‘Start Here’: Kavanaugh, Cohen and Amazon. What you need to know to start your day.

FAN Editor

It’s Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. Here’s what you need to start your day:

1. Kavanaugh accuser willing to testify, lays out conditions

Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who’s accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, said she’s willing to testify on Capitol Hill, with some conditions.

In an email to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ford’s lawyer said she “wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety.”

Republicans offered Ford a hearing on Monday, which Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations, agreed to, but her lawyer said it was “not possible.”

As for Chairman Chuck Grassley’s next move, it’s time to negotiate with Ford, says ABC News Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran.

“They each had some leverage,” Moran said, “and they each had some exposure and that usually results in a deal. That looks like what we’re getting here.”

Could Ford still hold out for a full FBI investigation? Brad Garrett, an ABC News crime and terror analyst and a former FBI agent, walks us through how investigators might build a behavioral profile of Kavanaugh and his accuser.

2. Michael Cohen speaks to Mueller’s team for hours

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney, has sat down for hours of questioning over the past month with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to discuss all aspects of Trump’s dealings with Russia, sources told ABC News.

“If I were someone connected to this investigation, in any way, I would be more worried now at this point if I hadn’t been talked to,” ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, who broke the story, tells us.

3. Cardinal Dolan hires judge to review sex-abuse policies

The Archdiocese of New York has appointed a former federal judge to review sexual-abuse cases as Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, looks to restore the trust of Catholics.

At the announcement yesterday, Dolan conceded, “If I lose the trust of my people in this community, I don’t have much left.”

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky breaks down the significance of the appointment: “I think there is an argument to be made that this generation of bishops in the United States is taking this a little bit more seriously and recognizing that trust in them, and in the church at large, is eroding.”

4. Amazon rolls out 70 new products, including a microwave

A wall clock, a smart plug and a microwave — these were among the 70 new devices and features unveiled by Amazon yesterday.

Engadget Editor in Chief Dana Wollman explains: “Amazon just wants as many ways as possible to enter your home, and then it’s going to pay attention and see what really has traction in the market.”

In other news:

‘To see him led out in handcuffs or shackles would be quite a triumph, I think, for all of us’: Bill Cosby is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

A man who choked a woman and masturbated on her and told her he “wasn’t really going to kill her, that he needed her to believe she was going to die so that he could be sexually fulfilled” is now free after one year of house arrest.

Police in Washington, D.C., have arrested a man accused of stabbing to death a 35-year-old jogger.

Four people were killed, including the shooter, at a drugstore facility in Maryland.

‘We started out — I didn’t like him, he didn’t like me. And as we fought and fought and fought, believe it or not, we started to respect each other, then we started to like each other, then we started to love each other’: The president talks about a senatorial candidate.

From our partners at FiveThirtyEight:

Can A Democrat Really Win A Senate Race In Tennessee? Or Mississippi?!?!

Last ‘Nightline’:

Bolivia’s salt flats are key to its future: The nation hopes it will revolutionize its economy by becoming “the Saudi Arabia of lithium” as global demand for the resource explodes.

Recent murders highlight dangers for female joggers: Wendy Karina Martinez was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in Washington, D.C.

On this day in history:

Sept. 21, 1981 — Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first female Supreme Court justice.

Today’s must-see photo:

Lebanese Shiite Muslims mourn as they listen to the Al-Hussein biography during the Ashura Day procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. (photo credit: Nabil Mounzer/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

For more great photos from around the world click HERE.

What’s hot on social:

Watch as this father allegedly uses his daughter to steal toys and prizes from inside of a claw machine at a mall located in New Hampshire. Police say the man has since been arrested.

All right, you’re off and running. You can always get the latest news on ABCNews.com and on the ABC News app. Details on how to subscribe to the “Start Here” podcast are below. See you tomorrow!

“Start Here” is a daily ABC News podcast hosted by Brad Mielke featuring original reporting on stories that are driving the national conversation. Listen for FREE on the ABC News app, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio — or ask Alexa: “Play ‘Start Here.'”

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