$在OAD和△OED中$
${{\begin{cases} {{∠DAO=∠DEO}} \\ {∠ADO=∠EDO} \\ {OD=OD} \end{cases}}}$
$∴△OAD≌△OED(\mathrm {AAS}),∴OA=OE,∴CD是⊙O切线$
$(2)过D作DF⊥BC于F$
$易知∠MAO=∠NBO=90°,∴四边形ABFD是矩形,∴DF=AB=12$
$由切线长定理得AD=DE,CB=CE$
$∴CF=BC-BF=y-x,CD=x+y$
$∴CD^{2}=DF^{2}+CF^{2},解得y=\frac {36}{x}(x\gt 0)$
(3)$S_{梯形ABCD}=\frac {(AD+BC)×AB}{2}=78(cm^{2})$
$设AD=x,则可化简得x^{2}-13x+36=0$
$解得x=4或9$
$∴AD=4\ \mathrm {cm}或9\ \mathrm {cm}$