've got the respect Shawn I've got the
love of Bill and I've got my wife going
why the hell are you on this
[Music]
thank you Thank You Belle you're
beautiful man
breaking news hot ones fans this is Sean
Evans checking in to say there's a major
storm a-brewin make sure that you batten
down the hatches
stock up on non perishables and while
you wait out the storm
why not binge watch some old hot ones
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