At Wednesday's hearing, Tripp attorneys Joseph Murtha and David Irwin managed to get the women to concede that their testimony about what Tripp said may have been influenced by news media accounts of the Starr investigation and the impeachment proceedings before Congress.

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Among the speakers were US actors Hayek and Matthew McConaughey, award-winning scientist and environmentalist Dr David Suzuki, Canadian astronaut Julie Payette and Bindi Irwin, the young daughter of the late Australian wildlife expert, Steve Irwin.

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