"Neither the President nor his staff will know which questions will [be] asked ahead of time," blogged Steve Grove, who heads News and Politics on YouTube. "But what's clear from looking at the submissions is that they represent a broad cross-section of topics and concerns."

The event, which will air at 1:45 p.m. ET, will be the first interview with the president since he delivered his State of the Union. YouTube opened up its platform Wednesday as Obama was delivering his nationally televised speech to Congress. Grove will ask some of the most popular questions that were voted upon by YouTube users.

"When people are asked to weigh in on what matters most to them in an open forum, the result is a fascinating and informative look at the pulse of the country," Grove wrote on the YouTube blog. "It's this kind of transparency and direct access to information that we believe represents the promise of platforms like YouTube to improve our politics."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... 2bCaaXp5My