including this evening in columbia, missouri. is going tot, he speak at the white house in just a few minutes on immigration and border security. it will be in the roosevelt room. we will have that live once it starts at 4:15 p.m. eastern. until then, washington journal. is terryning us madonna. me. host: give us your assessment of the cycle and what makes pennsylvania a battleground. guest: i think what makes the state of battleground is the fact that when the congressional map was re-drawn by the supreme itrt earlier in the year made the congressional races in the state very competitive. if you go back to the previous in each of11 map,

the subsequent congressional elections that republicans won 13 of the 18 seats in pennsylvania. -- 2012, the democrats 2014, 2016. 13-5. the map put somewhere between three and five of the state's congressional seats in play. my sense about this from the polls that have been done in other analyses is the democrats are likely to pick up somewhere between three and five seats, which makes the state a player in the democrats effort to try to get the magic number, 23. we can talk about those if you will. , we havean pointed out a couple of congressional races that are very competitive, getting a good bit of national

attention and money coming in from out of the state by national organizations and groups trying to influence the outcome. we also have a u.s. senate race going on in the state where senator casey is seeking a third term to the u.s. senate. every single independent poll, not poles connected to a party or candidate shows the senator with a double-digit lead. that is the same as the poll we released at franklin and marshall college just this morning which shows the senator with a 15-point lead. there has not been a lot of national attention of the u.s. senate race. much of the attention is going to the states with the democratic incumbents running in senate districts in states the president won to years ago. and a couple of states were republican incumbents are in

battle this well. host: our guest joins us to talk about pennsylvania in the midterm cycle. if you want to call and ask terry madonna a question, it is (202) 748-8000. all others, (202) 748-8001. living2.8 million people in the state. the governor is tom wolfe. six democrats, and two vacancies. donald trump won the state over hillary clinton. when it comes to that winning of the state by donald trump, have much of that is a factor this in helping republicans? guest: donald trump is not on the ballot literally but figuratively he is. here is what is going on in pennsylvania and many other states. political historians often talk

about midterm elections being essentially about the president, about his incumbency. the fact of the matter is that that is true not just a bit, but usually so this year -- but hugely so this year. they're going to vote this year, what's important to you? overwhelmingly democrat say they are opposed to president trump and they want their party to gain control of congress and conversely the republicans, because they support the president and because they want to see her party retain control of congress. typically it is a referendum on the president, midterm elections. this goes to a new degree when we say more. more a battle over president

trump, his tenure in office, his programs, his style, personality. it is all about the president. that is the driving force. the other point i want to make about our state is we have the number of women running. currently pennsylvania does not have a single female in the congressional delegation. pennsylvania has never elected a woman governor or a woman u.s. senator. this year we have eight women running in the 18 congressional districts in the state. at leastd of the day, three and possibly for women womene elected -- four will be elected to the u.s. house of representatives. nationally there are 84 women and the house of

representatives. almost half of the democratic nominees for congress for the house around the country are females. at the end of the day we will have more than 100 women in the house. that will be a record. or fourylvania, three will be a record for our state as well. that's another important aspect of this congressional election. host: our first call comes from

dennis in williamsport, pennsylvania. go-ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to comment on the fact that every republican out there, including our local representative tom marino now claims -- the republicans, now claim they are for pre-existing conditions. they are trying to pull the wool over the voters' eyes, because at the same time they are backing, along with the trump administration, a lawsuit to do away with the exact same thing, pre-existing conditions. i find it pretty ironic they are trying to pull the wool over the voters' eyes on that issue. and also, since tom wolf will be

reelected governor, the republicans will not be able to gerrymander the districts like they did in the last census. host: professor, go ahead. mr. madonna: the caller makes an important point. polls have shown that health care has emerged, particularly raised by democrats. when a democratic candidate is running against an incumbent in many districts, health care has emerged as the most significant issue. and the argument democrats are making against some republicans incumbents is that throughout the course of the efforts to repeal and replace the affordable care act and some other measures that did not reach the full floor of the committee, or did not get to the senate, the bottom line is they are accusing republicans of making it difficult for individuals to get coverage for pre-existing conditions.

that has emerged in many congressional districts in pennsylvania and throughout the country as the leading issue for a number of democratic candidates, particularly when a -- when they are challenging republican incumbents. so the other issues seem to have gone into secondary importance. immigration is perhaps the only exception. -- president trump: thank you very much, everyone read i appreciate it. and good afternoon. i would like to provide an update to the american people regarding the crisis on our southern border, and crisis it is. illegal immigration affects the lives of all americans. hurtsl immigration american workers, burdens american taxpayers and undermines public safety, and places enormous strain on