. >> reporter: reporter bruce morgan filed this report about o'conner at the time she announced her retirement. >> she is truly a person for all seasons, processing thouz unique qualities of temperament, fairness, and devotion to public good. >> reporter: did the fact that she was a woman matter? she talked to judy woodrift in 2003. >> we all bring to the court our own experiences and backgrounds. my perceptions may be different than my other colleagues but at the end of the day we all must be able to agree to some sensible solution to the problem. >> she reached this result because she was a woman. >> reporter: opened a class of yoga and calestetics for women in the u.s. supreme court building. >> i went to the ywca and asked if they could find me an instructor who would be willing to come here and start a class. so we did. >> reporter: she was tough, she survived breast cancer with a southern whit. >> there was constant media coverage, how does she look? when is she going to step down and give the president another vacancy on the court. you know she looks looks pale to me, i don't give her s