authorities are very sketchy on details. the shooter, you can see on the lower right is all we know. he's been named and identified in other sites. we're not doing that right now. one thing we're trying to find out is how this started. a little after 1:00 p.m. where there was a call out on the campus site that remain sheltered in place, this is an ongoing situation amount suspect at large. please be safe. now the late forecast jonathan hunt who has been following this since it all erupted about three hours ago. jonathan, what can you tell us? >> neil, good afternoon to you. we're now getting reports via wral, one of the local tv stations there in raleigh, north carolina, that the suspect is in custody. wral quoting police sources saying that they have the suspect and that same station has also shed a photograph of a man apparently handcuffed, sitting on the ground, cross-legged with two officers standing near him. we do not have independent confirmation. we do not have confirmation directly from u.n.c. police that a suspect is in custody. that is the reporting of one of the local stations there. now, as you say, this all began to unfold about three hours ago, 1:00 p.m. local time when there were reports of shots fired around the caudill labs. we don't have any information on injuries or any other people being involved. it is important to know, neil, u.n.c. hospitals have not received any victims in relation to this incident at this point. shortly after this, about an hour later, the police released that photograph you see bottom right of your screen there of a person of interest. now, that photograph, neil, as i went through x, the social media app, matched the profile of somebody on x. it matched the profile picture. that person described themselves as being a graduate student of sciences at the university of north carolina. now, we don't have that name confirmed yet. we don't say it publicly. that would appear to match the profile exactly. it also appears to match the photograph of the person on the ground that was posted by that local tv station, wral. also interesting to note that we're just getting word that k-12 schools in the chapel hill area that have been on lockdown are now being told that they can release students. that would appear to speak to the idea that something is indeed in custody. you'd not expect them to be releasing k-12 students if that suspect was still an't large. we're awaiting confirmation and also of any injuries or anything else in this incident, neil. so it's an unfolding situation. it has been a terrifying one obviously for the 30,000 or so undergraduate and graduate students on the campus of u.n.c. and the thousands more students in the chapel hill k-12 system. it appears that he may be approaching the end of what is a terrifying few hours. i want to mention, in the case of the k-12 students, this was their first day back at school. within hours of arriving on their campuses in the chapel hill area, they were on lockdown, a terrible way for the school year to start. the students at u.n.c. had just been back for a couple of weeks, neil. >> neil: amazing. maybe you can help me. where did this start? we're told it was in a lab or chemistry center on campus. can you elaborate? >> yeah, what we were hearing from those on campus was that they believed it began at what is called the caudill labs. you're seeing in your picture, the football stadium. caudill labs is very close to that football stadium. this search for the suspect has gone own some time, neil. as you look at the aerial pictures from the chopper there, you can see how big it is. it's 729 acres. tens of thousands of graduate and undergraduate students. so it's a huge task to begin searching a campus of that size. obviously in the aftermath of this incident and we don't know what it was yet, police have to go building by building. we saw them interior the first couple hours leading groups of students out of those buildings. obviously checking every i.d. they did take somebody in to custody. they handcuffed a person, began questioning that person. that person was actually released. but about 1 1/2 hours later, we started getting the reports from wral that the suspect now in this incident is actually in custody. we're awaiting confirmation from u.n.c. police of that as a fact. we don't know it as a fact right now. but wral in raleigh appears to be confident of their information from what they say are their own police sources, neil. >> neil: great reporting, jonathan. i hear that students are to shelter in place. but many are walking around on the grounds of the campus or being led away from the campus. so some must be awaiting the all-clear. how are they deciding that and allowing some people to move around and others not? >> in this situation, neil what you have are the police going in. they will go to the immediate rorlgts of where this incident took place. that will be their first target. then they will fan out there, going building from building. they'll take anybody in any particular building, any particular room, take them out, check them with i.d.s. they have this picture of the person of interest. they'll check that picture and letting people go and leading them away, what they can to be a safe area. as i said, building by building. this is a long, long process obviously. until they are absolutely certain that there is no longer any threat -- remember, they may have the person that they believe is the suspect in custody. they do not know if that person, for instance, may have left any devices behind, any explosive devices. any ammunition, any other weapons that could be there. they want to make sure that everybody is absolutely safe. that is why coupled with the size of this campus that it is taking a number of hours for them to get the all clear to everybody there, neil. >> neil: it is humongous. thanks, jonathan hunt. 34,000 in an around just that campus there. updating you on that. chris swecker joins us, former fbi assistant director. chris, thank you for helping us out as you have been. what do you make of this situation now and for a lot of nervous parents watching, wondering if their kids are okay, i'm not saying we're at the all clear here, but are we over the original crisis fear? what do you think is going on? >> yeah, i think the initial crisis -- wral is a local station. good sources in the police department. i've done security checks throughout chapel hill. i assessed that police department and reviewed several incidents on campus, one similar to this one. i know the place inside out. i'll tell you based on a their behavior, they must have had a very intense door-to-door, room-to-room-type situation and didn't want to put any information out there that would have been helpful to this person if he had any access to the media. >> neil: if he's in custody, i can understand waiting and holding off on an all clear until you search the area, swept the area for any type of devices and the like or accomplices. do we know anything? >> nothing coming out on that. i think they would be very methodical going about that process. they want to make sure there's no bombs or nothing dangerous that he left behind. they also want to make sure that they don't lose any witnesses. i've seen this before. witnesses, you let them go and they tend to wander off and think somebody else will provide the information. they may have critical pieces of information. you don't want them walking away. make sure you screen them and make sure that now they're in the process of why and how. these witnesses could be very important. social media, all that plays a role in evidence gathering as well. i suspect they knew who this person was quickly. they may even know a motive at this point. seems targeted to me. it's a science building in the heart of the campus. it's 80 years old. it's not a well-populated building. the library is next door. the administration is within a stone's throw. there's a book store nearby. if you want to inflict mass casualties, that's not the building to do it. >> neil: if they knew and quickly learned his identity, we have seen a name being -- popping up on various sites. we're not sure that we can confirm that. we're not going to. there's reports that he's a graduate student. i don't know if he's a graduate chemistry or science-type student. he was drawn to this area. we don't know exactly if he indeed was apprehended and arrested. is it your sense that it was on campus and not off campus? >> my sense is that it was on campus. again, i could be wrong. the indications are that it was on campus. what i read into the silence, very calculated silence, they had him fixed or cornered or at least within a small perimeter. they were doing what tactical teams do. they go through each door, big heavy doors. you go methodically go room to room. we don't know if he had a hostage. i'm not saying that's what happened. you have to assume that. at some point, it looks like they did isolate him somewhere. maybe even through friends and relatives or something on social network, they talked him out. i don't think this is a situation where they caught him off campus or in some far-flung area of the campus. it seems to me is calculated silence, they didn't need a lot of help from the public. they wanted to make sure everybody had his picture so if they saw him they would avoid him and call 911. >> neil: right. you mentioned these are old buildings that go back to the 20s. heavy brick buildings. if shots were fired, it would be hard to pick up unless you were near or in these structures. we haven't heard much of that. some of the things you normally see tragically, i've covered my fair share of these horror stories, it doesn't quite fit that pattern what do you make of that? >> yeah, that's a campus that is very well-required, very active with social media. people post quickly if they see something. it's rapid fire. the police department, which is a small campus department, individuals devoted exclusively to monitoring social media and trying to identify any threats. they've had plenty of things happen on campus over the years. i've reviewed them where antifa came on a and tore down a c confederate monument. a lot of incidents there. news spreads quickly. it was very strange that it didn't in this case. nothing really leaked out on social media. so this was a very intense two or three hours. everybody was very busy going from room to room, building to building. it's in the very heart of the campus there. that is not an easy way -- it's not an easy in an out. most of the parking lots dead end. if you don't know the campus, you can take a turn in your car and hit a dead end in to a building. so i'm speculating a bit here. i think that this person was located within a very small perimeter from wherever the incident happened. >> neil: we're not getting reports of those showing up at local hospitals, u.n.c. medical center for what it's worth, chris. still accepting other patients for other situations that pop up. but no shooting victims. nothing that would indicate from this campus site. what do you make of that? you know the areas in the center and the hospitals servicing that area. if there's no reports of those that have been accepted for treatment, what does that tell you? >> well, the hospital is within a mile of that building. maybe even less from campus. adjacent to the campus. so i think if there was a lot of activity in the emergency room there, again, that would have come out. something would have gotten out on social media. could be that maybe if there were victims. they were loaded in a car and went there quickly. there's a lot of room for optimism here in terms of injuries or death. the fact that we haven't seen activity in an around that emergency room and believe me, we would know it if there was; that that's a promising sign, if you will. >> neil: got it. chris, thanks so much. don't wander too far. may want to tap your fine brain again. ted williams, former d.c. homicide detective, fox news contributor. this is a big campus. 20,000 undergraduate students. 12,000 graduate students. a couple thousand more that service the facility and beyond. so it's a large area. concentrated area. the shooter targeted presumably a specific area. this chemistry building, lab center what have you. i'm not throwing much at you to go on, ted. what do you make of it? >> well, you know, neil, what i glean initially is that positively the person that they have in custody has some association with that lab. like i said, information out there that has not been confirmed. so i'm not going to report on it. but the person may very well be a ph.d. student there. what i find very troubling and what i'm upset about, we don't know more at this stage. seems as though that there's somewhat calm on the scene. you think it being just the initial days of school there at u.n.c. that the law enforcement officials in that community would immediately rush to the cameras or if they have somebody in custody to let family, relatives and friends know that their loved ones are safe. as of now, we know allegedly that shots were fired. a shot was fired. guess what? we don't know any more. we don't know if there's casualties, we don't know if someone was killed. we don't know anything. >> neil: you're right. we learned there as you finished up there, the u.n.c. police have wheated out an all-clear. you can resume normal activities. that would surmise the shooter is in custody and the problem is over. you're the expect. i'm not. what do you think? >> you're absolutely right. over the weekend here, we had seven people shot in jacksonville, florida, we had this racial incident where three people died. all over the country right now, nerves are very fragile. when these shootings take place, we're very reactive to it. on that campus at u.n.c., there was a heavy does of officer there's immediately. now as they say all clear, i hope they rush to the cameras and let the people in the country, the students out there at that university, relatives and friend and everyone associated with them, let them know what took place. i find that to be very troubling that we're still speculating for the most part about whether someone was injured or killed. we don't know what happened. we don't even know everything. but we need to know something about what took place there. >> neil: to your point, we tonight know. we're waiting to find out. we also got disputed reports much to your concern whether shots were fired at all. some of these are old buildings. might have been difficult to hear anything unless you were inside the building where this presumably all started. you know, i do know in the case of the shooter that they quickly released his picture, the one you're seeing on the bottom right of the screen. a name has been shared on some of these social media sites. so we're not sharing it. we scanned what information we have, whether he's a graduate student, what field of study. if he was in this building, could have had something to do with chemistry. once police release a picture, they get through to acquaintances or those that know this guy. they get his name, start scouring his social media. then what? >> start scouring social media as you said. and they also at some stage or another, if they believe a person is no longer on campus, they also will put an all points bulletin out and also try to engage the public by giving out information about the person. let's say if he was in an automobile, they will give that information out with the license plates if they know it or as much information as they can to engage the public in assisting them. scrubbing the media site and trying to locate people that know that person and trying to find out where if the person is no longer on campus, they may very well have hit it. that's what law enforcement officers would be doing. doing all sorts of tracing here. again, the sat part of it is, we don't -- we're left to speculate because we tonight know if somebody was injured, if somebody was killed. this situation appears to have been over let's say at least 30 to 40 minutes ago. you have to wonder why in the hell haven't the officials there calm the nerves of the community, got in front of the cameras and tell us what the hell happened there at the university of north carolina this afternoon. >> neil: we do know they're going in front of the cameras at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. to your point, ted. there's a lot of questions here. why this guy did this and why it went down the way it did. even to the point that he left devices or anything left behind. that doesn't appear the case or they wouldn't have given the all-clear. if they expected accomplices, they wouldn't have given the all clear. >> you're accurate. if they felt the students were still in danger or there were accomplices at all, that he left devices that could have harmed those students on the campus, they clearly wouldn't have given the all clear. law enforcement officers know a great deal more than we are able to report here. but i am encouraged by what you represented that around the 5:00 area, around that time, they're going to have a presser where they can give us some information as to what took place on the campus that led to the heavy presence of police all over the police. >> neil: yeah there were a lot of them. thanks, ted williams. joe cardinale joins us. the former lieutenant. police will be having a presser in 40 minutes from now. what to you want to hear? what do you think they'll say to put a bow on this? >> you know, i've been with ted a long time. i have to disagree with him on certain things. the fact that they have him in custody and the fact -- the way this has progressed and i've been with it since the beginning of it, the way it progressed, they knew they had something. they were comfortable with that. they went through all the rooms and everything. eventually apprehended him and still went through the rooms looking for evidence. we may find out that this may have been an accident. we don't know what it is at this point. at no time would they jeopardize the students or faculty or first responders if they felt there was something going on beyond that. so i think what you want to hear at the presser is, they'll give people a rhyme or reason to what happened. they'll tell you if there's a victim, what happened, how this individual knew the victim. they'll do the victimology and have a rhyme or reason. could be something innocent or something down played from what we're reporting right now. we're so used having massive shootings with casualties that our gut instinct to report oh, this terrific thing happened. we didn't see the ambulances rolling out or helicopters coming in. we didn't see anything like that. that told me that they have the situation under control. if there was a victim, if there is a victim and they probably were in touch with our victim's family and just waiting to put all the components in to place before they made their final move and said this is what we have. i'm sure all of those questions will be answered. i do not think it's going to be to the magnitude that everybody thought it was. >> neil: let's hope you're right about that, joe. the one thing that makes this very different than let's say an attack on an elementary or middle school, this is a humongous campus. better than 32,000 individuals. some have corrected me and said it's 35,000 with administrators and staff. it's a lot of people. clearing that campus versus others, like reports of some exiting buildings and told to get back in. you shouldn't be leaving. there might have been a science or pattern to this. you're talking such a bigger volume of sheer human beings. >> you're right, neil. the fact that you and i have done this so many times and the protocols keep changing. all right? they don't go -- the protocols were wrong. they keep adding to the protocol. they know. we have incidents like uvalde, a total cluster. and incidents like this where they do their job. maybe the classroom was 40 feet down the hall, so the classrooms before that -- they knew on camera which way they led. >> they saw the whole thing and saw which way he wendt. we don't know this. we can't monday morning quarterback these things. we have to go with what they have. i don't think law enforcement in this day and age is holding anything back intentionally. i think it's on a need-to-know basis. right now we're told what we need to know to put everybody at ease with this. the students were certainly calm. you saw the interviews and everything. so they were very calm. it's not like you had this massive incident where shots were fired all over the place. it is different this time. each incident is unique. you have to respond to each incident as it occurs or as it did occur. take it from there. still a crime scene. something happened. they'll give us the rhyme or reason at that press release >> neil: you think an all clear is given, joe, if there are any suspicions that there are victims in other locals? are they fairly sure and wouldn't have done if the they're convinced this was limited or isolated? >> you know, when the powers at be, the incident commander in charge of that scene, with all the multiple agencies and they're at a command center and say this is what is happening, we did our searches, looked for evidence, did this. are we okay with giving the all clear. you get a consensus among people. the incident commander will come out and say this is exactly what we're doing. we're good with, this we give an all clear. we still don't know the motive if it was an accident or intentional. once again, this will be answered at 5:00. i'm interested to see what happens as well. >> neil: when buildings do empty out and again update me, joe, as you helped with these many tragedies that you and i have chatted about, students come up with their hands in the air or, you know, everyone i understand is treated as a potential suspect. so they're super careful about that. this the students calmly left facilities, dorms, class halls and the like. do you think at the time that that was happening, authorities had this guy? >> i don't think they had him at the time that they had the one individual. they had the description on the local communications, the radios within inside. that was put out and they grabbed this individual, checked his i.d. you can still have a phony i.d. they still have to go through it. at that point they knew who they were looking for. they had too make sure this individual is not that person. it's done time and time again, neil. how can you handcuff somebody if they're not under arrest? you can understand, this is the protocol. put somebody over there, question them, get their name. they're careful saying in is not the person we're looking for. at that point they had a rhyme or reason to what happened and they had to find this individual. >> neil: thanks. let's go to a reporter right now. she's on the scene at chapel hill. how are things there right now, cassie? >> well, within the last 30 minutes, things have calmed down since when the shelter in place was in effect. we've seen dozens of students come out. many said that they were in a bathroom hunkered down not knowing what was going on. they said they're going to their dorms. classes are cancelled the rest of the day here. a lot of people trying to process what happened. it's 1:00 when that students should shelter? place. >> neil: cassie, the students you saw were remarkably calm. you know, they had been assured that they could leave when they wanted to leave. not every one could leave at the same time. what is the situation now? >> for now the all clear was given at 4:14 p.m. telling people that they could resume their normal activities without going to class the rest of the day. it just depends on a person by person basis who you speak with i had one young lady that said she was terrified. not knowing if the shooter could go to where she was taking cover. others say it's surreal. like something out of a movie and they're trying to figure out what happened, waiting to learn the full story about who was shot here at u.n.c. chapel hill. exactly why this might have happened. of course, there's a lot that we can't confirm right now. we're expressing a press conference soon to get more details about what transpired here since 1:00 today. >> neil: did any of the students with whom you talked hear shots earlier on? >> just one. a gunshot. they said they heard what sounded like a loud bang. when you hear something like that, your first instinct isn't to think gun shots. so these kids didn't know exactly what was going on. we are hoping to speak with more students that were close tore the actual area behind me where this incident happened a couple hours ago. >> neil: final question. i know you're swamped here. i'm curious whether any of them knew of the alleged shooter or of the alleged shooter or information on a his background what he was up to, other kids what they were saying. >> no one that i've spoken with yet. what they did quickly do as most gen z does is jump on social media. many were trying to find out what classes and programs he was in. many talking have you seen this suspect. they're trying to figure out why this happened earlier today. >> neil: thanks, cassie. meantime, i want to go -- i'm going to nicole parker. you heard a little bit -- former fbi special agent. you are hearing bits and pieces like this from various people that were on the scene and now we're trying to find out exactly what happened here. the handling of the crowd such as this because this isn't just a school with a few dozen or a few hundred or even 1,000 students. this is a mini city. 30,000 police individuals. it's a whole different beast, isn't it? >> it really is. i have worked airport shootings. obviously more individuals at that than the school shootings necessarily. this is a large sprawling campus. this is the university of north carolina. it's very large. again, safety is always number 1. the subject, the suspect on the loose. the shelter in place remained in place. when the all-clear was given, i was cautiously optimistic. from a law enforcement perspective, the crime scene is being processed. the individual, they'll start to develop a profile on this individual. they will be scouring ever are i social media post. going through his phone, going through everything about him. they will develop a profile for a behavioral analysis unit at the fbi. you develop a profile about a person. what was their motivation? what was that ideation? what was their grievance? what was the precipitating factor that caused this individual to do this today? i understand school just started at u.n.c. the timing is not a coincidence. i'm in the thought process that this was a targeted attack. what was the precipitating stressor that caused it? this is the day that i'm going to do this. they're going to be looking through not only the social media accounts but view this individual's medical health history, are they on medication, doing search warrants at the home, looking at how did this individual get to the school, what was the mode of transportation, reviewing video of each step this person took when they got on campus. was he a student or not? there's a very thorough investigation. i think that the key right now is safe tiff. those that have children that go to that school, they want to know their children are safe. this is a large campus. you heard some students that were terrified. in this day and age, we've seen the worst case scenario where there's multiple victims. in this situation, it looks like there's not ambulances leaving. i'm cautiously optimistic that it's not as tragic as others, this is a very difficult situation. multiple law enforcement agencies are working together. the tempo has slowed down. the initial reaction is methodic. as things progress, the tempo slows down and the control is there. they're doing investigations, interviews are happening and this is moving and progressing. be interested to hear what happens at the press conference. >> neil: nicole, relying on the fbi specialty and expertise. but stepping back from this incident, whatever occurred, whatever specifics went down that we'll get details of a little over 20 minutes from now from authorities, it occurs only days after the jacksonville shootings. a lot of targeting african american victims. a lot of people here return on their tvs and hear this return to school scariness going on at u.n.c. they wonder, what is happening? are we safe as a country? why does this keep happening? different incidents, different tragedies. concerns for parents, for average americans just going about their daily lives. whether you're going in a dollar general to buy something or you're on a campus. one of the most heralded in the united states to learn something. what do you think? >> it's absolutely tragic. >> i can tell you think think this is not going to happen where i live, a student said i didn't think this would happen here. there's been incident there's. you never know. in america, you know, you just don't know. nowhere is really safe. you know, from texas, when the outlet mall shooting occurred in allen, texas. i never thought it would happen in my community. nowhere is safe right now. you cannot live and say it's not going to happen here. unfortunately we're in a state where it's not good. things are not good. if you ever are an active shooter incident, the key to remember is run, hide, fight. you try to get away, you run. if you cannot run, take shelter immediately and hide. if you cannot hide, you fight with everything you have to save your life. just remember, i hope no one in the sound of my voice has to experience this. i've worked in cases where people have. if that is the case, it's run, hide, fight >> neil: the one thing that is remarkable in this case, nicole, this is like an american city. this campus. a lot of people. a lot of people can get very panicked very quickly. that didn't appear to happen here, which is a testament to not only authorities on the scene but the people involved in that scene. what did you think of that? >> you know that is a testament to those involved on the scene. i'm not sure what training that they do at the university of north carolina. chris swecker has done a lot of work with the university of north carolina in securing these schools and universities. that matters a lot. so i think the key is to remain calm. if you're ever in a tragic situation, a dangerous situation, it's so easy to get frantic and it's scary, terrifying, neil. i can't explain how terrifying it is. the key is to stay calm. run, hide, fight. law enforcement, they were there. they are there. there's a large law enforcement presence right now. that is also your job as a law enforcement officer. you have to can taken the scene first and foremost. your first job is to make sure that you stop the killing. stop the dying. secure the scene, secure the area and make sure everyone is calm and get them to safety immediately. because of the presence of social media, there were witnesses that were likely there where this tragedy occurred, which we'll learn. social media is key right now. kids are texting, you know, sending things -- the fact that there wasn't a lot of information coming from the inside of those that might have been witnesses -- again, i hope to be cautiously optimistic. you never know until you're there on the scene working the tragedy, working the crime scene and all of that information comes out in due time. it takes time to process. they want to make sure that they give the public proper and factual information. >> neil: thanks, nicole. i always learn a lot. nicole parker, the former fbi special agent. maureen o'connell is here with us, a lot we don't know. maybe we'll get more details in about 20 minutes or so. but this was scary. a lot of people certainly anxious as this was first reported including a lot of parents want to know if their kids are okay. we know a little bit about the assailant, not much. but he did have a presence on x, former twitter. we don't know if he had any rants, manifestos or any of that. is that the first thing that authorities look for? >> well, the first and foremost, the law enforcement response to this was stellar. i don't know if they have -- if a person had their head on a swivel and called or so this person with a weapon. you know, i don't know what happened. whatever happened, the response was swift. it was outstanding. the calm demeanor as you reported on, how these students -- the students in large part will respond to the law enforcement and those in charge. if they see they're all freaked out and running around, then they'll respond in kind. on the continuum of active shooters, this appears to be one that could be, you know, as far to the left. this person brought a weapon on campus or planning on a mass shooting, but they were very quickly thwarted. we'll find out during this presser where we land on that continue -- continuum. the person being held right now a really good chance given the amount of information that we're hearing right now and the fact that they're calling to resume normal activities, this person may be talking. oftentimes the offender is shot and killed on scene. there's a chance that this person is cooperating and telling law enforcement, hey, i did this by myself. i was in this by myself. this is why. with regard to the actual location of this chemistry lab close to the football field, people, shooters, they don't -- these locations are not generally random. there's a reason that, you know, it came out quickly that he had something to do with that lab and probably some grievance with that that we'll hear habit during the presser. these locations are as a general rule not chosen randomly. >> neil: maureen, when you hear that they'll have a presser and give the all clear, i've raised this with others. if you don't mind my raising it with you. that rules out accomplices. i hope it rules out anything more horrid. victims or other sightings or any of that. this might be isolated just to this individual and maybe none of that. >> well, i agree with joe cardinale 100%. in a situation like this with all of these other law enforcement entities that come together -- by the way, they train, train, train. in los angeles, where i was an fbi agent 25 years, we worked with usc, we worked with pepperdine, ucla. we oftentimes did all kinds of field training exercises where we worked through different scenarios. now you have this happening. now you found a pipe bomb over here. just to see how we react. there's this concepts of icf. that's exactly what joe cardinale talked. you come together all of these agencies, in the command post and you discuss, hey, this is what we're doing to say. this is what i feel comfortable with. are we cool with this. these are people that are very used to fluid situations, these first responder entities. they're comfortable making decisions because they've been in dicey situations many, many times. whatever the information is, if they're comfortable with it, i can tell you right now i'm considerable with it. these are professionals that do this all the time. when you train with these types of scenarios over and over and add a place like u.n.c., there's no way that they don't work together all the time. they learn how to do it. >> you get to know people's strengths and you focus on their strengths. that's what it looks like happened here. it happened very well. they work together beautifully and seamlessly. that doesn't happen by accident. >> neil: i hope that their presser remarks in 15 minutes confirm that. we've covered more than enough of these where they don't always end this way. maureen, thank you very much and for your service at the fbi and this country. i appreciate that. >> thank you, sir. i appreciate you. >> neil: meantime here, there was other news today. just want to update you on this big storm that is barrelling in the gulf coast right now. idalia could be by the time it hits land on wednesday a category three storm with winds in excess of 115 miles an hour. it seems to be zeroing in on the tampa/clearwater area. we'll update you after this. and papa is hungry. and while you're hittin' the trail, i'm hitting your cooler. oh, cheddar! i've got hot dog buns! and your cut-rate car insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, like me. roar. (sfx: family screams in background) ♪ chevy silverado has what it takes to do it all. with up to 13 camera views. and the z71 off-road package. ♪ you ok? yeah. any truck can help you make a living. this one helps you build a life. chevy silverado. municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least $10,000 to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists at 1-800-217-3217. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income... are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-217-3217. that's 1-800-217-3217. >> neil: all right. idalia might be a tropical storm right now but by wednesday could be a category three storm hitting the gulf off of tampa, clearwater. that's where you'd find robert ray in clearwater beach. robert? >> yeah, neil. good afternoon to you. clearwater beach under evacuations as of two, three hours ago. they had a meeting this morning and decided these barrier islands need to clear out because of the intensity that idalia expected to be. maybe even a category four. we don't know yesterday. this is where boats are being shored up. neil, you remember hurricane ian. all the boats piled up in the aftermath. i want a quick question here with andrea. what's happening? >> we have 3, 500 pound anchors in the intracoastal waterway. wee getting them anchored up so we don't have boats here. >> be safe. neil, that's the deal. we're expecting seven feet of storm surge as it will brush this area. it is a fluid situation. someone's horn has now gone off, neil. we're in that situation. back to you. >> neil: i always appreciate hearing from you. robert ray in the middle of that. clearwater beach. let's go to michael estime. what are we looking at here? >> neil, good afternoon to you. soi'm going to tell you more about what we're expecting idalia. right now a powerful tropical storm. it is within four to five miles per hour of becoming a category four storm. winds moving to the north. they're tracking trajectory will take us through the yucatan channel over cuba and cancun, mexico. it moves in to the warm waters of the gulf of mexico, strengthens into a possible cats 3, if not major category four storm before making landfall. the timeline looks like this. wednesday, really likes like the target time. wednesday morning through the afternoon. the target time for making landfall to the big bend. over 13 million americans that are under some tropical alert as we speak with storm surge flooding, robert ray was just talking about that will be a huge concern in the big bend region where we're talking between 7 to 11 feet of storm surge. that's on top of high tide. i'm concerned for friends in tampa bay. st. pete, 4 to 7 feet. there's no where for the water to go once it starts to rush in to the bay, being escorted by winds of 5 to to 60 miles per hour. i'm expecting to see a number of downed power lines that will stretch in to northeast florida, southeast georgia, south carolina is who we're anticipating through thursday. to top it off, we're anticipating five to eight inches of rain in places like tampa. it's going to be so important, neil that people stay informed, be aware and take action when called to do so. neil? >> neil: good advice. thanks, michael. to luke strikeland, florida vision of emergency management, chief of staff. very good to see you. sorry under these circumstances. obviously you have your work cut out for you. how are things looking now as far as preparedness goes? >> yeah, like you heard before, we got a 5:00 a.m. update that we project this to be a category three hurricane heading to florida's big bend area, north tampa bay up to the big bend. we're very active here in the state. behind me we have the state emergency response team. the military, law enforcement, u.s. coast guard, all of our federal partners are here. we're preparing the best we can. we have personnel ready to respond to the storm. >> neil: is it's an outright evacuation order? how would you define it? >> yes, sir. so from tampa bay region north to the big bend, there's nine counties that have mandatory evacuations in place. we expect more later this evening. if you are in one of those zones, we ask you listen to local emergency management orders and leave. we expect up to 11 feet in storm surge in some areas. you can't withstand that. >> neil: before people say i think i can ride this one out. what do you tell them? >> yeah, please don't do that. listen to your local orders. you don't have to drive hundreds of miles. just tens of miles to get to a shelter a friend's home. a hotel. you know, we have u.s. coast guard, urban search and rescue standing by. we're ready to do boat and air operations. we can't get to you until the storm has passed. >> may be too late at that point >> neil: seems one of the quickest storms to go from a tropical storm to a category one, soon after that a category three, maybe cat three/four, a fouled by these warm gulf waters, right? >> yes, sir. we saw it last year with hurricane ian form in the tropic and hit southwest florida as a category four. we saw a similar path. hurricane michael. ended up being a cat 5 that hit panama city. once it forms in the gulf, it's dangerous. it's unbelievable how quick they can develop. >> neil: the nine counties in question where you're recommending people clear out, how far north does that extend? >> that extends all the way north to levy county in the big bend. when florida starts to bend, that's levy county. they have evacuation order there's. >> neil: so following this storm, is it possible as it moves north, moving at a quick pace, could it jump the state in to the atlantic? what does history tell you? >> yeah, there's nothing to suggest that it will miss florida. everything that we're seeing, we think it's coming for florida. it's a fast-moving storm. less rain, less flooding, less susstained winds. still a major hurricane but it won't be sitting on top of us. passing quickly will have benefits. we don't see this not impacting florida at all. >> neil: as far down as the keys or southern florida. doesn't seem to be in that general direction. what do you tell the folks in that neck of the woods? it's outside of this nine county re-june that you spoke of. >> we could wake up tomorrow and be different. the cone could be shifted to the east and the south. we saw it last year with hurricane ian. everybody in tampa was preparing to evacuate. everybody needs to stay vigilant. we've been working with county around emergency managers throughout the gulf coast. everyone is prepared. if we need to turn on a dime, we can. everybody has to stay vigilant. >> neil: you were reminding me of this at the outset. obviously they cleared highway, opened up opposing lane highways so people can get out of that area. have you seen that thus far? >> like i said, you don't have to evacuate the local state. you may have to go to a low shelter to be safe. they open the shoulders of the roads to allow people to evacuate faster. >> neil: thanks, luke. from the florida diversion of emergency management. a nine county area has been advised to evacuate. governor desantis has cancelled his campaign to deal with this. this could go on certainly be a big issue the next 48 hours. by the time it hits land, it could be a category three or higher storm with winds in excess of 115 miles an hour. of course, keep in mind, clearwater to tampa. that is a very highly populated area. some of the northern areas not so populated at all. we'll keep an eye on that. also keeping an eye on franklin well off any danger, well off in the atlantic. it will be an issue going up the eastern coast of the united states. again, 100 or more miles out to sea. it will cause riptides and other disruptions for folks ill prepared for that and could mean a wet labor day weekend for folks looking to have one last go of summer vacation. they still might but it will be dicey and could be for many dangerous. those on the ocean side are used to that. you could have the effects of this other storm that so far franklin will not affect those on land. certainly those at sea and have a good time, not the time. here's "the five." hello everyone. i'm dana perino, jesse waters and kate temps. it's 5 o'clock in new york city and this is "the five". >> the hardest thing is to come back after three months of not doing any work, not doing any homework and all of a sudden you got a lot to make, everybody has a lot to catch up from the end of last year. >> so don't take it from us. just take it f