i'm yasmin with you again. another busy day across the middle east, diplomatic efforts unfolding today, and scheduled meeting between secretary of state tony blinken and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas, with the two men discussing, and the promise lincoln blinken shared with the palestinian leader. we have a number of live reports from across the region coming up in the next two hours ahead. and from the campaign trail to the courtroom, former president donald trump is scheduled to testify tomorrow in the civil fraud trial against him. what prosecutors are most likely to grill him on and will his testimony even matter after the judge in the case has already found that trump is liable. remember, this is just about damages. later on, a triumphant return ten months in the making, after suffering a cardiac arrest on live television playing football, damar hamlin is back in cincinnati. and this time, he's bringing a special message for the nation. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hey, everybody. we're gonna begin with the latest from events in the middle east, where there has been a complete interruption, as they put it, of all communications and internet services in the gaza strip. that is according to the palestine telecom company. it is coming as a short time ago, israeli defense forces opened up a temporary evacuation route to southern gaza for fleeing residents. the four hour window was put in place despite what idf troops say were hamas's efforts to hold the exodus by putting more fire and anti tank shells along the border. and you just heard secretary of state tony blinken's surprise visit to the west bank to meet with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. we have details on that in just a moment as well. the visit by this country's top diplomat coming amidst claims by hamas that as many as 60 hostages had been killed as a result of israeli bombardment of gaza. there is a report that nbc news has not been able to independently verify. and the death toll of the israel hamas war has now surpassed 11,000. at least 1400 have been killed in israel. and upwards of 9700 have been killed in gaza, according to gaza's health ministry. another number that nbc news has not been able to confirm and cannot confirm. so, we are just learning in the past hours that blinken also made a surprise visit to iraq, saying it is critical to enjoy the conflict in israel and gaza, and that it doesn't spread to parts of the region. nbc reporter joins me now from where the president is spending the weekend. erin, thanks for joining us on this. we appreciate you. talk to us more about this surprise visit made by the secretary of state. and what more he had to say about the current efforts on the humanitarian pause in gaza? >> reporter: yeah, yasmin, he made two stops during the surprise visit to baghdad, first at the u.s. embassy, to give a situational update from the nbc embassy staff about the security of the staff there of the embassy, as well as military operations that are in, positioned in baghdad right now. obviously, we know that over the last several weeks, there has been several attacks on military installations in iraq. several u.s. troops have been injured as a result of some of those attacks. and the secretary wanted to make sure he got an update about what's happening there. and this was really an opportunity in those conversations and the conversation we had with the iraqi prime minister, an opportunity for him to say to iran that these attacks by iranian proxies are not going to be tolerated. and that the u.s. will continue to respond as it has been over the last several weeks to any incursions that may happen in that area. and to anything that iran's proxies may do to affect the larger conflict that's happening right now with israel and hamas in gaza. the secretary also took several questions, and this is where he was asked about his visit with arab leaders over the weekend, his visit to the west bank as well, and his conversations with the israelis, in particular around the potential for a humanitarian pause in gaza after so many deaths and injuries during israel's ground invasion at this point. and so, the secretary it was that idea of a pause in particular. i want you to hear some of what he had to say. >> it's important that as we are engaged in a humanitarian pause, this can be something that advances the prospect of getting the hostages back. it can also advance other things that we are committed to doing, as is the government of israel and other partners in the region, especially getting more humanitarian assistance to people who need it in gaza. >> reporter: now, the u.s. has not been pushing for an all-out cease-fire in gaza. but it has been indicating a desire for a humanitarian pause. as the secretary has said, there is ongoing conversations, yasmin, about how a pause would work, when exactly, where exactly it would be, and under what circumstances? obviously, the israelis have said the only way that they would consider a pause in the fighting is if it was to get hostages out of gaza. and at this point, our best indicator is that the conversations are still happening around that. but there is no immediate pause coming in the short term. yasmin? >> by the way, we are getting a live report from tehran, just a couple of minutes, especially after the comments from secretary of state tony blinken. aaron gilchrist, thank you. in israel, idf troops continuing their bombardment of gaza. overnight, overnight, israeli killing at least 47 people. that is according to palestinian health officials. i want to bring in nbc's jay gray was on the ground for us in tel aviv. if you will, jay, i want to dig into the refugee camps, causing across the board mascot welty's like the one we just mentioned. and the idf now being criticized for it. how are they responding? it. how are they responding?>> reporter: noe that they've been striking refugee camps. this is a refugee camp in central gaza. dozens killed, again, according to hamas run ministry of health in gaza. many more injured. what the idf says is that they are, and i'm quoting, they are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the explosions. so, they made no real comment on what has happened. but they continue to say as many civilian structures have been damaged or hit is that they are explicitly targeting hamas leadership, operational structures. they are looking for command centers. and they continue to point to what they call evidence of tunneling underneath hospitals and underneath communities and areas where hamas is working out of heavily-populated civilian communities, and saying they are striking where hamas is. we understand the public perception seems to be shifting as a result of the civilian hits. but to this point, they continue to carry out what they say are very important strikes to cripple and eventually eliminate hamas. >> in the surprise visit, that is the secretary of state, meeting with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas, he praised abbas for tamping down tensions inside the west bank. i know idf security forces overnight arrested 34 people who are wanted throughout the west bank on suspicion of involvement in terror activities. 18 of them belong to hamas. talk more about this. >> reporter: let's not kid ourselves. the west bank is a dangerous and progressively more dangerous area right now. the idf has more than double the amount of arrests in that region since october 7th, close to 2000 people have been arrested. we know that they say that they have arrested people as part of their counterterrorism effort in the area. they believe that there is a west bank faction of hamas that is working actively within the west bank. they have confiscated weapons and ammunition. but we should also point out that many palestinians in that region have said that they have been abused by police and idf in the area that they've been arrested, with no crime committed. and so, tension continues to bubble over and the west bank. and it is an area that a lot of people are watching very closely. >> jay gray, thank you, appreciate it. coming up in just 60 seconds, folks, the former president on the stand. what to expect tomorrow when donald trump testifies in the 250 million dollar new york civil trial. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ t, catchy music ♪ >> tech vo: this couple counts on their suv... as they travel for their small business. so when they got a chip in their windshield... they brought it to safelite... for a same-day in-shop repair. we repaired the chip right away. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? 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[stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. >> all right, folks. it's happening. less than 24 hours from now, the former president is expected to take that stand in his own defense. trump is gonna testify in the new york civil fraud trial against his companies and others as well. it's coming after his two adult sons, don junior and erika, testified in back-to-back appearances last week, where they repeated nearly identical defense claims. one of them getting a little bit more angry on the stand in the other. it was the accountants, not them, who are to blame for this fraud. but will that same line of defense hold up for donald trump himself? joining me now, criminal defense attorney and msnbc legal analyst, daniel solomon. we always need to repeat this. the judge has already deemed that there was fraud here. >> that's right. that's one of the claims. >> and so, this is really more about damages at this point. >> to some degree, there's additional counts that the attorney general still has to prove. but that major finding, in ruling on some judgments, does conclude that there was already fraud so that is an issue that isdecided and that looms over this trial. >> essentially, they're trying to figure out who's responsible for this fraud, i.e., the defense that we are hearing from eric trump, and the defense that we're hearing from don jr.. and how much should they be responsible for that, right? the penalty here. so with that in mind, what are your expectations for the testimony of the former president? >> there will be no surprises. you need to only look at donald trump jr. and eric trump's testimony already to give you a preview of what the former president is going to say when he takes the stand. in fact, it will be even magnified. in other words, to the extent that the other trump's focused on two major themes, and those things were, i may be the head of the organization, but i relied on the people beneath me, i relied on my minions, the accountants, everything else. theme number two is going to be, it is near a cola state. you add that to the fact that the trump brand itself is also something of nebulous value, and really, really state is whenever everything once to pay for. those two things, i think, would be central tomorrow for donald trump because he's going to testify that he was even less involved than eric trump than donald trump jr. and ivanka trump. he is going to testify and just sort of brush off that, look, yeah, i was mildly aware of that. look, i'm busy. i do reality tv. i wasn't paying attention. i rely on the accountants. you're gonna hear a lot of the same. >> how much do you think the defense is gonna focus in on the testimony from michael cohen in which he was not explicitly told to inflate some of the numbers for some of the properties in which they're talking about in this case? instead it was implicit. >> looking for that in closing arguments and in motions and everything else. but i've been saying that the attorney general's decision is to call michael cohen, that may have been great for headlines. but when it comes to substance, michael cohen did not really have that much to add. he is, he has a ton to talk about in the new york criminal case based on the alleged chaos to stormy daniels. he has plenty of substance there. in this case, you pointed it out, he did not actually directly receive orders in a way that would have really harmed the trump defense. far more devastating for the trump defense here is the lesser known testimony of an expert, for example, on wednesday, who testified that the trump defendant, i think somewhere on the range of 160 million as a result of their false statements. >> what about the testimony suzanne craig and i talked about this yesterday of the banquet as well, talking about the damages from there? is that something that's also going to be incredibly important in this case that we have not necessarily talked about? >> yes, and i would argue in a way, it is more important than, say, eric trump and don trump jr. because the a.g. knows what they're going to get from those witnesses. they're gonna be constant. they're not looking to help. there is nobody on the a.g. side that was surprised when those witnesses said things like, look, i just for concrete. i'm not involved in this, or i rely on the accountants. they know that testimony is coming. that's why they were building their case with maybe less headline grabbing witnesses. but to me, much more compelling. i mean, you put an expert on the stand to explain to the judge who may not be a, you know, financial wise. this kind of testimony is highly specialized. so, you know, it needs to be something late people can understand. and the judge is having this explain to him that, look, by virtue of these false statements, these defendants saved $168 million. so they had a motive. they had a reason to do this. that's the compelling testimony. >> how much is the gag order going to affect his testimony here, because initially, the former president had a gag order only on himself. now this thing has been expanded to the former president's attorneys as well because of the things that were said about the court clerk, the judge expanding this gag order. and wondering how this is gonna play into him taking the stand on monday? >> there is a jubilee of gag orders, not only this case, but in some of the other criminal cases. and you know, they really raise some really complicated constitutional issues. it is balancing prior straight, which is normally constitutional. normally, the government can't prevent you from speaking. but on the other hand, courts have to safeguard the sanctity, the safety of witnesses. it's always a balancing testimony, and it's a very difficult one. and the reason the judge issued back orders spectacularly interesting, they all appear to be sort of as they come. he is making these decisions from the bench. whereas in the federal cases, you see judges are writing out reason opinions. but the judge is just sitting on the bench apparently after lunch, saying i don't like what he said about my clerk. i'm just gonna show a gag order. >> that doesn't usually happen that way. >> actually, i think it's the distinction between state and federal court. in federal court, you get tons of written opinions, citations, things like that. state court, it's a slightly different game. it's a little less formal innocence. >> are you expecting the same from ivanka on wednesday at her testimony, as we heard from don junior and eric? we're even more distance? >> i think ivanka trump has somewhat more information to add. she has some of the corporate information that i think they're gonna find compelling. keep in mind, part of the basis that the a.g. wanted to bring her in to testify was that her involvement with the corporation, i think, might yield some additional testimony. arguably, ivanka trump may have more information, more substance, maybe compared to erik and don, and certainly more than donald trump senior, former president. i think is gonna have the least substance. i think you're gonna see so much testimony of i don't know, i don't recall. and that wasn't really what i did. >> finally, ivanka trump with executive vice president at the trump organization until early january 2017. danny cevallos, i've always, great to see you, my friend. thank you. up next, brand-new nbc polling shows the most important presidential quality amongst republican iowa caucus voters. also ahead, signs of a possible rift growing between president biden and israel's benjamin netanyahu. plus, and additional return for buffalo bills damar hamlin back in cincinnati where he suffered a cardiac arrest last year. the work that is done to raise awareness for heart health. gotta love that. we'll be back. >> taking a nation of bystanders into a nation of lifesaver. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ pneumococcal pneumonia? 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(inspirational music) - [narrator] wounded warrior project helps post-9/11 veterans realize what's possible. with generous community support. - aaron, how you doing buddy? - [narrator] we bring warriors together and empower them to become stronger inside and out. - it's possible to begin healing - to get the help you need. - to find peace. - [narrator] and as each warrior's needs evolve, so do we. because these last 20 years are just the beginning. >> welcome back. we are exactly 12 months ay from next year's presidential election. and a new new york times siena college poll showing biden trailing former president trump in hypothetical general election matchups in five of the six top battleground states. the biden camp releasing this statement in response, which reads in part this, predictions more than a year out tendto look at your different a year later. we're gonna win in 2024, by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll. it's coming as a new nbc des moines register and media poll revealing that the ability of beating biden is the number one quality iowa republican voters say they're looking for in the presidential candidate. senior political adviser marc murray has more. >> yasmin, the latest numbers from our brand-new nbc news des moines register media poll of iowa ended up testing nine different candidate qualities ahead of the upcoming iowa republican caucuses. the most popular candidate quality is the ability to beat president joe biden, with 74% of likely republican caucus goers saying that that candidate quality is extremely important to them. that is followed by believing in a stronger american role overseas, with 54% sayinghat that candidate quality on the republican side is extremely important. after that, you have, being an adult in the room. and after that, working with the opposing political party. the least popular candidate qualities in our poll are being a person of faith, which is 36% of iowa republicans saying t