YouTube Stars Chat with the President
PEREIRA: A scrum of journalists interviewing President Obama. No, no. Instead, it was a trio of YouTube stars, the mission to get millennials in touch with Obama's latest policy proposals, especially those presented in his recent State of the Union Address. Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski joins us live with some of the memorable moments of the Q&A session, the first of its kind, YouTube stars and the president sitting down.</s>MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. You know, Michaela, we would have loved to interview the president after the State of the Union, so probably any journalists. But unfortunately for us, we have never attempted the green gumball challenge, the octopus challenge, tips for fancying up your bedroom. We did not qualify. Here's what happened.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The State of the Union is strong.</s>KOSINSKI (voice-over): So, the White House assembled some top talent to delve into the president's thinking. Not from among the titans of journalism, or the political uber blogger Wonkie, but the best of YouTube.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prepare to empty your brain.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's OK? Is you? Good, because I want to know.</s>KOSINSKI: The lineup, Glozell. Millions of subscribers. Her clip, my push-up bra will help me get my man, 23 million views. And Green, science nerd.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speed and velocity are not interchangeable. Neither are mass and weight.</s>KOSINSKI: And Bethany Mota, a teenager brimming with style tips and eight million subscribers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My eyebrows look extremely uneven in this video. Let's not talk about it.</s>KOSINSKI: For all the build-up, you know what?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You used phrase "middle class economics" in the speech.</s>GLOZELL GREEN, YOUTUBE STAR: How can we bridge the gap between black African-American males and white cops?</s>BETHANY MOTA, YOUTUBE STAR: So, last April, Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls.</s>KOSINSKI: Boko Haram? They asked all the same questions we might ask and President Obama gave extremely long answers.</s>OBAMA: That's a government program that helps a lot of people.</s>KOSINSKI: The running commentary? Things like we need marijuana and I thought this was going to be interesting, but it's boring. I know it's important, but I'm 13. Come on, guys, you are the YouTubers, aren't you supposed to shock everyone? Bring some kittens or something? OK, there were some fun moments.</s>MOTA: The last one is if you have any superpower, what would it be?</s>OBAMA: Like the flying thing seems pretty cool.</s>KOSINSKI: Hank Green asked the president to sign a receipt for his medication, that he says once he was insured by Obamacare, went from costing $1,100 a month, to $5.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obamacare has work --</s>OBAMA: Obamacare has worked and that makes me feel good.</s>KOSINSKI: And Glozell stepped up.</s>GREEN: I have green lipstick, one for your first wife --</s>OBAMA: My first?</s>GREEN: I mean --</s>OBAMA: Do you know something I don't?</s>GREEN: One for the first lady and the first children.</s>OBAMA: And the first, oh --</s>KOSINSKI: No YouTube gathering, being complete without --</s>MOTA: Can you do a selfie with me?</s>OBAMA: Let's do it.</s>MOTA: All right. Got it.</s>OBAMA: OK. My knees --</s>PEREIRA (on camera): An epic selfie there, Michelle. The big question I have is how did the interwebs react? You showed us a little bit from the 13-year-old. Were the numbers good? Did it go viral? Did it break any records?</s>KOSINSKI: Did it break the Internet?</s>PEREIRA: Yes.</s>KOSINSKI: Well, I don't think we need to worry about our jobs. These people are great about what they do. Their day jobs, these crazy kids did not have any big tricks up their sleeves. When you look at the numbers, it seems like a peak of around 90,000 people watched this live. Now, when you look at the number of clicks, it's around 650,000. I mean, that's going to grow. But you look at how many people watched the State of the Union, more than 30 million Americans, so good old-fashioned TV, hey, it's still working for the president. He can stay away from the Internet -- Michaela.</s>PEREIRA: Trying to imagine you with green lipstick, I'm going to consider that.</s>KOSINSKI: I'll try it.</s>PEREIRA: You can try it, you're brave. Let us know what you think, tweet us @newday. Go to our Facebook page, Facebook.com/NewDay. Stay tuned right here on NEW DAY, because YouTube sensation Glozell, green lipstick and all, I hope, she didn't promise she'll wear it but she'll join us in the 8:00 hour.</s>CUOMO: That is a strong look.</s>PEREIRA: She's a good lady.</s>CUOMO: Very jets-friendly.</s>CAMEROTA: That's one of our best promos, I believe. She's goes here's for your first wife. He goes, he did like a double-take for the camera. That was great.</s>PEREIRA: You know something I don't know?</s>CUOMO: The media gives heat to people when they interview the president. But they're always just peanut butter and --</s>PEREIRA: Jelly.</s>CUOMO: I love that line. All right. So, the head coach and the star QB of the New England Patriots say they know nothing about the deflate-gate scandal. Some are saying not only is that not believable, it's not even possible. Why they say that? Straight ahead.