President Obama to Address Terror Threat in Address to Nation on Sunday

President Obama will address the nation at 8 pm Eastern on Sunday about “the threat of terrorism and keeping the American people safe,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday.

Broadcast networks were expected to carry the address live and bump scheduled programming to accommodate the speech.

Tomorrow at 8pm ET, @POTUS will address the nation on the threat of terrorism and keeping the American people safe → https://t.co/b68B45RuKg

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 5, 2015

The president cancelled his attendance of the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony on Sunday, an unusual step. He and Michelle Obama were still scheduled to attend the reception.

Also Read: George Lucas, Rita Moreno, The Eagles to Receive 2015 Kennedy Center Honors

The planned address comes on the heels of a horrific mass shooting in San Bernardino on Dec. 2 that left 14 people dead and 21 wounded. The FBI is now pursuing the shooting, believed to have been carried out by a married couple with ties to Islamic radicals, as a terrorism attack.

In the president’s address, the White House website stated, “he will reiterate his firm conviction that ISIL will be destroyed and that the United States must draw upon our values — our unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and freedom — to prevail over terrorist groups that use violence to advance a destructive ideology.”

Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)

Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.
John Moore/Getty Images
Washington D.C. — A former Navy reservist shot and killed 12 people on September 16, 2013, at a military facility. The gunman was killed.
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Tyrone, Mo. - On Feb. 27, 2015, Joseph Jesse Aldridge killed seven people — four of them relatives — in a door-to-door shooting spree before killing himself.
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Waco, Tex. - Nine people were killed and many more were injured after two biker gangs began firing at each other at a motorcycle club on May 17, 2015.
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Charleston, S.C. - Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a racially motivated shooting in a predominantly African-American church on June 17, 2015.
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Chattanooga, Tenn. - A gunman named Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez entered two military facilities on July 16, 2015, and killed four Marines and injured others, before he was killed.
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Umpqua, Ore. - On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper Mercer killed nine people and injured seven to nine more at Umpqua Community College before two police officers shot him. Mercer then committed suicide.
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San Bernardino, Calif. - 14 people were killed and another 21 injured after Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party on December 2, 2015. The pair were later killed during a shootout with police.
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Orlando, Fla. - 50 people were killed and 53 wounded on June 11, 2016, at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Just before the shooting, suspected killer Omar Mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terror group ISIS. Mateen was also shot an killed by police on the scene.
Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

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TheWrap looks back at recent mass shootings that have happened on U.S. soil

Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.

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Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)

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