Obama Meets the Press
The president addresses Syria, Guantanamo and more.
1 / 10
Inside the Briefing Room - President Obama held his second press conference in the first 100 days of his second term, during which he lobbied questions on such issues as national security and Obamacare. Despite ongoing dysfunction between the White House and Capitol Hill, the president sees a bright future and seemed confident of his ability find common ground with Congress on the issues that matter most to Americans. – Joyce Jones (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
2 / 10
Syria - "What we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of Syria, but we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them; we don't have chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened. And when I am making decisions about America's national security and the potential for taking additional action in response to chemical weapon use, I've got to make sure I've got the facts." (Photo: AP Photo/SANA)
3 / 10
Tamerlan Tsarnaev Alert - "[What] I can say is, is that based on what I've seen so far, the FBI performed its duties; Department of Homeland Security did what it was supposed to be doing. But this is hard stuff." (Photo: AP Photo/The Lowell Sun, Julia Malakie)
4 / 10
Russia's Role - "The Russians have been very cooperative with us since the Boston bombing. You know, obviously, old habits die hard. There are still suspicions sometimes between our intelligence and law enforcement agencies that date back 10, 20, 30 years, back to the Cold War. But they're continually improving." (Photo: EPA/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/RIA NOVOSTI/KREMLIN POOL /LANDOV)
5 / 10
Still Got the Juice? - "As Mark Twain said, you know, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point. … Republicans control the House of Representatives. In the Senate, this habit of requiring 60 votes for even the most modest piece of legislation has gummed up the works there. And I think it comes to no surprise … that right now things are pretty dysfunctional up on Capitol Hill." (Photo: EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS /Landov)
ADVERTISEMENT
6 / 10
Sequestration - "There are common-sense solutions to our problems right now. I cannot force Republicans to embrace those common-sense solutions. I can urge them to. I can put pressure on them, I can, you know, rally the American people around those — you know, those common-sense solutions, but ultimately they themselves are going to have to say, we want to do the right thing." (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
7 / 10
Guantanamo Bay - "I continue to believe that we've got to close Guantanamo. I think -- well, you know, I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe. It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed."(Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
8 / 10
Obamacare - "Despite all the hue and cry and, you know, sky-is-falling predictions about this stuff, if you've already got health insurance, then that part of Obamacare that affects you, it's pretty much already in place. …What is left to be implemented is those provisions to help the 10 to 15 percent of the American public that is unlucky enough that they don't have health insurance." (Photo: AP Photo/J. David Ake)
9 / 10
Immigration Reform - "On immigration reform, I've been impressed by the work that was done by the Gang of Eight in the Senate. The bill that they produced is not the bill that I would've written. There are elements of it that I would change. But I do think that it meets the basic criteria that I laid out from the start…. [If the House bill meets] those criteria but they're slightly different than the Senate bill, then I think that we should be able to come up with an appropriate compromise."(Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)