Today on Velsi with Donald Trump's former fixer turn nemesis expected to take the stand in his criminal hush money trial tomorrow.

The defendant slash candidate is unraveling in front of us.

Plus, with major new Russian ground assaults underway, it's time to talk about how much the future of Ukraine is tied to the outcome of the presidential election.

And public school teachers did not ask for a fight, but they've nonetheless found themselves

at the center of the rights war on books. The president of the American Federation of Teachers,

Randy Weingarten joins me to talk about that. Then we all know that Donald Trump

broke American politics. We don't often talk about how he did it. One political scientist has a

provocative theory, and he's suggesting Democrats give it a try. That conversation's ahead.

Velshi starts now.

Hey, good morning to you.

It is Sunday, May the 12th, happy Mother's Day.

In about 24 hours from now, prosecutors in Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York are expected to call to the stand their star witness, Michael Cohen.

On Monday, the ex-president's former longtime personal lawyer will begin his testimony,

which is expected to take several days to complete.

Despite questions about his credibility, Cohen was once part of Trump's innermost circle of confidants. For many years, he was privy to closed-door meetings

related to some of the most sensitive aspects of the former president's business and personal life.

Prosecutors will likely use Cohen's testimony to connect the dots between the tawdry tabloid aspects

of this case and the actual criminal allegations at the center of the prosecution, the falsification of

dozens of business records to cover up the payoff to keep Stormy Daniels quiet.

Stormy Daniels, the former adult film actress with whom Trump is alleged to have had an affair,

took to the stand last week to testify about her interactions over the years with the former president,

much to his obvious dissatisfaction.

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