Kavanaugh And Ford Will Testify Today. Here's What You Need To Know

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with the American public, will for the first time on Thursday hear directly from Christine Blasey Ford, the university professor who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were both teenagers in high school.

She and Kavanaugh will both testify under oath, in public. The stakes couldn't be higher; a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court may rest on whose account senators believe. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say they plan to follow the hearings closely, with many yet to make up their minds, according to an NPR-PBS Newshour-Marist poll.

Since Ford's accusation first came to light, two other women have come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of improper sexual conduct. And while the hearing will focus on events that allegedly occurred in the 1980s, it will be viewed through the prism of America in 2018, and