JOHN BERMAN (CO-HOST): Jeffrey Lord, explain this to me. Why is this OK?
JEFFREY LORD: Well you mean in terms of the tweet about the mayor of London.
BERMAN: Yeah.
LORD: I think, John, the problem that the president sees based certainly on the things that he has said and is long on record, is that he thinks that there are plenty of people in the world who do not take this problem seriously and that this is -- that they're in some sort of a, if you will, my words, trance about this.
BERMAN: Sure.
LORD: And that even when something happens in their backyard, they're still not taking it seriously.
BERMAN: So, so Jeffrey -- so, so Jeffrey --
LORD: I think that's where he's coming from. It's almost as if he feels these people need, again, my phrase, electric shock therapy of some kind to adjust to the reality of this.
BERMAN: Well, look, and we heard those arguments from him during the campaign, but in this case, the way he's making that argument, if that is, in fact, what he's doing, is fundamentally dishonest, Jeffrey. The London mayor put out statements following this attack saying he was appalled by what happened. He called it a cowardly act of terror within minutes of this happening, and the president has been putting out statements that are just dishonest, suggesting that the London mayor's saying not to be alarmed about it when that is not what's happening here. So, again, I just ask you, this is London we're talking about here --
LORD: Did not the mayor use the phrase “not to be alarmed”? Didn't he say that?
BERMAN: Yeah he did. But let me read you the full sentence, Jeffrey. “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There is no reason to be alarmed. One of the things that police and all of us need to do is ensure that we're safe as we possibly can be.” He was saying, “Don't be alarmed because we're putting extra cops and military on the street because there was a terrorist attack, because we're taking this seriously.”
LORD: I mean, this is like Neville Chamberlain saying, “Don't be alarmed if the Nazi bombers appeared overhead in the battle” --
BERMAN: No, no, no, no, no, because the Nazi bombers didn't work for the British government, Jeffrey. The police and the military that [London Mayor] Sadiq Khan was talking about are working to fight terrorism.
