good evening. and we're so glad you could join us for a special edition of "nightline." the world knew her as a consummate professional. a legendary broadcaster. we knew her as cokie. a beloved friend and abc news colleague, cokie roberts. her passing at the age of 75. her fearless breast cancer journey in service to others. soaring tributes pouring in from around the world tonight. >> she was a force of nature. >> she dared us to tell our stories but to also be present. >> she was whip smart. and she was a great reporter. >> a truly pioneering political journalist with countless appearances right here on "nightline." >> reporting from washington,

cokie roberts. >> a trailblazing and devoted grandmother. helping usher in a new era for women in the newsroom. and always, her mantra, family first. a mom and mentor to so many of us, including me. w. oufriendok was example that excellence and kindness are not mutually exclusive. tonight's personal edition of "nightline," celebrating cokie, will be right back.

>> you can't cover american politics, with all of its yeastiness and flavor, without having a love of this country. >> i have provided a service by informing the citizenry. >> you have a front seat to history. you do get used to it, and you shouldn't, because it is a very special thing to be able to be in the room. >> for nearly half a century. >> we're following two major stories tonight. >> my colleague, cokie roberts. >> from the storied capitol rotunda to the frenetic convention floor. >> as you say, we've seen a lot of years of -- >> all the wray to tay to the h

the vatican. cokie roberts covered it all. >> cokie was living history. >> her gift was the gift of a great mind matched with a good person, and that is very rare. >> she was, perhaps, a mother to all of us, but she also dared us to tell our stories, but to also be present. >> she was a force of nature. really, a force of nature. >> she was funny. she was whip smart, and she was a great reporter. >> there's no such thing as fake news. there's either news or it's fake. there are no alternative facts. they're facts or they're not. >> journalism may have been her calling, but politics was cokie's passion. as adept at disarming politicians as she was at calling them out. >> what is your definition of womanizing?

>> most women know it when they see it, senator. inaugurations and moments at conventions and all of that, elections, all of that, but as you well know, the individual interview was someone who is a mom in a shopping mall can tell you more about what's going on in the world and how people feel about it than any of those grand things combined. >> here, in her final appearance on "this week". the show she once anchored. her signature righteous indignation on full display. >> it's not mental illness that causes nine people to die in 30 seconds. it's a high-gauge weapon. >> she helped other women. so she was interested in civil rights, in the environment, cokie was interested in helping people. >> as an award-winning reporter and author, the devoted wife and mom charged her way in an

industry where women were just breaking through. >> women are concerned with economic issues more than anything else. and when women think about economic issue, they tend to think about them different than men. . >> once we discovered cokie roberts was smarter than the rest of us, we notnl to accept her, we dominated by men. >> cokie was my kind of mother. she did not pretend that everything is wonderful and instagram perfect. she would tell you about tough times. cokie made sure that you weren't beating up on yourself. >> she was deeply beloved by her abc colleagues, not just for what she represented but her unfailing kindness. >> cokie's office is a couple doors down from mine. but i remember so many times going in that office. if you had a particularly rough day at work or even at home. and there was something about just walking in there and seeing

that incredible, incredible smile that cokie had or that beautiful laugh. and you just felt better. you knew cokie had been there before. >> her name was a mouthful. mary martha corinne morrison claiborne boggs roberts, but the world knew her as cokie. a nickname from when her brother couldn't say corinne and stuck with her throughout her life. her family saying her career took her to the heights of her profession. but her values put family and relationships above all else. today, four presidents, the speaker of the house and legions of politicians from both sides of the aisle all expressing condolences, extolling the woman so many powerful people called friend. born in louisiana in 1943, cokie roberts was the daughter of long-time u.s. representatives, hale and lindy the house my leader, dieda plane her mother thenis

years. >> the other women who were in washington when i was growing up, we watched run everything. we watched them run the political conventions. campaigns. >> through her parents, she first enjoyed that front row seat to history and politics. as a young girl, she considered joining the family business. but in college her interest in journalism sparked by her future husband, steve roberts. but her love and close ties to washington were never far behind. president lyndon johnson famously even attending her wedding in 1966. she began working at an anchor in washington at 21. and shortly after headed to new york to work as a reporter. >> it was essentially reporting little stories, and i loved it. >> landing at national public radio as a politicalcommentator. >> from abc news --

>> but in 1988, she found her home here. >> the american people don't want this to go on for another year. >> but he can't do an i didn't inhale and i didn't, i wasn't ever drafted. >> working as a contributor on "this week". >> something we've talked a lot about on this program. that people are so agitated and angry and ready to take arms. >> cokie's razor-sharp mind matched only by her warmth which hipped put guests at ease. >> you must be a very important person. >> and always that infectious smile, her hearty laugh. her sassy sense of humor. >> a great laugh. and a wonderful twinkle in her eyes when she laughed. so it was infectious. >> this week would become her home, co-anchoring the show with sam donaldson from 1996 to 2002. >> i that i was her greatest

contribution other than as a great political reporter, and that she brought so many young women into empowerment, into the place they should have been to begin with. >> and she's had a special relationship with our show over the years. >> this is "nightline." substituting for ted koppel and reporting from washington, cokie roberts. >> incredibly, miracles keep happening. >> guest hosting back in 1999 and becoming a mentor and maternal figure to producers and anchors alike. >> cokie helped make "nightline" with ted koppel. ted was the anchor, but he frequently relied on her reporting from congress. and i remember when i became anchor of "nightline," one of the three co-anchors of "nightline" after ted left, i talked to her about it, and she said as she would, you'll do fine. just remember it's not ted's show anymore. it's yours. do it your way, and you'll be good. >> she was a staple of abc's

powerhouse political coverage, interviewing presidents, politicians and first ladies. >> other area of advice that you could give as i'm talking about issues, and of course one that's been so touchy in the republican party is the issue of abortion. where you said at one point, just get it out of the platform. >> i believe that. i believe it's, i believe in states' rights. and i don't think it should be in a national platform. nothing a president can do about it anyway in all honesty, cokie. >> embodying the twin ideals of female empowerment. >> i hate to say it, john, but it's a female thing. women do work together a lot. >> much more so than their husbands. >> much more so than men. >> thank you. >> she would write several "new york times" best sellers, recounting the remarkable and often untold contributions of women in american history. >> when i started out in the

world of work, it was illegal for women to become generals or admirals. so there's a huge change in the years that i've been plowing this street. >> cokie received countless awards, cited as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting, holding more than 30 honorary degrees. >> you must look at the institutions of government, politics, business, the academy, journalism and hold them accountable to the people they are supposed to serve. >> despite a 2002 diagnosis of breast cancer, cokie kept working, inspiring those of us privileged enough to work by her side. she made each and every one of her fellow colleagues better by always striving and reminding us that empathy is a cornerstone of journalism. cokie roberts, loving wife, devoted mother of two, doting grandmother of six. a shining example for us all, and yet, for all her triumphs,

this is how she wanted to be remembered. >> there's no question to me what she would want to be remembered as, as a great mom. and a great wife. and a great-grandmother. and a great daughter. >> by far, the best of all, i have become a grandmother. caretaking. that's common thread that runs through these stories. no matter what else women are doing, we are also mothering. taking care of somebody or something and for the most part, doing it joy ousley. i think we've been doing it awfully well for a very long time. that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum. it's specially-designed with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. cascade platinum's unique actionpacs dissolve quickly... ...to remove stuck-on food. . . for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. choose the detergent that lets your dishwasher do the dishes!

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i've laecearned that women throughout our history have been incredibly influential and unbelievably brave. >> cokie roberts wasn't just a journalist. she was a survivor. wenaround the world learnst ca. >> cokie roberts in the house. >> in 2002, it was cokie. but in true cokie fashion, she refused to let it beat her or even take her off the air. >> i felt, first going on the air in a wig that i looked really goofy. and election night 2002, it was my best wig. it was the human hair wig, not the synthetic wig. and i thought it just looked awful. so i don't know. it's hard. >> her bravery inspiring others, like this up and coming tv writer, jessica queller. >> at the time, i don't remember

feeling very brave, but i remember cokie continually telling me that i was very brave. >> jessica's mother had just died from ovarian cancer. in 2004, jessica took a then groundbreaking genetic test and found out she was positive for the braca gene which put her at high odds to get breast cancer. >> she asked if i wanted to speak to her mother-in-law. i knew her mother-in-law was cokie roberts. and i absolutely was enamored by cokie. i was intimidated by cokie. i was a huge fan of cokie's. >> tonight, the story of the young woman who learns what she's inherited from her mother. >> a year later, jessica decided to tell the world, sharing her story with cokie, right here on a special edition of "nightline." >> just tell me the story of deciding to get tested for the breast cancer gene. >> my mother had had breast

cancer, which she beat. >> that interview with cokie roberts on "nightline" absolutely changed my life. it was a turning point in my life. >> jessica discussing the new science that she hoped would help save her life. >> and he said yes, it's very bad. it means you will most likely get cancer at some point in your life and it's a very good thing you took this test. >> and after you got that news, we should say here, i was one of the people you contacted, because you are a very good friend of my daughter-in-law. you were in my son's wedding, and you knew that i had had breast cancer. >> yes. >> jessica said it was cokie's warmth that made it possible for her to talk about something so intimate, so painful. >> i remember looking into cokie's eyes and feel ago sense of calm and feeling that i was going to be taken care of, and that i was with someone who cared about me personally, as well as cared about being the

best journalist that she would be. and my nerves fell away once i connected with cokie, and i was grounded. >> cokie even revealing her personal struggle. >> and i said to you that one of the options was to get breast cancer and treat it. >> mm-hm. >> every day there are more treatment options, more therapies available. >> mm-hm. >> for breast cancer. >> mm-hm. >> many of us are walking around, having had breast cancer, and you said that was just not an option for you. >> well, i spoke to many oncologists around the country, one of whom was your doctor, and i think it was she who told me it really is a personal choice. to me, breast cancer is the worst thing in the world. i came to the decision that i, i would do anything i needed to do to prevent it in the first place. >> jessica says the interview and the example cokie set helped put her on a path towards advocacy and leadership.

all these years later, a mother herself. >> the way cokie treats her son and her daughter and her grandchildren, that's the kind of mother and grandmother that i aspire to be. >> throughout her storied career, cokie was known for always putting family first. >> my favorite quote from cokie is when she was asked about her breast cancer scare in 2002. when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, and someone asked if it changed her perspective on life. and she said no. i've always had the same perspective on life, family first. that was a message she tried to make sure we all heard. >> cokie and her husband steve recently celeb wedding adversary. their interfaith marriage blending his jewish and her

catholic faith seamlessly. >> part of it was get being steve to propose to me. getting to the wedding it wasn't bad at all. >> cokie roberts was someone who really walked the walk of the gospels. you talk to people, all kinds of people, about her kindness, the acts of kindness that came naturally to her, the discipline of kindness in a way. >> genuine kindness was her hallmark. part of her legacy, her fight against breast cancer, from which we now know she died. and yet her brilliant career seems merely a backdrop to her life's true mission. >> how would you like to be remembered? >> i'd like to be remembered as a mother and a wife and friend. of people that i love very, very much. it's how we care for our cancer patients- like job. when he was diagnosed with cancer, his team at ctca created a personalized care plan to treat his cancer and side effects.

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and finally tonight, long before i was married or had kids, i had the great, good fortune of being one of cokie's field producers back in 1992. on work life balance, she once told me, you can have it all, juju, but maybe not at the same

time. i think about her advice often and dispense it. cokie was no stranger to loss. she knew how precious life was andinng tonight we will all miss her wisdom and compassion. good night, america.

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