Obama to tape local television interviews

President Obama will sit down for a series of four television interviews with anchors from local news stations Thursday afternoon, the White House announced.

The president will tape interviews with Philadelphia's ABC affiliate, Minneapolis's CBS affiliate, Sacramento's NBC affiliate and Miami's Univision affiliate. The interviews will take place in the mid-afternoon, but won't air until 5 p.m.

The White House did not say what the president would discuss in the interviews, but it is presumed that he will continue to ramp up pressure on House Republicans to accept an increase in tax rates for incomes above $250,000 a year. Earlier Thursday, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) held a press conference with reporters to argue that the White House needed to outline the spending cuts they would target as part of a deal.

The interviews will be the first public appearance for the president since a rally outside Detroit on Monday. 

Earlier Thursday, the president attended a holiday party for the National Security Council being held at the Blair House in Washington, D.C.

---