Investigating Freddie Gray's Death; Police: No Report to Be Released Friday.
COOPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. You're looking at some live pictures and really the location that we're at, there's a helicopter shot from WJZ, I believe, from right in front of the courthouse which is also just about 300 feet or so from city hall, the location we're at. That's the group of protesters I was talking about earlier who arrived here probably 15 minutes ago and they're now standing outside the courthouse area. Some people are making speeches and talking. And these are the kind of roving protests that we've seen a lot over the last 24 hours or so. We're also anticipating a press conference from law enforcement officials. We'll obviously bring that to you. We're expecting a press conference from the Baltimore police department any moment. We'll take that live. And in just two days, that department is going to wrap up their investigation into the death of Freddie Gray. The police report is going to be sent directly to prosecutors, not necessarily released publicly. In fact, I talked to the attorney for the Gray family on Friday who's trying to tamp down people's expectations that on Friday, they're going to get some sort of word about the results from that investigation. The lack of answers, though, into what happened to Freddie Gray whose spine was severed has certainly inflamed days of protests and Monday's outbreak of violence. Cell phone videos of Gray dragged inside that police van have angered crowds, angered people now for weeks. Along with that mystery of what happened to him, were his injuries sustained during the arrest, were they sustained inside that vehicle? If so, how? Six officers involved in the arrest are on paid leave but did any of their actions lead to Freddie Gray's death? We simply do not don't have any injuries. I want to bring in CNN's Evan Perez. Baltimore leaders, they're working now basically to set up a game plan, right?</s>EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right, Anderson. They're trying to come over the game plan of how to lower those expectations, which --</s>COOPER: On Friday.</s>PEREZ: On Friday, which is I think what the Gray family attorney is also trying to do. I expect that we're going to hear a little bit more about that game plan in the next couple of hours from city officials. The problem that they have right now is that the investigation -- this is going to be a preliminary report offered up --</s>COOPER: So, this is the police department report?</s>PEREZ: Police department report. And it is considered preliminary because they're going to continue their investigation. And it's not going to provide any complete answers, not even to the state prosecutors. The issue is this -- even at this point, they don't believe that there's any clear-cut answers here as to what happened. There's no roadmap here for charges just yet. They're still waiting for some very key things, including the medical examiner's report, which could be weeks away.</s>COOPER: You know, the last I heard of -- I mean, this was probably four, five days ago. Five of the six officers had at least given preliminary statements. Do we know if that sixth officer has or is he still maintaining his right to remain silent?</s>PEREZ: What we know so far is that it's simply been five of the six, right, exactly. That doesn't mean the sixth is guilty of anything.</s>COOPER: Right. I want to bring in our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin who is standing by. Jeff, you're a former federal prosecutor. What if anything do you think we're going to hear about this report on Friday? Will details be released or leaked out or will the prosecutor want to keep it close to the vest if she builds a potential case?</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I think that's a really tough call. There are a lot of competing pressures. Under ordinary circumstances, you wouldn't hear much because this is preliminary and usually, this begins a process of give-and-take with the prosecutors where the prosecutors say, look, I need you to interview the following three or four more witnesses, I want to get the following tests done. I mean, preliminary means preliminary. Here, of course, there's tremendous demand. I would anticipate that the family of Freddie Gray would be brought in and informed at least somewhat about how much -- about the information that's been gathered. But, you know, as you pointed out just a couple of minutes ago, there is a lot that remains mysterious about how Freddie Gray died and what caused it. And it's going to take more time to determine that and especially to determine if anybody needs to be criminally charged in connection with it.</s>COOPER: Sunny Hostin, former federal prosecutor, is also joining us. And as we always point out, she is also friends with the mayor of Baltimore. I talked to the attorney for the Gray family last night and he was saying, look, I want to tamp down the protesters' expectations that Friday, they're going to get some, you know, vital information. And he doesn't want them getting upset on Friday when that information is not forthcoming because he's arguing for the Gray family and for the prosecutor, they want to keep their strategy close to the vest. They don't want to give out all the information that's going to let anyone who may be potentially indicted know exactly what's coming.</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think that's right. It's really important in a case like this to manage everyone's expectations because all eyes are on how the prosecutor's office will handle this. And I think further along in the process, quite frankly, is going to be very interesting because prosecutors as Jeff Toobin knows have two potential tracks. And we've seen that play out. You can either choose to charge yourself as the prosecutor because that is well within your jurisdiction, or you can choose to bring whatever evidence you have to a grand jury. And so, people need to understand that not only does the investigation have to continue because if I'm the prosecutor, I do want to see forensic evidence. I may want to bring in some experts to help me discern what happened in terms of the autopsy. And, you know, I think you also have to recognize that a prosecutor once that person has all the evidence also has to determine which track to follow.</s>COOPER: Jeff, in terms of a time line, how long a process are we talking about?</s>TOOBIN: Well, just for starters, according to the usually procedure in Maryland, a full autopsy is not presented until 30 to 45 days after the autopsy takes place. That pushes the timeline out considerably. And that, at least to me based on what I know, is going to be perhaps the single most important piece of evidence in this case. How did Freddie Gray die? What was the cause of death? And there is no guarantee that an autopsy will present the answer to that question, which means you may have to bring more experts. So I think a month, two months is far from out of the question. It is far better, though, I think to be late, to be slow than to be wrong. And I think if it takes a while, it's going to take a while. But it really is important for prosecutors and police to get this one right.</s>COOPER: You know, on another subject, you're friends with the mayor, today she came out and said basically that she got it wrong, that she shouldn't have called the young people who were being violent on the streets Monday thugs, that she regretted calling them thugs. President Obama also used that term. But it was interesting that she's now come forward and said that, which is something you've been saying frankly --</s>HOSTIN: I have been critical of the mayor in terms of those remarks. She is a very close friend of mine. But I was surprised that she chose to use that word. She is very measured, she's a critical thinker. She's sensitive to the issues facing communities of color, and I was quite surprise that she would use that term. What is also interesting to me is that people are saying that she has sort of this apathetic way about here, that she seemed to be flatfooted or a deer caught in the headline. I know because I know her personally that she is someone that does not wear her emotion on her sleeve. She is very measured just as a person. And so, the fact that she used that term shows me that she was very, very -- almost upset about what was going on.</s>COOPER: It's one of the things I talked to Toya Graham, the mom who famously dragged her son, Michael, out of the protests when she saw him about to throw a rock. I actually asked her about those comments, she made a very good point saying, my son has made some mistakes but my son is not a thug, 16 years old, has dreams of what he wants to be. And that was something that offended her, I believe, even though she was the mom who has been identified as the kind of mom who cares for her kid and was dragging her kid out of --</s>HOSTIN: It is offensive. And I have received I don't know how many tweets and e-mails in response to my suggestion yesterday that the word "thug" has become racialized. I'm not saying it's a racial term. But it's also used as a term for young African-American men, and I think we have to be very careful when we call people that name. I think that certainly, you can call someone a criminal if they are committing arson and thief and assault, which is what we saw during those riots, and the looting, but to sort of frame everyone as a thug, I think it's misplaced.</s>COOPER: Sunny, I appreciate you being with us. Jeffrey Toobin as well. There's still a lot to talk about in this hour. Coming up, we're awaiting the police press conference, expected at any moment. We're gong to bring that to you live. We're going to take a short break. Plus, the Baltimore Orioles just trounced the Chicago White Sox. None of their fans got to see it in person. What's it like playing in a totally empty stadium? Details on that from our John Berman, ahead.