want to bring in the former director of the hostage recovery for the united states government, christopher o'learyo talk more about what is happening on the ground in gaza and this continuing israel-hamas conflict. thank you for joining us on this. the last hour i spoke with udi goran. i want to play what he said about the resumption of the war and the worries he has for his cousin's safety. >> today we've heard because of the people that got back, we've heard that at least four more people that were taken to gaza alive are confirmed dead, and that means that every day, including today, including right now when we're talking, my cousin's life is in danger. >> christopher, what do you make of what this resumption of war means for the 100 plus hostages that are still being held in gaza, for their safety? >> i have real concerns on a number of levels. yes, for their safety, you know, this unbridled urban assault that the u.s. has been trying to sway israel away from, they have gone back to t and frankly it could potentially put the hostages in danger, but also more importantly or as importantly, you

i'm joined by christopher o'leary the senior vice president for global operations for the sufan groupese accounts are horrifying. to what extent were they part of the terror attack itself, do you think? >> i think it was completely orchestrated. one just has to look back at isis. isis took american hostages but they also took over 6,000 i didn't see i didn't see december as well. there is a term called sabia which is sex slave for the extremists and they think they're justified to hold them. they don't see things the say same way we do. just this last year i had the opportunity to interview one of the beatles, we brought back here -- >> one of the isis terrorists nicknamed beatles. >> correct. they are responsible for taking americans including kayla mueller who they then gave to he will baghdadi. she was systematically raped over time. i confronted alexander kotey during questioning last year and no remorse whatsoever. he sees no issue with it. this is not something that concerns them, they think it's their right and they're justified. they did not see the israeli citizens and americ

joining me christopher o'leary with the sufan group, a global security group.nk you for being here. i want to address something quickly. hamas has not been like an isis or an al qaeda where you have seen attacks that hamas has claimed to be behind in other parts of the world. is that correct? is this a different tack that we're seeing here? >> so that's accurate. historically they wanted to be perceived as a nationalistic group, although they have, you know, islamist ideology, they have been very measured and very locally focused, as has hezbollah, but there have been occasions in the past, hezbollah after mcneil was killed where they conducted a bombing in bug gar i can't in 2012, but it was very focused. my take on this is hamas demonstrating to israel who has set the conditions for this that we can strike you anywhere. if the plot would have gone forward it would have likely been targeting directly an israeli facility or jewish population out there. >> when you hear these accusations and they are allegations at this point and you talk about hamas saying to i

i want to bring in nbc's raf sanchez in tel aviv, israel, along with christopher o'leary, the formertage recovery for the u.s. raf, the u.n. has been warning of these deteriorating conditions in gaza for weeks now. what is the latest? >> they've been warning for weeks, ana, and they are running out of words. they are saying gaza is on the brink of irreversible disaster, if the world does not act right now to impose the cease fire and then to get humanitarian aid to the people who need it. there are more than a million civilians inside of gaza who are sheltering in u.n. facilities, so that's schools, medical compounds. but the u.n. is warning that their ability to deliver humanitarian aid is on the verge of collapse, and a lot of this was laid out in a pretty extraordinary letter that the director of the u.n. relief works agency, which is the agency that deals with palestinian refugees wrote earlier today. he says i never expected to write such a letter predicting the killing of my staff and the collapse of the mandate i am expected to fulfill. more than 130 u.n. staff had been killed

. >> all right, christopher o'leary.s so much for walking us through that, we appreciate it. >>> still to come, the fbi now watching an investigation after multiple threats are made against the colorado judges who ruled donald trump is disqualified from appearing on that states primary ballot. plus, president trump, spending the christmas holiday unleashing a barrage of fury and bitterness online. largely over his many legal cases. what he said and how this type of messaging could impact the upcoming election year. stay with cnn news central. >>> we're following some new and very real concerns today about disturbing and violent threats that are being made against colorado state supreme court justices, who ruled last week to remove donald trump from the state's 2024 primary ballot. >> the fbi saying it has now joined with local law enforcement in the investigation, federal and local officials have also been monitoring rhetoric on an online extremist forum in the wake of that ruling. cnn's katelyn polantz is joining us now

nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel and former director of hostage recovery christopher o'leary and former fbi carl sma. richard, what's happening in gaza right now on the heels of the tragic news about the three hostages killed? >> reporter: first, on the defense secretary's visit, it is part of a larger u.s. diplomatic push. there's not one single item on the agenda. it's not that he's coming to deliver a message that israel must do more to reduce the number of civilian casualties. that's part of it. does the u.s. want to see a resumption of cease-fire talks? yes, that's part of it. those talks are resuming now with the american cia director, the director of the mossad and senior qatari officials including the amir. so very senior level discussions. he also is talking about the wider region. there is a very deep concern about what is happening in the red sea, and there is an attempt to try and avoid the war that is at this stage not entirely limited to israel and gaza, but more or less contained to israel and gaza, expanding dramatically over the weekend and again this morning