At the front of the protest. And they were actually stopping cars directing traffic. It was a very orderly protest, thousands of people multiracial, peaceful marching through the streets, accompanied by major police and National Guard presence. A major protest, as well in new york. This is what the crowds look like tonight in and around in union square where police have been making a number of arrests. In addition we have just talked to a person with intimate knowledge of the arrest of freddie gray. Were going to have that interview a little bit later on. This is the first time we have heard the account from one of the Police Officers about what that Police Officer believes may have happened to freddie gray or at least when whatever happened actually happened. Were also going to talk tonight to the mom you see right there. To that mom who dragged her son out of a protest in order to make sure that he did not throw rocks at police. Well talk to her. And well talk to the son about that as well. But i want to check in with our brian todd now, standing by. Brian, explain where you are, what youre seeing. Reporter anderson were at penn station in downtown baltimore. The starting point and the finishing point for a massive march through downtown baltimore. Hundreds if not more than 1,000 people many of them high school and College Age Students marched through the streets for the last couple hours. This was a larger and more dynamic and actually more organized protest than those we have seen in recent days. It just ended here. It went from kind of a demonstration of civil disobedience to a celebration of civil disobedience. We just had music playing here people Milling Around just starting to break up now. What the organizers told us they really wanted to take the message back to the freddie gray case. They really wanted to put the focus back on the freddie gray case here in baltimore. The street message they want to stay on that particular case and not on the violation that has occurred. Not on the arrests, on the car burnings and on the lootings that have occurred. They want to put it squarely back on the message, calling attention to the freddie gray case. And thats what they believe they have done tonight. I just talked to one of the organizers of the march here. They said they are going to honor the curfew and one of them actually just warned some of these people youve got to get home youve got to get into a safe place, because we dont want anything to happen to you, we dont want the police to converge on you, anderson. Brian i want to check in with you later on. I also want to check in now with alexandra field in new york city with a protest there. Alexandra, where is the protest right now and what have you been seeing . Reporter well anldsderson where we are now is hemmed in outside union square. The nypd has come through with mesh fences to keep the crowd off the street. Just a few minutes ago, we saw a number of people being arrested right in this intersection outside of Union Square Park. It was a very Swift Response from the nypd to a somewhat spontaneous decision from the protesters to march. They had gathered here for about an hour anderson in a very peaceful demonstration, holding signs, chanting speaking to one another. And then they decided to hit the streets. They got a half block outside the park heading west on 17th street and thats when they were intercepted by officers who forced them back to on the sidewalk. Those who would not listen to police not clear out of the street and get on the sidewalk we saw them put in hand ties and taken away. This might be surprising to some people who have seen a number of protests in this city over the last couple months most remarkably back over the winter months when we saw hundreds if not thousands of people taking to the streets to protest after the death of eric garner. You may remember we did see some arrests at that time. But we didnt see them instantly. It seems the tactic the nypd was employing at that time was to allow people the space to get into the streets if they chose to to express the passions they had decided to express at the time. The tactics tonight, anderson different. And they came with warning. The nypd knew about the protest that was going to be happening in union square. They got down here this afternoon, even before the demonstrators got here. They set up loud speakers warning people that if they obstructed the sidewalks or if they walked in the streets, they could be arrested for disorderly conduct. And as soon as this crowd of at least hundreds of people started to make their way across 17th street the Police Responded immediately, anderson and thats when we saw them taking some people into arrest. One person left here in an ambulance. No word on what kind of injuries there might be in that case. At this point, what were seeing at this very moment though are nypd officers Standing Shoulder to shoulder out here downtown manhattan, the middle of 17th street trying to keep this crowd out of the street. The crowd is somewhat thinning. We heard some demonstrators say theyll march in other places theyll head south from here. And it seems the police are actually moving at this point. We dont know whats prompted it. We cant see down there. But we do see that a large crowd of nypd officers now making their way west of 17th street. A lot of people still out here being held behind these mesh fences waiting for whats next anderson. And alexandra, were showing our viewers on the lefthand side of the screen your shot your live shot. But also now on the righthand side of your screen, a shot from earlier. And you really get a sense, alexandra, of the large numbers of people who did turn out for that demonstration. Do you have i know you rarely do the police put out numbers. But is there any kind of authoritative number . Reporter there is not an authoritative number of how large this crowd was. And youre right, the nypd rarely gives out crowd numbers. We know on social media more than 5,000 people rsvped saying they were going to come to this. We were surprised to see within a few minutes of the scheduled start time 6 00 there were hundreds and hundreds of people able to go back later and take a look at the aerials. I was in the middle of Union Square Park and we were shoulder to shoulder with people a very thick crowd. They came out early, they wanted to be here. They said they were here to express solidarity with people in baltimore. They said they were here to demand justice for freddie gray. We asked them explicitly do you have plans to march across the city the way we saw them do so many times over the winter and they said they had not organized any official march but they werent going to try to hem people in or stop them from doing what felt right. Here again, i dont know if you can hear in the background anderson but again, the nypd over the loud speakers telling people they need to stay on the sidewalks, stay out of the streets, and warning them that arrests will continue to be made if people are obstructing the streets, according to the officers out here. We are Still Standing on this corner on 17th street behind this mesh fence, which is being held up by nypd officers. We did see officers come in here flooding in on 17th street when the crowds advanced forward. They were wearing helmets. We havent seen them dressed in anything beyond helmets. No Tactical Gear out here, anderson. Alexandra field, i appreciate the reporting. We will continue to check in with you to see how those protests either dissipate or continue. A lot to talk about. Were also getting word now of protests in washington, d. C. Were just getting these pictures now. These are live pictures here washington, d. C. You see a crowd marching on the streets. And to reiterate what brian todd said what brian todd said earlier, i think a lot of the protests, when you talk to them today, a lot of them repeated they wanted to get the focus back on freddie gray and what happened to freddie gray. And what they want to see is justice for what happened to freddie gray. Still, so many unanswered questions. There had been a big expectation among some people and i talked to one of the pastors who was in schools today, trying to tamp down young peoples expectations for whats going to happen on friday. Because a lot of the young people he was talking to were saying to him they were thinking charges might be brought on friday or at least some kind of resolution or answer would be given from authorities about what happened to freddie gray. The message, the pastor was getting out, the message the gray family attorney was trying to get out to a crowd here last night when we were on the air is that were the public is not going to learn friday probably not going to learn anymore details about what happened to freddie gray and to try to tamp down expectations. So theres not High Expectations and a lot of disappointment. I want to bring in our legal analyst, sunny hostin, who has worked here friends with the baltimore mayor, as we often point out. Also former nypd detective, harry houck and russell honoree who led the militant response after hurricane katrina. Ive seen a lot of people on the streets today protesting and were seeing larger numbers of people around here in this area. And i wonder if that has to do with the fact that because now there is this sense, these are peaceful protests people from different parts of baltimore feel you know what its okay to come down its okay to take part in these protests. I think that is certainly part of it. I think another part of it is social media. Ive been looking at social media. And the word is getting out. That i think people also want answers. I think people are focusing on friday and so i think thats also why were seeing more of a ground swell in terms of protesters. So i think there is a real momentum moving towards friday because we know that that is the day when the investigators at least the police investigators, are going to hand this over to the prosecutors. I think we do anderson need to manage expectations not only for our viewers, but just for the public in general. Because i dont think that theyre going to get the answers theyre seeking by friday. Right. Unless something leaks out. But again, theres not going to be charges brought as far as we know. No indictments, anything like this. This is preliminary investigation by the Baltimore Police department handed over to the attorney. I think thats right. And i think now right then and there will be the prosecutors game the prosecutors decision and prosecutors get that information from the Police Department. But then they have to conduct their own evaluation their own investigation. And my understanding is they dont have the autopsy report. In a case like this that is so vital, so necessary for any decision to be made. Harry, its really interesting, just to be talking with protesters today, and we saw yesterday you and i talked about this on the broadcast last night. The extent to which these protesters are policing themselves. I was with a group just a short time ago marching down a street. There were individuals ahead of them stopping traffic. Redirecting traffic. It wasnt Police Officers doing that. It was march organizers it was just people who had taken on that responsibility. And thats something i think we have really seen and i think has made a big difference over the last 24 36 hours. Without a doubt, anderson. Im really happy to see the Community Leaders are getting involved in this. And that the Police Officers dont have to take much action. If we see this every day and if they keep remaining involved we shouldnt have that much violence. Although we had a couple arrests last night after the curfew at 10 00, and we probably will also tonight after 10 00. But i think these people stay involved. Stay on top of these people that are trying to stay at the 10 00. Probably will have a really good night. And also the fact that i dont know whats going to happen friday because the word is out there that nothing is really going to come out on friday. So im really interested to see whats going to happen around friday 10 00 at night when the curfew goes into effect. General honoree, its interesting, the protesters i dont have conclusive evidence but being out and seeing protest groups it seems people from a lot of different parts of the city much more multiracial. And im wondering where you think that change has come from. Is it the Stronger Police presence is it the sense that a corner has been turned to use the phrase that the governor used, and that the protests are peaceful and therefore people feel more emboldened to take part in them . Yeah i think the observation is spoton, anderson that the events that occurred on monday that were violent, they had bad optics for the nation they had bad optics for the state and for the city that people are trying to move on in the collective community in baltimore, which takes great pride in its city. Now focusing on going from law and order to strive to move the politicians to talk more about justice. And i think because of the police presence, people can can have that confidence that the police will do a dual role. Theyll control the protests but also protect the people. And i think thats a confidence builder. But anderson i think theyre swinging behind the ball in that we need to get that mayor and the governor as well as the federal government to start developing the narrative to find the exit strategy to get people off the street and get them back to work. This has been going on almost a week now, and its time now to try and lay out a strategy and bring those Community Leaders that did such a great job yesterday at keeping peace, and what is the path forward to go from law and order focus to justice focus to address the concerns of the people anderson. Thats a good point, general. Thank you. Well check in with all of you over the next two hours. We want to take a quick break. When we come back though my conversation tonight. My conversation with toya graham who became famous for this show of tough love when her son was about to throw a rock at Police Officers. She went up to him, found him at the demonstration, and you see what she did right there. Tonight she speaks out and i speak to her son michael as well. When you saw your mom right. When you first made eye contact, what went through your mind. I was just like oh man. Like oh man my mother. What is my mother doing down here . Why would she be down here . He quickly found out why she was down there. She was down there to get him out of trouble. Well talk to both of them ahead. I want to show as we go to break, a live shot in washington, d. C. Well be right back. You should be as united as democrats as you are the Tea Party New York state is reinventing how we do business by leading the way on tax cuts. We cut the rates on personal income taxes. We enacted the lowest Corporate Tax rate since 1968. 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We will continue to monitor them throughout this hour and the next hour as well that were live on the air from baltimore. Now youre probably familiar with video of a mom on monday in the very worst of moments. She confronted her son and dragged him home from the violence. Those pictures went viral, who he is who she is, the reality is far more complex and interesting. I spoke with her and him. But first, my interview with toya. When did you realize that what michael was up to . Michael told me the night before this wasnt supposed to go on. And he frequents mondaywmin mall. First thing that morning before he left i told him not to go to Mondawmin Mall because of what he was saying would go on. Did he tell you he was going to go . He said he wasnt going to go. And but did you kind of have a sense maybe he would . When we started getting a phone call they had closed the schools down early, and they had closed Mondawmin Mall i knew i had to get to the mall. I just went right over there. So what happened when you got there . I had to find out if i could see my boy at that point. And i didnt see him. And then i started focusing on these bricks that were being thrown at the Police Officers and i turned around and he was coming across the street. Michael. Michael. But he wasnt he was wearing a mask. He was wearing a mask. He had the hood on. And he also had a brick in his hand. How did you know it was him . I i noticed the sweatpants that he had on and then he gave me eye contact. You actually made eye contact. I made eye contact with him. And at that point, i told him to throw that brick down put the brick down. Put it down. And i just lost it at that point. I was so angry with him that he had made a decision to do some harm to the Police Officers. Its not something you approve of obviously. Not at all. So you saw michael with the rock in his hand. And you say you just lost it. I did. And, you know once he threw that rock down i was like you know you wasnt brought up like this. Did you did you worry about embarrassing him . Not at all. Not at you will. Not at all. He was actually embarrassing himself by wearing that mask and that hoodie and doing what he was doing. And at some point, i told him to take the mask off. Because why are you hiding behind a mask . If you want to be bold enough