'Start Here': Northern California wildfire started near PG&E power facility and inside Chechnya's LGBTQ crackdown
It's Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. Let's start here.
1. PG&E problems
The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, California, erupted near PG&E power equipment that had just experienced an outage, according to an incident report filed by the company on Thursday.
Liz Kreutz from our ABC News affiliate KGO-TV explains that this is just the latest incident in which the utility may be blamed for starting a fire: “Most people in the state who I've talked to say that something needs to change.”
2. Process pushback
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution Thursday condemning the House impeachment process, calling it a "closed door, illegitimate impeachment inquiry."
ABC News Senior National correspondent Terry Moran explains to “Start Here” that eventually Republicans will have to engage on the substance of the allegations against President Trump: “Eventually there will be public hearings. And then this entire line of defense crumbles.”
3. Crackdown in Chechnya
Several LGBT people from Chechnya are speaking out to “Nightline” about their experiences living there amid reported anti-LGBT purges propagated by Chechen police.
ABC News’ James Longman tells us about Amin Dzhabrailov, who fled the region after being held and tortured for days: “At one stage, they put a hood on his head and did a mock execution.”
"Start Here," ABC News' flagship podcast, offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or the ABC News app. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for exclusive content and show updates.
Elsewhere:
'Franco was still watching us': As at least 22 family members of the infamous Spanish dictator Francisco Franco looked on, Franco's body was exhumed in Spain.
'I’ll look too heavy': President Trump said he will attend the World Series in Washington Sunday night, although there's a chance the series won't last that long.
'We, the donors': Amid Trump attacks and lagging fundraising, former Vice President Joe Biden is no longer discouraging the formation of an outside super PAC to support his campaign.
From our friends at FiveThirtyEight:
Departing briefly from politics, Rachael Dottle and Jake Lourim take a deeper look at the question of how widespread is your college football fan base?
Doff your cap:
Over the summer he broke his hip. Earlier this month he got 14 stitches above his left eye. And this week he suffered a minor pelvic fracture.
But seemingly nothing can slow down the indefatigable Jimmy Carter, who was released from the hospital yesterday after his latest health setback.
Carter, who in March became the nation's longest-living president, celebrated his 95th birthday on Oct. 1.
