Eight U.S. Democratic presidential candidates will gather in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday night for their first official debate.

The two-hour debate, to begin at 7 p.m. local time, is the first Democratic presidential debate of the 2008 race sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. It is sponsored by YouTube.com and CNN, which will broadcast the debate live.

People have sent in more than 2,000 online personal videos to YouTube, where they are posted, and CNN will select two or three dozen videos it shows during the two-hour forum.

The questions cover wide-ranging topics like health care, student loans, presidential elections and administration employment.

A similar debate sponsored by CNN and YouTube for the nine Republican candidates is scheduled for Sept. 17.

The Democratic hopefuls have taken part in three "unofficial" debates this year, in addition to numerous other "forums" sponsored by various political constituencies.

Monday night's debate is first of six sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. The party's next official presidential debate is scheduled for Aug. 19 in Iowa, followed by one in New Hampshire in late September and four more in early-primary states after that.

The next Republican debate is scheduled for early August, when all the candidates will appear on ABC's "This Week."

Editor: Yan