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By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — House Oversight Chair James Comer has agreed to the dates Bill and Hillary Clinton proposed for depositions in the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein probe, putting an end to the contempt of Congress proceedings that had been moving forward against them.

The former president is scheduled to appear on February 27 and the former Secretary of State to appear on February 26 under the terms that Comer had previously set.

Two sources had earlier told CNN that the Clintons agreed to appear for depositions on the panel’s terms, but also suggested they wanted public hearings.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, backed the Clinton’s request to testify publicly to the panel.

“They’ve also requested that the hearings be public hearings. They just made that request today. I strongly support that. I think the idea of moving that deposition from being a private to public, is good for the for the American people. And I support that,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

This story is breaking and has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Alison Main contributed to this report.

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By Natasha Bertrand, CNN

(CNN) — A US aircraft carrier shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively approached” the ship in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday hours before two gunboats operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps approached a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to board and seize the ship, according to a US military spokesman.

The two incidents occurred days before US and Iranian officials are due to meet Friday for diplomatic negotiations meant to avert a military clash.

In the first incident on Tuesday, US forces shot down an Iranian drone “as the unmanned aircraft aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was transiting the Arabian Sea about 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a US Central Command spokesman.

“The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters,” Hawkins said. An F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln shot down the drone to protect the carrier and its personnel, he said.

“No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no U.S. equipment was damaged,” Hawkins said.

Hours later, two Iranian gunboats approached the M/V Stena Imperative — a chemical tanker operated by Americans flying under the US flag in the Strait of Hormuz — passing the ship three times at high speeds as an Iranian Mohajer drone also flew overhead, said Hawkins. During one of their passes, the Iranians threatened via radio call that they would board and seize the tanker. The tanker was in international waters, Hawkins said.

US military forces operating in the area responded when they learned of the Iranian threats. The USS McFaul destroyer escorted the tanker away from the area along with defensive air support from the US Air Force, Hawkins added. The situation de-escalated as a result.

Hawkins said the Iranian behavior was an example of the Iranians’ “unprofessionalism and aggressive behavior” that increases the risk of miscalculation for vessels operating in the area and said their “harassment” in international waters won’t be tolerated by the US.

The incidents come as President Donald Trump has been weighing a major strike on Iran amid stalled discussions about limiting that nation’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production.

In the last week the US military has accelerated a buildup of military hardware in the Middle East, deploying the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region along with three guided-missile destroyers and the carrier air wing, which includes squadrons of F/A-18E Super Hornet fighters, F-35C Lightning II fighters, and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets.

The Navy also has three destroyers — the USS McFaul, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USS Mitscher — in the region separate from the carrier strike group.

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CNN Editorial Research

(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Personal

Birth date: May 15, 1937

Death date: March 23, 2022

Birth place: Prague, Czechoslovakia

Birth name: Marie Jana Korbelova

Father: Josef Korbel, diplomat

Mother: Mandula Korbel

Marriage: Joseph Albright (1959-1983, divorced)

Children: Katharine, 1967; Anne and Alice (twins), 1961

Education: Wellesley College, B.A., 1959; Columbia University, M.A., 1968; Columbia University, Ph.D., 1976

Religion: Raised Roman Catholic, converted to Episcopalian

Other Facts

The first female secretary of state of the United States.

Known for wearing brooches or decorative pins to convey her foreign policy messages.

Her family escaped Czechoslovakia 10 days after the Nazi invasion.

Albright learned later in life about her family’s Jewish heritage.

Timeline

1976-1978 – Maine Senator Edmund Muskie’s chief legislative assistant.

1978-1981 – Serves as a White House staff member and congressional liaison for the National Security Council under Zbigniew Brzezinski in the Carter administration.

1981 – Senior fellow in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

1982-1993 – Serves a dual appointment at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service: research professor of International Affairs and director of the Women in Foreign Service Program.

1984 – Works as foreign policy coordinator for the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Walter Mondale.

1984-1993 – Vice-chairman of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

1988 – Senior foreign policy adviser for the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis.

1989-1993 – President of the Center for National Policy.

1990 – Works as an interpreter and adviser to Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel during his first state visit.

1992 – Foreign policy adviser to presidential candidate Bill Clinton.

January 27, 1993 – Is confirmed as the US ambassador to the United Nations.

January 23, 1997 – Albright is sworn in as the 64th secretary of state.

April 23, 1997 – Testifies on NATO expansion in hearings before the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

October 23-24, 2000 – Visits Pyongyang, North Korea, becoming the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the country or meet its leader, Kim Jong II.

January 20, 2001 – Albright leaves office when Clinton’s second term ends and President George W. Bush is inaugurated.

2001 – Founds global strategy firm The Albright Group LLC.

Winter 2001-present – Serves as ch

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