Your Morning: Star witness Michael Cohen to take stand in Trump hush money trial

Star witness: Former President Donald Trump’s one-time personal attorney Michael Cohen is poised to take the stand Monday in his former boss’ hush money trial. Cohen has been billed as star witness for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in the case, but he will be tasked with convincing the jury that he’s a credible witness. The latest > 

What to expect: Cohen is expected to directly link Trump to the 34 allegedly falsified records he’s charged over, which would be a step that the former president’s current and former employees who have testified have not taken. Trump’s team will likely try to paint Cohen as a liar, as the former fixer testifies about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump’s behalf during his first presidential campaign. Why Cohen’s testimony is considered a pivotal moment in the trial > 

What’s going on: The arrests of suspects in the killings of three surfers in Mexico last month reportedly happened with help from an unusual source: the Sinaloa drug cartel. According to reports, the people who allegedly tried to rob the surfers but ended up killing them were not part of the cartel but low-level robbers acting alone. American Jack Carter Rhode and Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson were reported missing on April 27 during a surfing trip near Ensenada, on Mexico’s Baja peninsula. Police found their bodies a few days later, each one the victim of a gunshot to the head. The Baja California Attorney General’s Office says it has charged Jesús Gerardo “N”, also known as “El Kekas,” with the crime of forced disappearance. Read more > 

Missing: As Americans celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday, one Southern California family marked another holiday without their loved one, who was kidnapped in Mexico over a year ago and remains missing. Maria del Carmen Lopez, a 63-year-old U.S. citizen and grandmother of 19, was taken by armed men from her home in Pueblo Nuevo, Mexico, on Feb. 9, 2023. Her daughter Zonia Lopez spent Sunday putting up missing person posters in the area, now over 400 days since her mother’s abduction. Read more > 

Police week: As National Police Week begins, it coincides with a trend of increasing police deaths. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 58 police officers have lost their lives in the line of duty so far this year, with 20 killed by gunfire. One of the most recent losses occurred over the weekend in Ohio. Full breakdown of National Police Week > 

In Ohio: An Ohio police officer was fatally shot after being “ambushed” while answering a disturbance call over the weekend, law enforcement officials said. Police in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid said officers responded to a home after the complainant told authorities her child’s father threatened to harm her and her mother. Once officers arrived at the home, the woman said the suspect, identified by police as Deshawn Vaughn, was on foot and might be nearby. When officers went to check the backyard, authorities say the suspect opened fire on them. “While police were investigating, a gunman ambushed an officer, striking him with gunfire,” police said. Officers returned fire and later found Vaughn dead inside an apartment after a standoff. Ohio’s attorney general identified the slain officer as Jacob Derbin, who was in his first year with the police department. What to know > 

In Georgia: Three Atlanta police officers were hospitalized with gunshot wounds following an altercation that left a suspect dead Saturday evening. Officers responded to a report of an armed man near a commercial area and found a man with a handgun and a knife, police said. Atlanta’s police chief said during the encounter there was a struggle that included gunfire resulting in the three officers being injured and the death of the person armed with the gun. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe into the shooting. The latest >

What happened: A shooting at a May Day event in Stockton, Alabama, over the weekend left three people dead. Eighteen people were shot, including the three of whom died from their injuries, Saturday night. The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office is following up on leads that there may have been more than one shooter and asking for the public’s help bringing in any information about the case. What to know > 

College graduations: While many pro-Palestinian protests dwindled on college campuses across the country as graduations took place, a group of Duke University graduates opposed comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina. About 30 of the 7,000 students left their seats and chanted “free Palestine” ahead of Seinfeld’s scheduled speech, apparently in protest of the Jewish comedian’s support for Israel. Following the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, Seinfeld voiced his support for Israel and has spoken out against antisemitism. The latest >