>> all eyes on boston today, "fox & friends" news alert free speech rally held by conservative activists in boston is now over. and now thousands of people are participating in a massive counterprotest are also clearing out after a mostly peaceful afternoon. hello, everyone, welcome to a brand-new hour inside america's news headquarters, i'm kelly wright. melissa: and i'm melissa wright. we did see small scrimmages after officers try today keep the rival protests separated. things remained mostly peaceful. we have live fox team coverage with steve who is with the

counter-protestors. mollie, what does it look like now? >> both of the rallies have what happened up. there still a big police presence here. we are standing where the rally took place and still a lot of police gathered around. the big trucks blocking and again to the common itself are still in place, boston police said they were going to be ready for this and they were. over 500 law enforcement officers were out in force today. the large trucks, of course, passing blockage of any vehicle attack. that's something that boston has done and other events as well, the boston marathon bombing and that's something the officers were prepared for as well. as the free speech rally ended today, witnesses tell me they were brought out by boston police and assisted in getting through the huge counterprotests and taken away as

counter-protestors gathered around. really an amazing sight today to see the two groups, free speech rally was far, far smaller than the enormous counterprotests that came here to boston today. counter-protestors showing up with signs, no kkk, no white supremacy, they disavowed both of those groups or organizations and also said they had nothing to do with what occurred in charlottesville, however, state leaders, were out and ready throughout this week saying that that could be a hate-filled group because of the list of speakers that they had initially invited. among those speakers, one individual that did speak in charlottesville, because of the controversial list of speakers, boston police wanted to be ready for this group that was gathered in the bandstand, much smaller group and predicted counter-protestors. when counter-protestors found

out about the free speech group, it really became a rallying point. they came to rally not just against the fro-speech group that was in the boston common today but show support for what happened -- to show their solidarity with people in charlottesville against hate and against racism and bigotry. those are the sign that is we saw in the counter-protestors today. melissa, kelly. melissa: thank you so much for that. kelly: steve is live now on the ground in boston, he was following those counter-protestors who marched through the downtown area earlier. steve. >> kelly impressive crowd. they marched 2 miles from roxbury to boston common ground here. concerns that two sides could have a conflict but might be even wrong to speak about two sides here. fewer than a 100 right-wing

protestors and more than 15,000 on the other side. it was a real calm proceeding for the most part. there were two or three scuffles between police and protestors. the police took a soft approach throughout their visible presence was on bicycles without shields, without sticks but riot police were ready to come in and they did come on several occasions. we saw some brief scuffles here in the park about 20 arrests overall. seemed like anyone willing to put on a trump hat was quickly surrounded by the counter-protestors and either removed from the scene or attacked. that's one time we saw the riot police step in. but overall a very peaceful demonstration, the police were concerned about violence here. their goal was to keep the two sides apart and the numbers on the one side never materialized. the energy, momentum has dissipated as most of the counter-protestors have put signs in the garbage cans or having a nice they in the park or heading out home.

kelly: steve, i have to ask you really quickly, now that the energy has dissipated and the people are going home or going on to do separate things, dye any of them tell you that sticks with you today about how to move forward and embrace everybody in this country? >> i think what impressed me was just the -- the different groups involved in the counter-protestors. you had some real extremes marching together in the same group. you had participants with children up on their shoulders and at the same time you had people in masks with helmets, some of those people clearly looking for a fight and disappointed of results of today. a range of elements against marchers and people just really coming out of stores, looking out the windows to see them march by and they feel like they had a victory today. >> steve giving us some of the facts about what he saw. always good to see you, thank you for reporting as always. >> thank you.

kelly: so there were some tension in boston this afternoon as thousands of counter-protestors took to the streets opposing a so-called free speech rally held by conservatives, that rally has since ended as we mentioned but counter-protestors still out in the street as we have seen in the report from steve who is still live as well as mollie, ed davis joins us, no former boston police commissioner and fox news contributor. ed, thanks for joining us today and how would you describe today's response as well as the actions taken by police officers to ensure that this would be a rally from both sides of the aisle and both side of the rally to be peaceful? >> yes, it was certainly a stressful day in the city. people, my former colleague specially were concerned that this would turn into a violent afternoon, but i think largely because of the population on the

part of the police and very good plan and also, you know, respectful people on both sides in boston, the protestors were able to come in and speak their peace and as mentioned earlier, that was a very small number of people, 50 or 60 people and then the overwhelming majority of people 15,000 or so were -- were very peaceful and made clear how they felt about this but -- but didn't do the kind of things that we saw last week and so the city has a lot to be thankful for. kelly: i want to ask you, you talked about one keyword that, i think, speaks volumes, you said respectful and that's by bringing that to the -- into the equation, that means that people will act a certain way and have we seen that unfolded today because of respect -- respecting

the laws in the country that we have whether we agree or disagree with it. >> i think we saw that. a great turnout. there were some people who were here as part of the group and there were some trouble-maker too. there were people all dressed with face obscured and pushing their way through the crowds. the larger crowd could really quell the activists who were looking for trouble and because the larger number of people like the union and most people who came there were peaceful and wanted to stay that way and quite frankly, the crowd was very controlled, very few problems, the boston have a lot to be proud of. >> successful day for boston police. as we are seeing video, there was some jostling, if you will,

between police officers and some of the demonstrators obviously that would suggest that there were some minor scrimmages, the police there to react. we know that they were out there on bicycles, presenting themselves as soft force but they had another reactionary force if they needed to dress in full gear. >> right, we've learned that over the years that a soft approach is -- sets the tone for the crowd and then only bring in the people with -- with the helmets and shields if the crowds thought to act in a way that made that necessary. so you're not starting a fight, you're pretty much responding in an appropriate way and only escalating when the crowd escalates. i think that's the way to go about it. kelly: well done today for the boston police department. i want to divert our attention to something else, something that's more concerning and

disconcerting particularly to the families of police officers, there's one police officer as you know who lost his life in kissimmee florida. there are six police officers in total who have been shot. some in florida and then others near pittsburgh and fair chance, pennsylvania. this is a -- they were dealing with issues that they were going into a situation, people opened fire on them without even giving them an opportunity to do anything. what do you say about the dangerous situations that police officers are now involved in today particularly given the heightened awareness of drugs and gangs and the proliferation of that? >> it is a very dangerous job and my prayers and sympathy go out to the families of the officer that is were affected there. >> these were not inner city

combat zones, they are small lovely towns. it sounds like a rural area south of pittsburgh. this can happen anywhere to any police officer and you really hope that people understand the sacrifice day in and day out. the truth is they are out there trying to make a difference and sometimes they pay for it with their lives. kelly: you mentioned in small rural areas. it can happen in any city right now, police by wearing a badge and uniform can become targets from some people that out there to do harm as well as the community they serve. >> right. there's a big question. are the assaults increasing because of lack of respect for the badge? i think that's the thing that we have to think about.

kelly: that's a profound statement, that means a lot of work needs to be done to let people know that officers are sworn to protect their communities and uphill battle seems right now for police officers. >> there's no question. my former colleagues were talking about this across the country and, you know, they have. >> concerned so it's time for to sort of follow what we saw here in boston. we can have differences but still get along. kelly: thank you, i remember -- i recall one officer telling me once every time an officer dies a piece of america dies, condolences and prayers that families are praying and, of course, the officer that was killed. thank you. former police commissioner in boston. mel pel we will continue to follow the developments in boston and get some reaction from a former nashville police officer that's just ahead, spanish authorities making

alarming discovery as they investigate this week's deadly terror attacks, a counterterrorism analyst weighs in and a live report from barcelona. that's next. you don't let anything keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.

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don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. joint pain and damage... can go side by side. ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. enbrel, fda approved for 18 years. kelly: this is a fox news alert on if deadly terror attacks in spain. people around the world are paying tribute to the victims there as police step up, a manhunt for the driver who steered his van right into crowds of pedestrians in the heart of barcelona and the ring leader behind the attacks that left 14 people dead and over 120 people injured. benjamin hall is following details, live from barcelona, spain with the very latest. ben. >> reporter: you're right. security has been stepped up in a big way today. we have seen all over barcelona where we are now and that's because they now know the driver of the white van that plowed bo

down the street in las ramblas is still at large. they thought they killed him in a shootout but that was another terrorist. they named him imam and he is believed to be driving the van. he came from a town called ricos. it's believed believed that this the epicenter of the plot. it's where it was planned and they are looking for the imam of the local mosque there. they think he might are radicalized and the other members and the whole plot really coming together multifaceted and the manhunt continues and as such borders with spain are being beefed up particularly the one with france because they fear that unis might have rented a car and

escaped france. the manhunt really is european wide, so although spanish authorities came, they have broken this terror cell, there's still a threat here. of course, we have to remember the victims, 13 killed here in las ramblas and the other in other attack and the american, 42-year-old jared tucker, he was visiting barcelona to celebrate his first wedding anniversary and he had been saving to come here with his wife and his father spoke out and he said the one thing he could take from this is that his son hopefully died a happy man. president trump reached out to the prime minister of spain saying that he offered deepest sympathies and condolences. spain has chosen no the raise terrorist level to the highest, they kept it level 4. nevertheless, this manhunt underway for the man that could have been the ring leader, the man who drove the white van down the very busy road in barcelona. kelly. kelly: benjamin hall reporting

from barcelona, ben, thank you. melissa: after counter-protestors poured into the streets making their voices heard against the so-called free speech rally held by conservatives. the rally is now over. some counter-protestors are still lingering, that's what you're looking at in the screen. let's bring aqila johnson, reporter of the boston globe. i understand you're standing by in the commons, describe the scene for us. >> i am. at this point it has the field of a festival as it begins to end and kind of dancing and waving signs. it's largely over. most of the crowds are gone. it was more or less peaceful. melissa: we know that the actual speech event ended earlier than -- at least earlier than permit

that they had allowed to be there. have you seen any indication, what the reason for that was, did they get to the speakers, so they were done or did they feel intimidated or do you have any thoughts on that because we are seeing conflicting reports online but you're there, so you tell us? >> well, you know, i actually marched the route with the counter-protestors so i didn't get to common after 12:30 and as we made our way we were greeted too with the news that the original rally had ended well before it was supposed to. so i'm a bit out of lost myself as to the exact reason why. melissa: all right, thank you for the report from the scene, we really appreciate it. kelly: steve bannon gone from the white house after seven months. so what will his dismillal mean for president trump's agenda?

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it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. kelly: and this is a fox news alert, the white house is in the middle of another major shake-up. president trump thanking steve bannon for his service a day after his controversial chief strategists left the white house. bannon's departure marking the end of his turbulence 7-month tenure as senior adviser for the president and setting stage for more ways outside of 1600 pennsylvania avenue. rich live, hey, rich. >> he's been pretty active on twitter. the president tweeting on what's going on in boston. looks like many antipolice

agitators in boston, police are looking tough and smart. thank you. that's just one of the many tweets of the president. he began tweeting about steve bannon, the white house chief strategists who left yesterday officially the president thanked him this morning and a couple of hours tweeted again, quote, steve bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at breitbart news, maybe even better than ever before. fake news needs the competition. this is three weeks after the department of homeland security chief john kelly took over of chief of staff at the white house, wanted to reorganize the white house and now steve bannon is out. shortly after the announcement bannon spoke with weekly standard and said, the trump presidency that we fought for and won is over and we still have a huge movement and will make something out of the trump presidency but the presidency is over, it'll be something else.

he will return to breitbart. days ago in an interview with a liberal publication, steve bannon really knocked the foreign policy of the trump administration and some aspects of it, some of those in the state department, he talked about economic war with china and knocked specifically one assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary at the state department running east asian affairs. so that now changes and the foreign policy of the trump administration now moves forward without steve bannon at the white house. the president yesterday convening his national security team at camp david to talk about strategy in afghanistan. the president tweeted on that again, he said, quote, important day spent at camp david with our very talented generals and military leaders, many decisions made including on afghanistan, still unclear from the white house whether the president will decide to send more troops, decide to mix in more contractors or what the policy will be as we wait announcement from the white house. kelly, back to you.

kelly: a lot on the plate. melissa: coverage of the counterprotest in boston continues which remains largely peaceful about concerns of violence after one week of charlottesville. former member of the fbi joint terrorism tasker force weighing in. that's ahead wise man, i'm nervous about things i can't control... affecting my good credit score. i see you've planted an uncertainty tree. chop that thing down. the clarity you seek... lies within the creditwise app from capital one. creditwise helps you protect your credit. and it's completely free for everyone. it's free for everyone? do hawks use the stars to navigate? i don't know. aw, i thought you did. i don't know either. either way it's free for everyone. cool. what's in your wallet?

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melissa: fox news alert for you. massive counterprotests mostly peaceful. now the crowds are dispersing. it began with mile-long. for more reaction on today's events, former nashville police officer and he's host of the beyond the badge podcast. let's start with the events in boston today. what do you think made the difference here that so many people were able to come together express their views, we didn't see violence, it's dispersing, does it come down to the police force? >> well, melissa, thanks for having me. i think it absolutely comes to police presence, officer presence. boston police showed up in masks. they set the ground work to say, hey, we are not going to have a repeat of what we saw this

charlottesville, what we saw in durham, north carolina, they set the law from the beginning and i commend those officers. melissa: yeah, i mean, you think that that's essentially what it was about, it was coordination between the police or is it a different group of people? i mean, obviously in this one it didn't appear to to be white -- supremacists, speakers there had not affiliation and a few of the same speakers listed that we had seen in charlottesville. those are the facts. does seem like it was a different event, certainly. >> yeah, definitely seems like a different event. you still had black lives matter. you still had those antiprotestors there but i think the tone was much different than what we saw in charlottesville, from the police into the people that actually came to protest. i mean, let's not forget it is their right to come and protest, it is their right to antiprotest but i think the tone was entirely different this time.

melissa: yeah, what do you think could have been done different in charlottesville? when you look at what happened is it the element that is were there, is it the violence, was it the way the situation was handled, were there not enough , what's your analysis? >> i think it was wait to go explode. whether you had enough police there -- no one was taking into account officer safety and they were going to be greatly outnumbered and you had people with opposing views and unfortunately in this country we are at a point where people don't think they can disagree with each other without being nonviolent and it's really sad but i think charlottesville, you had a powder keg of people just ready to explode. melissa: yeah, i want to turn you to this other situation that we have been following in kissimmee, as you know there was a spade of police shootings including this one in florida

and authorities in florida are now saying that a second officer has died. this is the day after he and a colleague were shot during a scuffle with a suspect. the kissimmee police donald trump say that is same howard died saturday from his injuries. his colleague that was officer matthew baxter died friday night after the attack in the neighborhood and this is located south of the theme park hub of orlando. the police chief said on saturday that miller was arrested several hours after the shooting, late friday night but what's your reaction to this? >> you know, melissa, my heart is very heavy. police have the hardest jobs in the world. they have a job where it requires them to make split-second decisions that could end their life or force them to take another life. even when i was in the military, there was nothing that would split second about that but when i was in policing, everything i did was split second. and you know, it's saddening

that in this country people are more concerned when police take action against a suspect than they are when a police officer is killed. if the roles were reversed here, i think we would already be seeing outrage, we would already be seeing protests, hash tags, no one wants to take into account the dangers of policing and how hard the job is. it's the only job in the country where you can leave home and not know if you're going to return home from work. melissa: yeah. it's very true although obviously firefighters put lives on the line, emergency workers with police, i mean, maybe one of the reasons we all respect and we certainly thank police officers but when you talk about people not getting up in arms, you know, the people that are facing, are in fact, criminals, do you think that has part of it? >> yeah. absolutely. but, you know, if the roles are

reversed, something happens to a criminal, then that person becomes an angel and it was a thug officer out harassing people or whatever. we have seen that for the last several years and it started unfortunately with the last administration and we are still trying to bounce back from that. melissa: yeah, no, that's a great point. police officers take huge risks every single day when they go out and protect a community, is there a different way that we should be operating? >> no, i don't think so. i mean, at the end of the day policing is policing. it will never change. it's been the same for 20 years, a lot of people, of course, don't agree with the tactics of police but those same people don't agree or don't understand the tactics of police. they don't understand the use of force continuum. they don't understand when an officer can use deadly force. i don't think policing in this country a, is going to change or should change because what i say

is we need crime reform, we don't need police reform. when you look at a city like chicago when 500 people are dying a year by gun violence, it's not the police that's doing that, it's the citizens, we need crime control not police reform. melissa: do you think that police have taken a step back, more hesitant today because of so many things that we have seen or are they impervious to do their job? >> police are impervious, there's no police that understands that when he or she steps out there are cell phone videos going for someone to post this and say, look at excessive use of force. i don't think police are worried about what's going on because they know contrary to what the other narrative is that they are acting within the law and within the use of force continuum. melissa: thank you for joining

us. we appreciate your time. >> thank you, melissa. always a pleasure. kelly: news alert. we are learning that boston police will hold a press conference at 4:30 p.m. on dueling rallies. boston police able to keep demonstrators apart and joining me now by phone is steve rogers, retired lieutenant detective for the new jersey police department here in new jersey and former member of the fbi joint terrorism task force which he is also very well known for. so steve, how would you -- as we are looking at video right now going on in boston, we still that some situations are unfolding there, a lot of people not going home as peacely as they should but the police are there on the scene and handling the situation quite handily and professionally and actually making sure that they ensure the peace. we can see some jostling going on there. tell me what's going on. >> to begin with president

trump, he was spot on when he tweeted out that police were tough and smart, meaning that they were very tough from the beginning and made it very clear through a white spread announcements that they were not going to tolerate unlawful activity and they were smart in that they began addressing the protestors in soft approach and actually were able to remove any trouble makers that would actually inflame the rest of the crowds. that's what they are doing. as we see right now we seeing the police being tough and strong. they are making it known they will not allow behavior. so great job, boston pd. kelly: let's keep in mind, the famous slogan for boston, boston strong. we saw how the boston responded to the terrorist attack that took place and the boston police as well as the citizens of that city, it was all hands on deck as they looked for those two

people who had disrupted that boston marathon with the terror attacks so they have a lot of support from the citizens of boston as well which, of course, helps them have the -- not just the confidence but the training and the ability to step out and make sure that they keep their city safe. >> kelly, boston pd made america proud today, as we look at the events around the world, specially in venezuela where there's a lot of killing, a lot of fighting in the streets, boston police department made this country proud today by the way they were able to strategically and tactfully deal with a massive, massive crowd and i would hope that other police departments around the country follow what boston did today and no doubt nypd would have done the same thing because they are a great police department also. when we look at what we are seeing now, the massive amount of people and how the police donald trump, street cops, those are the one, the street cops that get the credit for the fine job that they are doing.

kelly: absolutely, as we talk about this and watch the video that's taking place right now there, i'm trying to figure where that is in boston, likely in common boston area where they had the event that took place from noon till about 2:00, it actually ended ahead of time. a few minutes before 2:00 o'clock, minutes before they were scheduled to end but the counter-protestors that we are looking at right there, i understand that steve had been there as well, following and marching or observing the march of the counter-protestors and he basically said there were a few people in that crowd who were trying to look for something to cause them to act violently but most of the crowd he went onto say could have been as diversed as women with their children, young men and older people trying to walk together and show some peace and denouncing white supremacists but the conservative group that was

there spoke and then left so it was virtually at that point in time, there were no clashes except for these scrimmage that is we are seeing between police and the counter-protestors, this group should they just go home or just go enjoy the fine cuisine of some of the boston restaurants? >> absolutely, they made their statement. time to go home. you might have lingering troublemakers who want to inflame the fires but if you notice the police officers in the yellow green-type vests, i'm sure this is part of the police strategy. those are probably a lot of community police officers, no helmets, they are engaging some of the agitators first and if they are not falling in line, you will see the police officers with the helmets and other equipments come in. it's time to go, you made your statement. go home, relax, enjoy the afternoon. i think it was very significant was the police officials letting

it be known before the protests today they were not tolerating violence and it worked. kelly: all right, i'm getting a rap but i have to hear your comment or response to another police officer who died in kissimmee, florida. >> tragic and your prior guest said things have to change, i agree with them, they have to change in the courts, they have to change in the courts. kelly: good point, very good point. steve rogers, always good to talk to you, good day. >> thank you. melissa: we are continuing to monitor the unfolding situation in boston. there is, in fact, police conference coming up as protestors are still in the streets, a former special agent in charge for the atf joins us next to discuss the latest developments and in the meantime, tragedy in florida, we are learning of another officer losing his life in the line of duty

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there were some minor scrimmages that continued to flair up in the streets but largely a peaceful protest, the group that was a conservative group, their program ended early. there was debate online on whether they ended early and had gone through owl of their speakers, people claiming that they were intimidating and we haven't seen any evidence of that, we asked reporters on the scene. we talked to other reporters of the scene and there's no evidence of that so far but we are seeing some of those reports online. you can see, though, there was a rather enormous crowd that came

together thousands and thousands of people, i have seen some estimates at about 10,000 people coming out in order to, you know b the counter-protestors. kelly: steve, reporter on the ground along with mollie, 15,000 protestors had arrived in boston, their in the boston common to serve as counterrer protest to conservative group which had speech planned 12:00 noon till about 2:00 that. was over and they wisconsined those people off by vans, they drove out peacefully but we are understanding through our reporter mollie, there was 50 or so people there for the free speech event.

that might indicate they might not have enough speakers to go full two hours. but with our reporters on the ground, clearly indicate that the speeches were over. melissa: all right, joining us now bre nard, former special agent in charge of the atf, now faculty associate at the school criminallology at arizona university. thank you so much for joining us. a lot of people gathered in boston today but it seems to have gone by pretty much without incident. >> i would give the credit for officers to mitigate possible outbreaks. melissa: yeah, there was so many people onhand. would you call -- how many

police, 15,000 people, what kind of a police response do you need and we saw the heavy police presence and there's the question about if you have too many out that are armed that can provoke violence and at the same time with charlottesville, a lot of people weren't nearby and they weren't in the right gear and weren't enough people, that's what caused the violence. how do you deal with the sensitive balance. >> you have to have force to knock it down. that's what happens in the mentality. there's going to be a lot of personnel that are not in uniform and sense what's happening in the crowds, to get

a feeling, particularly agitators might be. melissa: all right, we have to go, thank you so much, bernard for joining us and we will be right back when you've been making delicious natural cheese for over 100 years like kraft has, you learn a lot about what people want. honey, do we have like a super creamy cheese with taco spice already in it? oh, thanks. bon appe-cheese! okay...

kelly: we are updating or waiting an update i should say by the boston police department 4:30 p.m. eastern time, when that happens we will have it for you live after largely peaceful demonstrations which thousands of people flooded the city's streets, let's bring in former fbi assistant director and fbi hostage commander. danny, thanks for joining us today. the first thing i want to ask you is about the way things have gone so far in boston, how would you describe the boston police department as well as the

protestors, counter-protestors in making sure they didn't have exchange with the free-speech protestors? >> well, i think we have to stand that these things are handled properly by proper training and proper preparation and intelligence and when you do the things you're supposed to do like keeping the counter-protestors away from the -- from the protestors and having a tremendous show of force, boston pd is an amazing police department, most amazing in the country and that's reflected today and also the fact that recently a couple of people were arrested for doing things public setting, that's kind of detiering thing and nobody wants to go to jail so if you are a protestors and violence, wall to wall cops and tell -- [inaudible] kelly: good point. i want to point out the

president tweeted. looks like many antipolice agitators in boston, police are looking smart and tough. thank you. it does require toughness and being smart and letting people know we are here, we are going to protect your right to free speech and we are also going to ensure the peace. >> well, free speech doesn't guaranty criminality. you can't go out and hurt people or get gang fights, you can't do that. when you have a professional department that looks like dart vader, people behave. that's a good thing. a good lesson to be learned here. kelly: danny, thank you for your service with the fbi and thank you for sharing insights of today's boston police handling the matter. >> thank you, always a pleasure. melissa: stay right here for another hour of america's headquarters, coming more on the

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use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes. and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax. designed for dependable relief. kelly: hello and welcome to a brand new hour of inside america's news headquarters, i'm kelli wright. melissa: and i'm melissa in for julie banderas. and here is a live look at counterfrom -- counter-protestors getting underway in california. kelly: steve with the counter-protestors in boston but we begin with mollie live at the boston cmo