WHERE TO WATCH

If you want to watch the impeachment hearings live starting at 10 a.m., here are your options: PBS will carry the hearings live, as will C-SPAN3, C-span.org and C-SPAN Radio. NBC News, ABC News and CBS News plan to interrupt regular broadcasting with special reports on the hearings. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC plan more extensive airings.

Washington — House Democrats are giving President Donald Trump a reality show for the ages as they take their case public for his impeachment.

But the proceedings are much more than showbiz, with lawmakers considering the use of a grave and seldom-employed power spelled out in the Constitution.

With the bang of a gavel, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff will open the impeachment hearings today into Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden’s family. Big questions loom, including how strongly officials connected what Trump called that “favor” to U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Impeachable offenses? Worthy of Trump’s removal? And critically, will a pair of diplomats and their accounts nudge more Americans behind impeaching the nation’s 45th president ?

It’s all unfolding at 10 a.m. in a pillared House chamber, in the shadow of the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.

Here’s what to know:

Who’s up first?

Shortly after Schiff’s gavel, he and ranking Republican Devin Nunes will begin the questioning. They get 45 minutes each, or designate staff attorneys to do so.

Members of the panel will then get five minutes each to ask questions, alternating between Republicans and Democrats.

There will also be exhibits. Democrats at least, are expected to display excerpts from transcripts, text messages, relevant news articles and social media posts.

The goal is to shutter the hearing by 4:30 p.m.

Know this

“The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Expect numerous mentions of Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution, especially on whether Trump’s own words and actions meet the vague threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Some Democrats and diplomats say conditioning U.S. aid on whether Ukraine goes after Biden’s son, Hunter, sounds like “bribery.” Republicans deny that, saying Trump did not explicitly offer aid for the Biden probe.

What it’s not: A trial, which would be conducted by the Senate if the House approves articles of impeachment. So no matter what the president tweets, he is not entitled to a defense attorney.

... and this

It’s only the fourth time in American history that Congress has launched impeachment proceedings against a sitting president. Two of those — against Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton 130 years later — resulted in their impeachments, or formal charges approved by the House. Both were acquitted by the Senate.

Former President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before the House could vote to impeach him.

The spark

A whistleblower’s complaint about Trump’s July 25 telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ignited the impeachment investigation. Trump responded on Sept. 24 by releasing a rough transcript.

During the hearing today, listen for discussion about a key exchange during that 30-minute call, in which Zelenskiy invokes the still blocked military aid and the U.S. president responds:

“I would like you to do us a favor though.” Trump then asks Zelenskiy to investigate a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election, and later explicitly mentions the Bidens.

Trump says the call was “perfect” and contained no “quid pro quo,” or this for that.

Democrats say it shows Trump using his office to pressure a foreign government to help him politically.