WASHINGTON – Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo along with his house colleagues will interview former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today.

She takes center stage as the star witness in the Republican-led investigation into the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, is riding the momentum of a solid debate performance.

Meanwhile, the panel’s Republican chairman is scrambling to deflect comments by fellow Republicans that the inquiry is aimed at hurting Clinton’s presidential bid.

“Our committee still has many unanswered questions,” according to Pompeo in a social media statement. “I am confident that these conversations will help us as we continue to try to put together the facts that explain why four Americans were murdered in Benghazi.

-The Associated Press contributed to this story.

VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating after they say a man wearing only underwear approached a group of 5th grade students in Valley Center.

Officials at Valley Center Intermediate School say the man approached the students Wednesday afternoon when they were outside on the tennis courts during a physical education class, and asked them to leave the fenced area and come with him. The students notified teachers, who informed school officials and police.

An alert was sent out to parents about the incident.

According to Valley Center Police Chief Mark Hephner, police did not find anyone that fit the description of the man but officer patrols around the school will be increased for the rest of the week.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man has received three years of probation in a Wichita crash that killed a pregnant woman and the premature baby she delivered before dying.

Zachary Brown was sentenced Wednesday in the death of 21-year-old Trevadawn Pauley and Aniyiah Saiz. Brown had pleaded no contest to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of aggravated battery.

Prosecutors say Brown was weaving in and out of traffic on Aug. 19, 2014 when he crashed into the vehicle that Pauley was riding in. According to prosecutors, Brown thought he had been cut off by another motorist.

Pauley, who was seven months pregnant, was rushed to the hospital and gave birth via emergency cesarean section before dying. Her daughter died a week later due to trauma from the crash.

WHITEWATER –A Kansas woman died from injuries in a head-on crash just before 12:30p.m. on Wednesday in Harvey County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Mazda Six driven by Marilyn B. Hein, 69, Wichita, was eastbound on Kansas 196 six miles west of Whitewater.

The vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a 1995 Ford F250 driven by Gary D. Eck, 59, Newton, head-on.

Hein and Eck were transported to St. Francis Medical Center. Hein died of her injuries.

They were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Traveling to a region in the throes of a drug abuse crisis, President Barack Obama promised Wednesday to use his bully pulpit and federal programs to try to combat the “epidemic” of heroin use and prescription painkiller abuse that is upending communities across the country.

“This crisis is taking lives; it’s destroying families and shattering communities all across the country,” Obama said at a panel discussion on opioid drug abuse. “That’s the thing about substance abuse; it doesn’t discriminate. It touches everybody.”

On stage at a crowded community center, Obama heard from advocates, health care workers, law enforcement officials and policy makers about the depth of a problem that has long simmered at the state level but just recently risen to the national political stage.

Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster said his officers deal with a “community of zombies walking around” in need of treatment. A father of five daughters described what it was like to find one of them had overdosed, a needle hanging from her arm.

Obama said the stories reminded him of his teenage daughters and his own rebellious teen years.

“They’re wonderful girls, but they’re teenagers. They do some … things,” he said. “And I remember me being a teenager. I’ve written about this. I did some … stuff. And I’ve been very honest about it. And so what I think about is ‘there but for the grace of God,’ and that’s what we all have to remember.”

West Virginia has the highest rate of overdose deaths in the U.S. — more than twice the national average, according to a report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

State officials say the problem is damaging the economy, depressing the workforce and overwhelming social services.

Obama’s trip was briefly delayed by Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement from the White House Rose Garden that he would not seek the presidency. The news threatened to overshadow Obama’s attempt to throw a national spotlight on the drug issue, but his visit was closely watched in West Virginia, where his energy policies have made him deeply unpopular.

Obama stressed that the drug abuse problem is a national one.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in July found the number of people who reported using heroin within the past year had nearly doubled from 2002 to 2013. Heroin use was up among nearly all demographic groups, but showed particular spikes among women and non-Latino whites.

Researchers say two factors are driving the trend: the rise in abuse of opioid painkillers — drugs that are often a precursor to heroin — and the increasing availability of cheap heroin.

Researchers found that most users reported using at least one other drug in combination with heroin, which contributes to high overdose rates. Between 2002 and 2013, the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled, and more than 8,200 people — by some estimates, one in every 50 addicts — died in 2013, according to the CDC.

Experts say few prescription drug health care providers are properly trained to safely prescribe painkillers, while access to medication-assisted treatment for addicts is too difficult.

Obama’s visit comes as politicians are grasping for a policy response, including presidential candidates in both parties. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has laid out a $10 billion plan that promotes treatment over incarceration. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has visited drug rehabilitation centers and talked up his work to create drug courts at home that mandate treatment over jail time for non-violent offenders.

Before leaving the White House, Obama ordered federal agencies that employ health care providers to offer training on prescribing painkillers. They also must review their health insurance plans and address policies that might prevent patients from receiving medication as part of their treatment.

Both steps are relatively modest efforts, given the budget stalemate in Congress. The White House has proposed $133 million for new treatment programs. The administration also wants to expand access to medications that can help addicts transition off other opioids, and has also pushed to expand availability of naloxone, which a drug that can reverse overdose.

Cary Dixon, of Huntington, who sat next to Obama during the panel discussion, explained how her 28-year-old son is in prison for drug-related crimes. She said he had been to multiple treatment facilities, including recovery centers, before he was locked up.

She also has a grown daughter, and “we raised both of our children with morals and values,” Dixon said. “And that’s what I try to get across to people that substance abuse, it doesn’t respect anyone. It doesn’t matter what kind of family that you came from, race or economic status. Substance abuse affects everyone.”