due to mature subject matter viewer discretion is advised. msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons into a world of chaos and danger. now the scenes you've never seen "lockup: raw" in every jail and prison we visit. >> it is a sewer salamander. be a nice trophy for the wall. >> there are people and things. to make lasting impressions.

from transgender inmates. >> myself and my celly are dressed as girls. >> i run this city with an iron fist. >> to those with dreams of stardom. >> i be moving on these kids i don't do it for the shine. i forgot the part. >> and our production team reveals what it's like to be up close and personal in a maximum security lockup. >> you want to be on tv? >> i want to be on tv. >> cool, cool. >> boom. life for most inmates in jail or prison consists of long monotonous days broken up with the occasional moments of sheer terror. so when our lockup production team shows up, there's a lot of buzz. at first the inmates are very cautious and play it close to the vest. but as the interviews go on they become more comfortable and

start to reveal things about themselves and some become showmen. >> hey. ♪ >> i see the clock on the wall. the rhyme is still ripping. >> i'm through drinking gin and juice and tangeray. >> the day's over here. >> back to the strip [ bleep ] legit. >> lock up, lock up. >> while many inmates are eager to share their stories or talents with us -- delshawn bloodworth, an inmate at boston suffolk county jail took things to another level. >> you know i'm about ready to get ready for my video shoot and about my show my biceps and abs and [ bleep ] and about to be wavy. >> dell delshawn caught our attention right away >> i'm going to show you that in

a minute. >> he saw it as an opportunity to showcase himself. and he was concerned about how he was coming across to the viewers. >> do i look good? >> you look fine. >> my hair look good? >> do you see all my features? i did it with the razor. >> i want to be famous. i want to be someone that everyone remembers. i want to be not just a locally famous. i want to be internationally famous across the world. i want -- >> for what? >> for rapping. >> i run this city with an iron fist you going against it i'm going to have to break your wrist. i can't have you shooting at my team. that's a big no no. teachers told me sit down i was like police say freeze i was like because i'm always in that rebel state of mind i be posting on lawmen i ain't that hard to find. watch how easily and chewing up this time. i be moving on these kids.

i don't do it for the shine. damn i forgot the part. >> that was good. >> that was good. >> he didn't just rap about a life of crime he came to jail on charges of armed robbery and assault and battery. >> they say after we took the guy's money allegedly that i punched him in his face, thinking i was going to beat my charge. i was wrong and i'm still in jail ever since. >> both these guys are coming out right? >> yeah. >> bloodworth's stay at suffolk county was also marked by violence. he and his cell mate were both in the segregation unit after they attacked another inmate. >> you guys feeling like a real criminal here. >> and on the first day we met bloodworth he decided to put on another display of violence. though cuffed and shackled for

his one hour recreation time per day, bloodworth attacked another inmate as we followed behind. >> usually when you're filming an inmate they're a little more cautious about what they're doing because they know they're on camera. this was blatant. this was right in front of us. it happened right there. he knew he was being filmed at the time he started this fight. >> central control we have two restrained -- >> you thought it was over, huh? you thought it was over. [ bleep ] >> we later learned that this fight was the result of a dispute that followed bloodworth from the streets into the jail. >> delshawn bloodworth has a distinction of trying to switch his gang affiliations. he was in a constant battle with different feuds and he is fighting the friends with the old neighborhood. that is his problem right now. >> if you are jumping in a gang and you don't know that these things are a part of the

gangster package you shouldn't be in it, simple as that. >> basically if i'm getting this straight you made a decision to live your life in a perpetual war that has no end in sight and that's okay? >> i never said it was okay. you know what i mean. i don't feel it's okay. but will i sit back and allow them to always be on offense coming at us all the time? no. i'm going to put them on defense which means i will be running through your hood and i will be letting that thing go. they want to white flag it, we can do that. but on this side we never white flag it. >> bloodworth was put in a single man cell following the latest attack, and for all of his bravado, our next visit

revealed some of his fears and not just any ordinary fears. >> hopefully the world don't blow up because i don't want to die in here. 2012 the world might end. the world might end. you don't believe that? >> you're going to reference the mayan calendar? >> the mayan calendar, yes. socrates said it himself. i just find it funny that all the philosophers point to 2012 as it blowing up. boom! that's it. it's over. i want to get a [ bleep ] before i die and i want to smoke a blunt and get a cigarette. you know what i mean? i don't want to be with a bunch of dudes. >> it would be another month before our next check in with bloodworth. it was clear he had missed the attention. >> tracy. what's up? you are going to swerve and not say nothing? >> i was going to say bye. >> the most unusual thing is the way he would interact with us. he was interested in us coming up to his door.

>> you be on some funny [ bleep ] i just want to say hi and just walk away. we used to have deep conversations. we used to go in, tracy. like what happened? like -- see you all be getting tired of me. that's what it is. >> we have some place scheduled to be. >> you see? i thought i was the main cojones. i got the get my face on. >> i thought i was the main person. me right there. everybody else is just -- >> like what? lockup boston delshawn. >> yeah. no bull. it's funny because i was really thinking that. it's crazy. >> coming up -- >> that doesn't make he look good. >> delshawn bloodworth is caught in a lie. and -- >> can we throw a gang sign? >> and experiencing lockup with our field team. >> if you get lackadaisical about it, salesmen something can

really happen. dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have like, a ton of dollars. but how are they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or, "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology, and majors in efficiency.

so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing-out, and yes, especially dollars. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call.

during our extended stay shoot at the suffolk county jail in boston, delshawn bloodworth warmed up to the cameras. >> working with what i got. it's all i got. >> and seemed determined to make a lasting impression on us. >> all right. all right. >> we were also with bloodworth when his life reached a major turning point. he accepted a plea deal on his armed robbery and battery charges and sentenced to two and a half years. we followed him from the suffolk county jail facility for pre-trial detainees to the nearby house of correction where he would serve his sentence. >> got to school these young boys about the television business. >> our next interview with bloodworth was more serious. he had told us earlier that the victim of his crime was a man but later we discovered that wasn't true.

>> the police blotter on your charges said you robbed a woman. what was the deal? >> that don't look good. makes me look like a sucker. when you hear someone robbed a female, they say really? you're that much of a coward you have to rob a woman. i'm ashamed of robbing a female. >> after the robbery bloodworth and his accomplice were quickly apprehended. but for bloodworth, the arresting officer added the ultimate insult. >> step on my shoe my new all white adidas. i was mad. i was mad. it was fresh. >> you robbed someone with a gun and you were mad because a policeman stepped on your new tennis shoe? i just want to make sure -- >> yeah, you right. but you know -- i like to give punishment, i don't like to receive it. >> the final interview with bloodworth ended with a revealing exchange. >> do you think you deserve to be in here? >> no.

i don't think i deserve to be in here. >> what do you think you would be doing if you were out on the street right now? >> the same thing. >> you don't think you should be in here? >> i don't think i should the people the law-abiding citizens do who don't want to get robbed. it's a cold world. it's a cold world. i need money, you have it. the way i get it is by robbing you. i'm saying i know it's wrong and what's right. you know what i mean. i'm not dumb. >> you're not that's what i am giving you such a hard time. you're very far from dumb. >> you know i just -- it's just -- it's plenty of ways to make money, you know? but that's the way i just chose how to make it. >> you don't have to do it by making the world a colder place. that's all i'm saying delshawn. that's all i'm saying. >> you know i think if i was to

go out to, to let's say one of the supermarket -- not supermarkets, one of the retail stores or something like that, as soon as i get out i don't think they're going to hire me. >> i think you should work where they don't have cash registers. that's what i would suggest. >> what would you suggest? >> take responsibility is what i would suggest. you have to own what you do. >> i own a gun and i own robbing people. >> all right. have i given you enough grief for the day? >> no but if you all want to leave, bye. you all look like you're tired of me. you all getting tired of me. i can tell. >> no we're not because we haven't been around for a while? >> that too. >> we have 20 other people we are following. i think you are taking it a little personally.

>> bloodworth's interview where a serious moment suddenly turns humorous. >> look at that stance. get a shot of that stance. >> is not uncommon. >> that is steady. >> one of the things i love about watching the raw footage come in from the field are the kind of twists and turns these interviews take. our producers are talking to these inmates about usual hi some serious topics, sensitive topics. and inevitably there will come a time where the producer and the inmate are laughing. some humorous topic came up in the middle of one of these interviews. and i think it's a testament to our field teams that they're able to get these intimate, personal interviews in an extreme environment like prison. >> do you mind being on tv? >> no i want to be on tv. >> i have to get your signatures and take a quick polaroid. try to do this in an orderly fashion. >> i'm second. >> i love your show. >> not only are there the rules that the prison or jail gives

you but there are the rules i have grown accustomed to live by while i'm in a facility. and one is never become too comfortable. you are in a prison or a jail. >> are you nervous at all sir? >> i do this all the time. >> let me give my picture first. >> you all will get a chance. don't worry. >> can we throw a gang sign? >> can we throw a gang sign? >> no. it's good. >> what's up? >> yeah, yeah, that's different. that's for the big camera. that's what this is for. >> you can't forget that. if you get lackadaisical about it then something could really happen. >> i got a little superstitious and i've been wearing the exact same baseball hat and i figure we've gotten this far safely. why change-up the program now? so i'm going to wear the same baseball hat until the shoot is over with. >> people often ask me and other members of the lockup crew if we've ever been attacked or

assaulted, if we've been scared or intimidated. >> i've never been scared or felt in danger. because of the bond that i feel like we have with these inmates and the understanding of why we're there and what we're there to achieve. having said that, though, i'm not naive. there is always the possibility that something could happen. >> we're told we have to prepare for that. but we always have staff around us in the case of doing a one-on-one interview i tend to get fairly close to the person i'm interviewing because it's how i can engage and have communication and always talked to my camera crew that god forbid that something happens i have faith that they as well would step in because they are usually right around me so they might be able to help me quicker than a staff member. >> but ultimately the crew's safety could come down to the inmate's own code known as the convict code. >> there are certain prisons

where even when you've established a certain rapport with inmates they've made it very clear to me that if another inmate attacks me they will not come to my aide. that's against the convict code. other prisons inmates say they will protect me. i have been told they are watching me to make sure nobody hurts me. >> in certain high-security housing units lockup field teams are required by the prison to wear stab-proof vests before entering. >> the first time i put on a stab vest was in indianaed at wabash valley. it was definitely an uneasy feeling knowing i had to wear this to walk on to the unit an that the potential to be stabbed was higher here. it definitely makes you a little more on your toes and a lot more alert of your environment. >> we noticed that these vests said lock down.

wile we're here we're going to slowly but surely change every stinkin' one of them. >> if i'm required to wear a stab vest i usually just make light of it. i joke around about how it adds ten pounds to me and the color don't go with my outfit. i make it into a joke. >> and a sense of humor goes a long way in breaking the ice with many of the inmates featured on lockup. >> coming up the one lockup crew member inmates love to rib. >> sometimes i'll hear people say stuff through their cell, hey fat boy. i have to look at myself, really? >> and later previously unseen clips from one of the more memorable inmates we ever met.

you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today.

brave knights! as you can clearly see from this attractive graph that our sales have increased by... sorry, my liege. honestly. our sales have increased by 20%. what is this mystical device i see before me? it's an ultrabook. he signed the purchase order. with an ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned. introducing the ultra sleek, ultra responsive ultrabook. a whole new class of computers powered by intel.

"lockup: extended stay" field teams spend weeks at a time in maximum security prisons throughout the nation. we cover stories that range from horrifying to heart breaking.

and sometimes the only way to get through it all. >> ryan, think fast. >> is with a sense of humor. especially for our director of photography, brian kelly. >> this was my former life before i was an expert camera operator. >> and he is shooting at the same time. >> look at that finger dexterity. >> one of the things that makes this shoot enjoyable. >> amazing. >> wow. >> under some pretty difficult circumstances is the humor. >> take it one day at a time. >> and i'll be the first one to admit i get made fun of a lot. and it's okay. i laugh with them. it's almost like a bonding situation. >> [ laughter ] >> play that part again just -- one more time about the -- just for this. and look at -- >> i like the voice. i like brian's voice coming out of you. >> i think it's good. >> i like it.

>> hey fellas. >> brian's a target for some of the teasing that we get on the inside. >> one more thing. i got to ask. >> is that how i sound? >> absolutely. >> yeah. yeah. >> i have to ask the most embarrassing question i can think of but look at susan. >> remember yesterday when your rubbed your face and were deep in thought. can you do that deep in thought face again? can you cry on cue? >> that's not really what happens just for the record. but sometimes i see a creative an than i -- angle that i like and i will have them do the same action again, so i get a lot of heat. could you just do that one more time? do i really sound like that? maybe i do. but it's okay. like i said. i take it. it's no big deal. >> chili cheese fritos. >> they like to tease back and

forth and get a rise out of him or something. >> he's making funny faces. >> sometimes i will hear things like hey fat boy through their cell. >> i don't what picture. >> and i got to look at myself. really? >> sometimes there are opportunities for the production team to try their hand at some of the more creative methods inmates use to pass time in prison. through a technique known as fishing, inmates pass everything from notes to books and snacks by tying them to a string they call a fishing line. they then skillfully drag the item from one cell to another. the more advanced practitioners can fish from one floor to another. >> it's a big fish. >> is it a skill that requires a lot of practice.

>> while the crew was filming i came across i think it was a mouthwash with a fishing line wrapped up around it. i had only heard about fishing at this point. when i saw the line i wanted to try it. i asked the co if it was okay for me to try to fish. so they said sure. >> tracy, what are you doing? >> fishing. >> we looked inside one of the units and there was a note on the floor. i immediately tried to start fishing for that note through the door. i had no idea what i was doing. i was not throwing the line right. i just had no clue. they started giving us little pointers on holding it tighter or go to the left. >> they are saying this way. so come this way. none of us actually ever got it. ♪

>> the great thing about field producing lockup is we witness firsthand how these diverse groups of people under very adverse and extreme circumstances form societies. they have laws. they have rules. they have corporal punishment. they oftentimes have their own language. they form their own clicks. -- cliques. to me that's fascinating. it's watching human nature at its very basic level and seeing how we all are. >> no two days are alike. >> give me 30 more seconds. >> we'll set out to have a plan on what we're going to shoot and arrive at 8:00 in the morning and by 8:10 a.m. everything has changed. so it creates its own issues but i wouldn't trade it. i love dealing with the inmates i love talking to them. i love learning about people. >> it's a way to also look at yourself because there but for certain fates could be any of us. so for me it's just an amazing

observation of human natiure, a amazing chance to experience ourselves. coming up -- >> the judge is out there listening to this right now, mr. judge, may i say you look marvelous today? >> more from the inmate lockup viewers know as the indiana catman. >> see you later.

here's what's happening. president obama will travel to colorado the visit with the victims of friday's shooting and their families tomorrow and the president will also meet with local officials. the 12 people who were killed have been identified including a 6-year-old girl and a bomb squad blew up some of the explosives material from james holmes' apartment. he is the lone suspect in the shooting and he is being held in solitary confinement. now back to "lockup." due to mature subject matter viewer discretion is advised.

during a lockup extended stay shoot our production team spends months inside a single prison or jail. they interview close to a hundred inmates and staff in that period. everyone has a story and some of the inmates are unforgettable. it is surprising to run into one of them a few years later in another facility. >> hello, everybody it's me the stone. i guess you people probably seen me once before in michigan city. now i'm down here at wabash. >> few inmates have ever made more of a lasting impression on us than james stone. we first met him in michigan city, indiana, during our extended stay shoot at indiana state prison. >> say hi to the public out there jinxster. >> he was known for his constant companion jinxster the cat he

was allowed to adopt through a special prison program. >> trying to make a swimming pool in here. >> he was also known for his offbeat sense of humor. >> it's a bird, it's a plane now it's the biobucket man. to the bat cave. >> three years later, when we returned to indiana to shoot our extended stay series at the wabash valley correctional facility, we were surprised to see stone again. he had recently been transferred there. >> i talk to guys who come in here who recognize me that say you are the catman, ain't you? the best thing i can do is say i'm him "meow." see you later. stone is saving 101 years for murder and deviant conduct but he says he is a changed man. he credited that to his relationship with jinxster and a nearly identical cat he had in

prison years earlier named jinx. >> as you can see he was a large fat. he wasn't fat either. he was muscle-bound. >> you miss your papa. >> because wabash doesn't have a cat program, jinxster lives with stone's family. while he lost his cat he hadn't lost his sense of humor. >> try to keep the happy go lucky attitude and stay in stoneyland for a while there. >> tell me about stoneyland. >> stoneyland is just so i don't have to think about stuff. i take things how i like them. >> my grandpa wears them nowadays. >> don't care what other people think. >> it's a home run. >> i stay in stoneyland. i don't need no psychotherapists. i don't need no medication. if i had an s right there it would mean stone. >> being in stoneyland is how he

got through prison. he kept us laughing. >> can you show me your tattoo? >> i'll show you mine if you show me yours? got to take a shot sometimes. >> it's a nickname i picked up in tijuana. they call me tijuana tom because nobody beat me in arm wrestling. >> you're going to stoneyland. >> he is hilarious. he's constantly messing with our gear. once there is a boom mic over you he'll start playing with it like it's a cat toy. li like drilling a hole. >> he's constantly laughing and making jokes of a situation. >> it's a north american sewer salamander. be a nice trophy to put on the wall. >> a lot of one-liners. >> hello grandma. you still working as a stripper? >> according to marcus murray who did time with him at indiana state prison and was also transferred to wabash, stone's

cat and his sense of humor aren't all he's known for. >> yes, i know stoney all his tallness and big hair. it's awesome '70s hair. it's an icon actually. it's him and conan o'brien. they're synonymous for having the best and most awesome dos of all time. >> getting haircuts out here whoever wants to sit down out there can cut hair with burrs. not me. you ain't taking my hair off. i like getting it thinned but don't caught cut me wald. it makes it sort of rough getting haircuts around here. >> the lack of a good haircut is not his only complaint about wabash. >> this is one of the best meals we got out of the whole menu. and we still ain't figured out what the meat is. it is alpacas or guineas or a combination of both. an alpaq-guinea. mainly what you get down here seven days a week you can count

on it like clock work that is rice and dehydrated potato flakes. as i was saying, rice that means tonight we'll have potatoes on here. dehydrated potatoes. >> they add water to them and it's like sea monkies. they add water, poof, you know. stone says he had a better diet at indiana state prison because the inmates were allowed to tend gardens and grew their own food. >> this place has so much area that is not being used. they could do the same thing down here. if they allowed gardening, this place could self feed itself even. this place has got so much potential. but yet they don't use it. they don't have no cat programs down here. they don't allow no gardens down here. they don't allow no hobby crafts down here. you're pretty much not even allowed responsibilities down here. it's not a place where you have a way of life, you know? instead it's just you're here.

that's it. you're just here. >> rehabilitation is a sense of responsibility, sense of duties and stuff like that. if you're not given those or not given the opportunity to accept those then the word "rehabilitation" just don't exist in the first place. we were locked up for rehabilitation. that's what the judge said. i don't see how 101 years have anything to do with rehabilitation unless i will be a mummy. >> after 26 years of incarceration, stone says he deserves a second chance on the outside. >> really i've went through all these different courses na, aa, ba's whatever the hell's got an a on the end of it, i've went through them. the cat program, the landscaping program. i've done so many different programs it's just -- i've been reprogrammed, more or less. >> i would think i earned my freedom after doing over 26 years already.

all i'm trying to do is just get my charges ran together from consecutive to concurrent walk out of here and leave, go home. >> stone hopes a judge will some day accept his request for concurrent sentences. >> open the door. >> that would reduce his term from 101 to 51 years. and since inmates in indiana are eligible for release after serving half their time he would finally be able to go home. >> if the judge is out there listening to this right now, mr. judge, may i say you look marvelous today. >> when you were last out it was 1985. things have changed pretty radically in the world. >> i figured it would probably be like being eight years old and going to disneyland. going to be amazed at everything you know. for one, cars talking to you. guys saying stone you need to

learn how to work computers. because you can't survive out there without a computer. and i'm thinking forget about it. i can survive. i don't need a computer. i don't need something to do my own thinking. >> what will you do on the outside? >> what will i do? i just want to dance. no, really. i want to open me up an animal shelter. open me up an animal shelter slash wood workshop. >> it was good to see him and hear what he has been up to. and you kind of cheer for james stone. >> i'll be back. coming up -- >> i think it's amazing the stuff we can do. we can curl our hair with toilet paper. >> improvised fashion tips from behind bars. >> we get caught with this in our hair we will get in trouble and get a write up for contraband. focus lolo, focus. let's do this. i am from baltimore. south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas...

we are all here to represent the country we love. this is for everyone back home. it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa.

so what i'm saying is, people like options. when you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

any inmate confined to prison or jail is well aware of the many freedoms they are forced to sacrifice. and white some losses might impact you more. >> down the green line, into the green door. >> the loss of individual style is an irrefutable reality of incarceration. it all starts when a new arrival must give up his street clothes for an inmate uniform. >> one thing people don't often realize is when you're doing time you will be in basically the same outfit every day for years. you might have a few of them so you can keep it clean but essentially you are going to be in the same jump suit or stripes or khakis almost every day. >> the philosophy behind most uniforms is to clearly identify inmates from staff or civilians who might be visiting the

facility, including our production teams, who must adhere to dress codes themselves. >> the dress codes vary from prison to prison. in california the film crew can't wear blue jeans. the inmates wear blue jeans. so if something breaks out on the yard and an officer in the tower needs to shoot a bean bag they have to quickly discern who's an inmate, who's a non-inmate. >> different colors are used to identify the security levels of various inmates. but at the maricopa county jail in phoenix, arizona, sheriff joe arpaio personally chose the black and white striped uniforms along with the pink underwear and socks to send a message. >> this is joe arpaio's way to express how we are pay our way back to society. the pink is his way to keep us humbled. it's a way to separate us away

from regular society. >> put them in pink underwear. because they were smuggling the white underwear out of the jail. that is the official reason. the unofficial reason, they hate pink. you never give them a color they like. why would you give them things they like? >> though generally not allowed, inmates sometimes alter thain uniforms to fit their own fashion sense. at the orange county jail in southern california we met a transgender inmate who prefers to be called alexis. >> myself and my celly are dressed as girls and the rest are dressed as guys. >> despite his physical appearance cortez was in fact a male inmate housed in a men's unit. >> if you are in in the process of having a sex change if you have your male genital parts you are considered a male and will be housed there, whether or not

you have breasts or -- it's what's below the belt that counts. >> at first it was startling watching these tapes when they came in from the field we thought we were seeing inmates wearing women's gowns or mini-skirts and we were thinking to ourselves, it's odd that jail officials actually allow this. but it turned out this that they were standard jail issued t-shirts and bed sheets that the inmates converted into women's clothing and they actually did a pretty convincing job of it. >> try to make the best of it you know. just try to doll up a little bit. we have our own personal revelon and l'oreal, mac crayons. we wet them. we play with it. get it nice and dark and it goes into the eyes. all we do is just -- and she's about ready to go. i don't know where she's going to but she's ready to go.

we've seen female inmates come up with all sorts of substitutes for eye liner, which like most other cosmetics is bans from the majority of prisons we have been to. but we encountered one inmate who dug deeper than most to find a substitute. >> got it. the black stuff from the window and the hair grease makes the eye liner. just like real eye liner out on the street. nobody can make it as black as me though. they can't do it like that. >> curlers are also on the list of banned items. but didn't stop orange county jail inmates michelle and stacy from making their own. >> we don't have things that people on the outs have. we make do with what we have. and i think it's amazing the stuff we can do. we can curl our hair with toilet paper. >> twist it like this. this gets folded in half. you fold down.

>> this goes around the curler. lick it and then close it. there's your curler. >> if we get caught with this in our hair we will get in trouble. >> yes. get a write up for contraband. >> but it's just toilet paper. >> i know. >> exactly. tell them that, though. >> it's altering what it's supposed to be used for. >> yeah. altering is what they tell us. >> because you know, we could use this as a weapon, and like, hurt somebody really bad with toilet paper. >> see? >> okay, hold on. you have to do the whole pantene commercial thing. >> while some orange county inmates concern themselves with appearances, michael charles was all about function over fashion. >> when we first met michael charles, we could see that

something was immediately going on with his glasses. when we got closer to talk to him, we could see that the arms were either broken or lost or destroyed, and he replaced them with plastic spoons. >> my glasses broke, so i'm going to have to make another one. can you give me another spoon? thank you. so, i'm going to have to bend this, bite it. when we bite it, we make a hole, and we put the hole in to here. here we go. now we've got them fixed. slip them on. they should be tighter. and there. there we go. we got them set. we have to make out with what we've got in here, and this is what we have, so we're making out. >> coming up -- >> all these men, they are lonely. they make what is called a fee-fee. >> we discover the inmate-made

device known as the fee-fee. >> have you ever made a fee-fee? >> yeah. >> and they call it their lady. >> and viewer discretion is definitely advised. >> nicest way to put it without getting beeped off of msnbc. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy?

♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky

[ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream

no matter where in the nation or world we travel, we find that inmates are profoundly resourceful when it comes to replacing the small luxuries they used to take for granted on the outside. for example, inmates can have tvs. they're just not allowed to have remote controls for the tvs, because they could be taken apart and turned into weapons. still, there are plenty of ways to change the channel without getting up. prison toilets don't come with lids. they, too, can be broken and weaponized. >> when you flush the toilet at night, it makes a loud noise. >> so, james stone made his own,

and he decorated it, too. >> it muffles the sound almost all the way out. >> orange county jail inmate daniel miramontes liked to wash his towels in the sink, but he had no way to dry them, so he showed us his improvised clothes line. >> what you do is grab a bag with soap in it, a little bit of water, and mix it into a clay after a while. when you stick it to the wall and you have cardboard and a little string already, it makes it strong, very strong. >> while these items meet a few minor needs, there is a more personal need that inmates long to have met as well. >> with the exception of the very few facilities that actually allow for conjugal visits, which are overnight stays between an inmate and their spouse, usually in a private area someplace, sex in prison or jail is basically considered a rule violation. but like so many other things, inmates are going to find ways to get around it.

>> listen, this [ bleep ] made me a sexual toy -- >> a sexual toy? what kind of a sexual toy? oh, man -- [ bleep ]. >> well, it says that they found a glove, an ace bandage and two bags and a tampon. >> what was you making? >> they're trying to say i had a dildo. >> well, this is the first time i've had to deal with contraband of this nature being probably something other than what it was supposed to be. sometimes we have to deal with preponderance of evidence. >> we eventually learned that the elicit sexual aid industry in prison is not limited to female inmate. male inmates have an artificial substitute as well, and we were surprised to hear it's known by the same slang word in prisons and jails nationwide.

>> sometimes there are certain words or phrases with universal meaning that arise each location we film at. one of those words was fee-fee. >> we heard the term used in indiana. >> all these men, they are lonely. they make what is called a fee-fee, which is -- it's a glove and some other items, and they call it their lady. that's the nicest way to put it without getting beeped off of msnbc. >> we kept hearing this word fee-fee, and it kept coming up in conversations, but no one was willing to admit to having one. >> we heard the term again in tampa, florida. >> i can't make a fee-fee in here. i can't get my hands to make no fee-fee. >> some guys have got two, three, four life sentences. they find something to keep them busy in their spare time. >> have you ever made a fee-fee? >> yeah. >> but at the famous tent city housing unit in phoenix's maricopa county jail, the

inmates volunteered to make one for us. >> we were shooting some nighttime shots at tent city, and there is quite a contrast between tent city during the day, when people are working, going about their business, and tent city at night. what happens when the tent flaps go down is one of those things that they do is the male inmates make homemade sexual pleasure devices. >> all right, today you guys asked me what a fee-fee is, so since there's other people that did not want to demonstrate what it is for you -- i personally don't use them, because i don't have this much time in here. i'm going to basically show you what it was. >> we thought about it and figured it might really be in bad taste to show you how one of these devices is actually made. but suffice it to say, it only takes a few items, and they're all legally accessible by just about any inmate. >> so, what do you do with the fee-fee? >> i don't touch it. i usually find a new guy to touch it for me, throw it away. >> with