a.g. doug ansler to lead an independent investigation. >> what we're seeing are e-mails that would be offensive to any reasonable-minded person. >> reporter: researchers spent months rifling through 5 million e-mails, searching terms like the president's name to detect limits. with this supposed depiction of michelle obama's high school reunion. >> you say, you've got to be kidding me, who made the decision to think this is an appropriate thing to send? >> reporter: these aren't the battles kath reason cain grew up expecting to fight. a blue collar kid from scran tan. >> fair to call your upbringing hardscrabble? >> i think so. modest, yes. i wouldn't change it. i had two brothers and a twin sister. >> reporter: she studied hard, rising star in pennsylvania's democratic party earning bill clinton's endorsement while running for attorney general. >> i knew i could run for office and i wasn't about to ask anyone's permission. >> reporter: she won, becoming the state's first democrat elected attorney general and the first woman. >> my philosophy is i am who i am. >> reporter: when she exposed the