>> reporter: manning's appeals lawyers, vince ward, david hammond, and nancy hallender say the military was trying to make an example of her. >> they overcharged and they overreacted. >> and tried to turn it into the case of the century. >> set the whistle-blowers free! >> reporter: her case striking a nerve about the precarious balance between government accountability -- >> no, he shouldn't be prosecuted. >> reporter: and protecting the nation's secrets. >> nominate him for the nobel prize. >> i think he's completely a traitor. >> you can't be messing around with national security data. >> he deserves a medal. >> whistle-blowers play a very important part in our government. >> reporter: within days of being sentenced, manning became the poster child for another cause. and more controversy. what made you decide to come out as trans after being sentenced? >> i had to be who i am. >> reporter: but at ft. leavenworth, a men's military prison, she had to fight for her right to exist as a transgender woman. so your despair was not with the 35-year prison sentence, it was -- >> much more imm

reporter: the request, including letters of support submitted by her legal team, vincent ward and nancy hallender. >> i don't think any of us really thought there was much of a chance. >> reporter: but then, early this year, a shocker. >> i got this call from my receptionist saying, the white house is on the phone. and the voice on the other end said it all in one sentence. >> good afternoon, everybody. >> the president has commuted your client's sentence and is going to announce it in two minutes. i just screamed. i screamed. oh my god! >> i feel very comfortable that justice hasee military who ever took care of chelsea was her commander in chief. president obama. >> in this new cyber age, we're going to have to make sure that we continually work to find the right balance of accountability and openness and transparency that is the hallmark of our democracy. >> then i tried to get myself together and said, does chelsea know? >> six security personnel come and grab me. i don't know what's going on, what's going on? the cnn ticker said, president obama commutes chelsea manning's sentence. and i'm l

reporter: the request, including letters of support submitted by her legal team, vincent ward and nancy hallenderthe white house is on the phone. and the voice on the other end said it all in one sentence. >> good afternoon, everybody. >> the president has commuted your client's sentence and is going to announce it in two minutes. i just screamed. i screamed. oh my god! >> i feel very comfortable that justice has been served. >> the only person in the entire military who ever took care of chelsea was her commander in chief. president obama. >> in this new cyber age, we're going to have to make sure that we continually work to find the right balance of accountability and openness and transparency that is the hallmark of our democracy. >> then i tried to get myself together and said, does chelsea know? >> six security personnel come and grab me. i don't know what's going on, what's going on? the cnn ticker said, president obama commutes chelsea manning's sentence. and i'm like, okay. >> reporter: like everything in her story, her commutation triggered backlash. >> to commute private manning's sente