joining me now mark mckinnon, co-creator of the circus and chief advisor to george w. bush. it's fun to look back at it what's your main take away from what we have seen in those 10 weeks? >> so much has happened and what's really compelling about any drama whether it's movies, television looks or politics is the element of surprise. so much has happened in this election. i mean, those clips just show us, you know just time after time after time what we thought was going to happen something else happened. and then, you know over time, we have an where what we thought a year ago might be the case is completely different than what's actually unfolding before our eyes. so, you know, a year ago we thought there would be an establishment candidate in the mix and there is not even an establishment candidate anymore. >> because they -- all these candidates look so good to so many people but they were playing under an old playbook. >> they were playing under an old playbook. great campaigns don't look to the past. they look to the future and reinvent the rules. that's really what do

[applause] mckinnon is a ut guy so we balanced out the equation. mark has been a chief media advisor on a number of successful campaigns. president bush once said of mckinnon, i was impressed with mark's creativity and i was impressed by his honesty. high praise. he is most famous as the cocreator of the hit "the circus," which chronicles the current campaign action every sunday night on showtime. >> this is the story about john kennedy. here is the situation. you have the flu, snowing heavily, it is your daughter's birthday the next morning and you are supposed to be at a soup kitchen at 6:00 in the morning. the question is not would you go -- the question is would you want to go? >> the show is incredible. if you have not seen it, use the showtime anytime app to get caught up. also happy to have a former journalist who heads up the political communication center, home of the most comprehensive archival political advertising. a real expert on presidential campaign advertising. second half of our program, mckinnon will moderate an elite panel. this is g

week, cameras catch up with key members of hillary clinton's campaign staff, and our next guest, mark mckinnon, sits down to din we are them and asks them about donald trump. let's watch mark with them and then we'll speak with mark. >> today, as we sit here, do you think most likely donald trump will be the republican nominee? >> yes. >> yes. >> yes. >> tell me the moment where you went from no to maybe? >> when he attacked mccain, a mere mortal could not have survived. >> was it the attack? >> the attack, doubling down on it. >> he's a war hero because he was captured? i like people that weren't captured, i hate to say. >> it was not the beginning of the end, oh, this is something different. yeah. >> it showed he had balls. it showed he was not subject to the normal rules. >> not subject to the normal -- yeah. >> to john's point, he endured. he continued to get crowds and hold his lead. >> i think on the republican side, he has been vexing to them in being able to controlled. >> do you think he can do that in a general election against you? >> our job will be to make sure that doesn't happen

. >>> with another contentious week on the campaign trail, mark mckinnon, creator of "the circus" is back again with some of the key moments you didn't see but should. >>> wisconsin would be the last best chance for the challengers to make a play. trump has to win or it's all but over. over. >> i think (singing alougetting to know you. getting to know all about you... getting to like you. getting to hope you like me... is someone getting to know your credit? not without your say so. credit lock lets you lock and unlock your transunion credit report with the swipe of a finger. getting to know you. getting to know all about you... get one-touch credit lock, plus your score and report at transunion.com get in the know. mary buys a little lamb. one of millions of orders on this company's servers. accessible by thousands of suppliers and employees globally. but with cyber threats on the rise, mary's data could be under attack. with the help of the at&t network, a network that senses and mitigates cyber threats, their critical data is safer than ever. giving them the agility to be open & s

. >>> wh another contentious week on the campaign trail, mark mckinnon, creator of "the circus" is back again with some of the key moments you didn't see but should. >>> wisconsin would be the last best chance for the challengers to make a play. trump has to win or it's all but over. >> i think there's a very good chance cruz will win and win big here. mary buys a little lamb. one of millions of orders on this company's servers. accessible by thousands of suppliers and employees globally. but with cyber threats on the rise, mary's data could be under attack. with the help of the at&t network, a network that senses and mitigates cyber threats, their critical data is safer than ever. giving them the agility to be open & secure. because no one knows & like at&t. every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. ♪ those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. >>> showtime's popular se

mark has been a chief media advisor on a number of successful campaigns. said oft bush once mckinnonwas impressed with mark's creativity and i was impressed by his honesty. typeface. mark is most famous -- high praise. he is most famous of the -- of the hit "the circus," which chronicles the current campaign action every sunday night on showtime. >> this is the story about john kennedy. here is the situation. you have the flu, snowing heavily, it is your daughter's birthday the next morning and you are supposed to be at a soup kitchen at 6:00 in the morning. the question is not would you go , the question is would you want to go? >> the show is incredible. if you have not seen it, use the showtime anytime app to get caught up. also happy to have a former journalist who heads up the political communication center, home of the most comprehensive archival political advertising. a real expert on presidential campaign advertising. second half of our program, the can and will moderate and elite moderateckinnon will elite panel.el an we have a campaign manager for president obama in 2008. d

summer before the convention area for this week's episode we brought alex wagner to join us with mark mckinnone campaign trail in the badger state. alex got the chance to talk to some bernie sanders supporters that we are now calling the bernie badgers. ♪ >> we are at the badgers for bernie headquarters in madison, wisconsin. of the the installation sanders campaign. grassroots, young, fired up, optimistic. that is the movement. anyone in this room i decided? i'm kidding. how are you guys feeling about tuesday? >> i'm feeling better every day. a big deal. is it is a primary state that could play a pivotal role. >> not only the birth of the progressive movement was here but the birth of mccarthyism was here. >> statistically it's the most polarized state in the country. >> because of that polarization -- >> only one is going to be the nominee. so what is going to happen? notre you saying if he is the nominee? >> that is the question that hillary supporters never get. >> we have attracted so many groups that normally don't vote. the question is, if the candidate has inspired you to get involved

for this episode we brought alex wagner and mark mckinnon. chance to bernie sanders supporters we are now calling naturally the burning badgers. bernie badgers. badgers are at the headquarters in wisconsin. this is the installation of the sanders campaign. totally grassroots, young, fired up idealistic people. it is a movement. this room undecided? ok, i am kidding. i figured. how are you feeling about tuesday? >> feeling better today. alex: wisconsin is a big deal because it is a primary states, it could play a pivotal role. >> wisconsin is not only the birth of the progressive movement, but the birth of mccarthyism. it is not thee most polarized state. >> is a swing state because of the polarization. let me ask your question, only one of them will be the nominee. what is going to happen? >> people will vote for bernie. is, hillary supporters never get it. what happens when she wins? >> we have attracted so many groups that normally do not vote , and the question is, if the candidate inspired you to get involved no longer in the race, what i

mckinnon is a ut guy so we balance out the equation. mark has been chief media advisor and a number of successful campaigns including both of president bush's white house runs. president bush once said i was impressed with his creativity and particularly impressed by his honesty. high praise. these days mark is most famous as the cocreator of and star strategist on the runaway hit political documentary series the circus, good name for it. which chronicles the current campaign action every sunday night on showtime. let's look at a short clip from the circus. >> a story about john kennedy. here is the situation. you have the flu, it is your bother's deputy the next morning and you are supposed to be at a soup kitchen at 6:00 in the morning. where would you want to go? >> the show is incredible. if you haven't seen it, you can use the showtime anytime apps to get caught up and watch it going forward. really fascinating. also happy to have a former journalist who today heads of the political communications center, of the most comprehensive archi

the series co creator mark mckinnon explaining how they had success and making predictions about thean party. >> campaigns don't look at the past they look to the future and re-invent the rules. that's what donald trump has done rewritten the play book not looking at the way past campaigns have been done. we h with donald trump and retail candidate in ted cruz who understands the rules, understands the way the retail organization campaigns are one. so it is an interesting dynamic between two candidates with different approaches and different visions for the republican party. i said for years we burned our republican house to burn the foundation of the republican party. that may be what is unfolding before our eyes. let's keep talking about the presidential race. what do you think about the escalation between the rnc and trump? log on to "fox & friends first" facebook page after the show #keep talking. >> aggressive and dangerous. russian warplanes mock an attack. jackie ibanez is here with more. >> take a look at the shocking video shot from the dock of that ship. >> >> to give you a

for this week's episode, we brought msnbc analyst alex wagner to join us and mark mckinnon on the campaign trail in the badger state where alex got a chance to talk to some bernie sanders supporters that we are now calling naturally the bernie badgers. >> so we're at the badgers for bernie headquarters. in madison, wisconsin. this is the distillation of the sanders campaign, right? totally grassroots, young, fired up, idealistic, optimistic. it's a movement. anyone in this room undecided? i'm kidding. i figured. so how are you guys feeling about tuesday? >> really good. i'm feeling increasingly better. >> wisconsin is a big deal in terms of the narrative here. it's a primary state. could play a pivotal role. >> it's funny because in wisconsin it's not only the progress of t birth of the progressive movement here, but the birth of mccarthyism. >> i believe it's actually like statistically the most polarized state in the country. >> in the general, it's a swing state because of that polarization. >> but so let me ask you a question. only one is going to be the nominee. so what's going to hap

join me in welcoming mark mckinnon and dr. pat merrick.to kick this right off. you just saw one of the first political ads, the eisenhower ad. when i got the great honor of running advertising for the 2000 campaign, one of the first things i did was study the history of advertising in presidential campaigns. it was fascinating because what you see is it really evolves created the reason it evolves is because voters, get used to seeing something and it is not as effective, so you do something differently. you see these different phases, we only have 30 minutes so we will not eat much but the first phase was like selling soap. >> running that first eisenhower campaign, you saw the jingle. that some things change, other things stay the same and there are a number of themes that run consistently through political advertising through today >>. let's see some of the standard introduction short of -- sort of ads. >> these are ads, if you have humble roots, if you can tie yourself to the american dream, you have to do it. we are going to start wit

mark mckinnon. thanks for being with us, good morning. >> great to be here.round, this is cool that you're getting unprecedented access. you shoot all week and crash edit saturday and airs on sunday. >> the idea was instead of seeing a documentary six months or a year after the campaign, to roll it up in realtime so viewers not only get a behind-the-scenes view of what is happening, interesting anyway, but to feel it as it's happening. you feel like you're in the cockpit of the plane as it's unfolding. >> and john kasich is still playing hard in wisconsin. >> it was interesting to see roger stone who was here, close to the trump operation. of course, he -- john kasich's a unique candidate. and he's in an interesting position in the campaign. this thing could go to a fourth or fifth ball on. he -- fifth ballot. he's in a position where something could happen. >> we've got a clip. look at this. >> reporter: good day some wisconsin? >> i thought this was really good tonight. very nice turnout. people were enthusiastic. >> reporter: wisconsin has a lot of the sam

we have two experts, award-winning political strategist mark mckinnon, doctor patrick merrick

meanwhile mark mckinnon is here in new york and he says this fits perfectly with that back in west virginia right with the wind and the he gets in the studio, puts the ad together applies the music of the blue danube waltz and suddenly you have wind surfing off of iraq. >> and he's a great wind surfer too actually. didn't get credit for it. the book is off script," and it's awesome. can't decide what to get your mom for mother's day? obviously a goat. (war drums beating) fight heartburn fast. with tums chewy delights. the mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. tum tum tum tum. chewy delights. only from tums. youto get the help you'refar looking for. that's why at xfinity we're opening up more stores closer to you. where you can use all of our latest products and technology. and find out how to get the most out of your service. so when you get home, all you have to do is enjoy it. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. >>> here is something you can remembe

president bush once said of mckinnon "i was impressed with mark's creativity and i was particularly impressedy. famousays, mark is most as the cocreator of and the star strategist on the runaway hit political documentary series "the circus. chronicles the current campaign action every night on such -- on showtime. let's take a look at a short clip. >> this is a story about john kennedy. >> ok here's the situation. , it's snowing flu heavily, it's your daughter's birthday the next morning and you are supposed to be at a soup kitchen at 6:00 in the morning. the question is not would you go, it's a would you want to go? the show is incredible. if you haven't seen it, you can use the showtime anytime mobile up to get caught up. really fascinating. formerppy to has a journalist who today heads up the political communication mostr at ou, home of the comprehensive archive of political advertising anywhere a realworld host of expert on presidential campaign advertising. the second half of our program ofl moderate an elite panel veterans from both parties. we are pleased to have sarah fagan with us to