obviously the pentagon is trying to manage the situation as best as they can. but i think all of us should reflect on why exactly are we doing this. why are we doing this? i'm going to go back at this. i've asked my team to review everything that's currently being done in guantanamo. everything that we can do administratively and i'm going to reengage with congress to try to make the case that this is not something that is in the best interests of the american people. >> reporter: likewise, the president said it's not in the country's best interest to keep the across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester. >> it slowed our growth. it's resulting in people being thrown out of work. and it's hurting folks all across the country. and the fact that congress responded to the short-term problem of flight delays by giving us the option of shipping monies that's designed to repair and improve airports over the long-term to fix the short-term problem, well that's not a solution. >> reporter: and that was a recurring theme, mr. obama arguing that the failure to a