Obama had to struggle to control his emotions during his televised statement on Friday in the White House briefing where his voice cracked and he wiped away tears. In his weekly radio and Internet speech, Obama also repeated a message he put forth on Friday, just hours after one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, on the need to set aside politics and "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this." Obama did not specify any proposed action, but a string of lawmakers have called for tighter gun control laws in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. 
 
 "Calling for 'meaningful action' is not enough," said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg after Obama made a similar statement on Friday. "We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership -- not from the White House and not from Congress." WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to join in solidarity as they mourn the victims of a shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school, saying the hearts of parents across the country were "heavy with hurt" for the lives lost. Because while nothing can take the place of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need -- to remind them that we are there for them; that we are praying for them." The Republicans canceled their Saturday radio address in deference to the shooting, and "so that President Obama can speak for the entire nation at this time of mourning," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. The president's radio address: 
 
 "On Friday, we learned that more than two dozen people were killed when a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. "Most of those who died were just young children with their whole lives ahead of them. "We grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived," Obama said. Ticking off some of the recent shooting incidents, Obama said in his Saturday address: "As a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years." U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, during a press briefing at the White House in Washington December 14, 2012. "This weekend, Michelle and I are doing what I know every parent is doing - holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them," he said. "There are families in Connecticut who can't do that today. And they need all of us now," he said.
– President Obama devoted his weekly radio address today to the Connecticut school shooting, asking Americans to pray for the victims and their families. "Most of those who died were just young children with their whole lives ahead of them," he said, echoing yesterday's news conference. "And every parent in America has a heart heavy with hurt." Obama reiterated that it's time to "come together to take meaningful action" to prevent future shootings, thought he stopped short of specifics, reports Reuters. (USA Today has the full transcript here.) Advocates of stricter gun control already have begun to step up pressure, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "We have heard all the rhetoric before," he said yesterday. "What we have not seen is leadership—not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today."