>> just remember, one, knife at the throat, gun in the face. if you save one, it's worth everything we do. one little girl, one mama's not murdered or raped. just one daddy is worth everything we do. >> msnbc takes you bhieehind th walls of america's most notorious prisons. now, the scenes you've never seen.

"lock up raw." >> i think it would be inaccurate to say there's never a dull moment in prison. actually, there's plenty of dull moments in prison. it's just that all of that monotony is broken up with moments of sheer terror. there's a lot of bottled up, negative energy in prison. you never know when things can explode. >> i had a bad impulse problem. >> the assault was a cup of urine thrown in the officer's face yesterday.

>> narrator: the day we arrived at colorado state pen tempb tench ri, we found a musty environment. steel doors behind which inmates are locked up 23 hours a day. but despite his surroundings, shawn shields was in high spirits when he sat down with us, he was eager to help our producer get the interview underway. >> narrator: then, he calmly told us how he got 16 years added to his original sentence for robbery. >> i manipulated the door so it wouldn't latch completely. when he came out to walk, i came down after him and proceeded to stab him.

>> why? >> it was just a verbal altercation. there is a lot of verbal elter kagss between people. there's 16 men living together behind closed doors, stress, animosity towards one another in some cases chblt it's not always a plez sent place to be. >> when inmates erupt, no one is safe, including correctional staff. >> we had an inmate that was on his way to the rec yard and using a derogatory statement, i immediately told him that his recreation was being taken for that comment. he leaned forward as if he was going to brace himself. this is my left arm the day that the bite occurred. he bit in so fast and so hard that i didn't even feel him biting. he severed the nerve and my arm

where i now have permanent damage. >> while officer mills' bite wound was severe, his or deal wasn't nearly as terrifying as the nightmare one of his fellow officers experienced. hostage negotiators were outside the cell of willy hill. moments earlier, hill overpowered a female correctional officer, shacked her with her own restraints and was now holding her at knife point in the cell. meanwhile, river bends emergency response team suts up for action. while the negotiator speaks with him, the teen quitely assembles undetected oud the cell done. at a precise moment, he sets off

a flash bang grenade. the team uses pepper spray to subdue the inmate. within seconds, the still-shack still-shackled-officer is pulled toe safety. a short time later, hill is also removed from the cell. though days by the e feblgts of the pepper spray, hill is uninjured. his assault on the officer earned him two months impugntive segregation and an extension of his sentence.

river bends emergency response team regularly trends for a crises. our crew was there to cover one session. as you can see, when you get that many people who don't want a smaller cell, it makes kind of havoc about being able to operate in there. >> straighten them out, there you go. >> that's the reason why we do more training. the more training you get to do, the better you get. the less injury you have on the inmate or the cell. >> during the course of our shoot, the extraction team would assemble once again. but this time, it would be for real. the incident was triggered when

officers conducted a routine cell search in the prison's maximum security unit. >> if they can get their hands on pieces of metal, they'll make shanks and knives. >> we search a lot. we search as much as we can to make sure that they're not st e storistor storing contraband items like weapons, drugs or money. >> it was during the cell search where we met durell. they say it all the time. we leave the things on us that we ain't supposed to have. it's the early search.

don't come in here and tear the soles up. they've got 24 hours before they can do this stuff. >> you're not allowed to have anything inside the door. >> put that little magazine on the thing? >> even something as seemingly harmless as a set of headphones can be considered contra ban. >> i remember it being approved by the prison officials. there was no record of sharp shooter's headphones. they were con fis kated by the search team. >> later, he's led back to his cell. cell searches are fairly common,

so we weren't expecting anything in particular. as it turned out, the headphones were really a big deal. inmates have so little that the sliegtest thing becomes the greatest position. >> a short time later, he peels to another seal for the return of his headphones.

>> though he's agitated, our producer atechts to swer view him. >> ask me what that's like is like asking a cancer patient how they feel to die slowly. that ice what it is. ask me how it feels. that's what i feel like. >> our producer didn't know how meaningful her next question would become. >> have you heard about officers being assaulted by the roommates? have you talked about that? >> i don't know nothing about no guards being assaulted. i'm here to do my time. i don't know nothing about guards being assaulted. >> the next day, our crew found the cell extraction team suiting up for action.

sharpshur had assaulted two officers. coming up on "lock-up raw." sharpshur raises the stakes. >> i'm going to ask you one more time and that's it. follow the wings.

[ male announcer ] this is the land of giants. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram.

during a routine cell search at the river bend maximum security institution in tennessee, a pair of contraband headphones was removed from a cell. by the next day, things had escalated. >> they're removing all the hard items from inmate's cells. he was asoughted last night. the assault was a cup of urine thrown in the officer's face yesterday and also a coke bottle

full of water thrown. we had tried to gain kpliensz voluntarily by the inmate. he's refused. when the cell extraction team is being called, they're getting ready to move an inmate from his cell. you get a sense of how serious they take these procedures and the threat that they could pose. they let us follow at a safe distance. >> inside the cell block, he has one last chance to comply. but he's still refusing orders. the extraction team moves in.

sharpchure is taken outside where his cell is cleared. >> medical staff is always called in after a cell extraction to check the inmate for injuries. though they do not find anybody, his complaints continue. if you can comply, we wouldn't have to go through this.

[blee [bleep]. >> everything went the way it was supposed to. all of this property had to be removed. took him out, got him restrained out on the rec yard. medical checked him out. there was no injuries. moegsover what he was doing was theatrical. and we moved him back into his house. he'll be there for a minimum of two hours. that's his demeanor. and he wants to comply with the policies and procedures. he eventually completed his sentence and was released from

prison in february, 2008. but another memorable inmate featured on lock-up may never know such freedom. >> i saw the inmate with a padlock. that's why i saw that. >> when we met dante in iowa, he was spending his third day in add sync, the add min stragsz segregation yunt, also known as the hole. authorities say he stuffed this padlock inside a sock and brutally attacked another inmate with it. >> i'm violent when i'm provoked. >> he's already serving a life sentence for kidnapping. but if the padlock assault charges would stick, he could stay here 23 hours a day. >> i was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

my defense to them was telling them that i was in the area. ifls just pushed out of the way as the inmate was trying to get away from the person assaulting them. >> this cell right here, to me, i think is the best sale on this range due to the fact that they give a lot of movement and who's coming in and who's coming out. you'll see who got into it with who or whatever. >> do you know what happens between brad and jay? >> brad and jay? they're worse. >> narrator: three days later,

bulllock was about to go to his own hearing. >> we're being charged with a serious parole violation. anybody that's locked up gets a chain put on them and handcuffs. and the dogs, just a little extra security. >> the dog isn't only to protect staff from bullok. since he's believed to assault another inmate, it will also protect him from revenge seekers during the walk to the hearing. coming up. >> when you say there eegs a weapon involved and i doechbt even know what the weapon is. >> i showed it to you. >> the hearing heats up as bullock and the judge square off. >> if you choose to be hard headed, then there's nothing more i can do. in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer

and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident is designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste. that's why i recommend using polident. [ male announcer ] polident. cleaner, fresher and brighter every day.

at the state penitentiary in iowa, inmate dante faces the possibility of one year in the hole for allegedly asaulting another roommate with a homemade weapon. a lock in the sock. >> anything you say may be used against you in criminal prosecution. >> our cameras were with bullock as he was about to plead his case during a prison disciplinary hearing. >> your number?

>> after addressing procedural matters, administrative law judge reads a correctional officer's account of the assault. >> a determine by the investigation that the inmate sustained injuries and broke his right hand trying to block the weapon that we're required to cast. i have here photos of the scene of the incident that i will share with you. this is the victim of the asault and injuries. also, before me, i have a sock with a padlock, combination lock inside. i have a stamt from the officer who located that. >> i didn't have anything to do with the assault. when the assault took place, i was on the stairs. i could have been easily mistaken. that's what i believe, i was mistaken by somebody.

>> inmates who witness the assault and provide statements remain anonymous in hearings like this. but it's up to the judge to determine their skredblety. >> do you have any enemies? >> no, i don't. >> people that would make things up about you? >> people i gamble with. i'm giving you an opportunity to provide the names of people that may not be credible. if you choose not to provide those names, that's sbeerly up to you. >> how can i defend myself with a report when you say there's a weapon involved and i don't even know what the weapon is. >> now you tell me what the weapon is. >> is there anything else that you wanted to say? >> you don't have no evidence. >> let me assure you that there were multiple witnesses to this incident.

>> how do you know what occurred? >> that would be my responsibility to determine their credibility. you've been given every opportunity to present a defense here today. and i've lived to your defense -- no, you told me that your defense was i didn't have nothing to do with this. that's what you told me. >> you guys have the opportunity to make sure the report clearly states when, where, how and who. >> the standard of evidence is some evidence. the courts have ruled that that can be the report of the staff. now, hopefully, i'm going to use a greater standard than that. but that a's all that's required to make a finding of the rules in this stugsz. now, whether you accept that or not is entirely up to you. i have answered your questions. i have given you an opportunity to present a defense. at this point, i'm going to conclude your testimony and you can have a chair.

you asked me a question, i've given you the answer. >> . >> i believe i have a pretty clear understanding of due process. i'm not sure that he does. you know, look at, you know what i'm saying, really happened. >> it's only a matter of moments before the judge is ready to render a decision. >> mr. bullock, my finding is akault with a weapon, that is a class a violation. the acountability for that is 365 days of disciplinary detention and a forfeitture of 365 days earned time. you'll also be required to pay any medical costs that would be associatuated with this incident. you may go.

>> coming up on "lock up raw," inmates gone wild. the story behind this take down. and one inmate learns how effective nonlethal weapon ri can be. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers

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hey there, here's what's happening. tropical storm isaac is turning towards the northern gulf coast and is expected to gain strength over the gulf of mexico. isaac is expected to make land fall as a category two hurricane between new orleans and the

florida panhandle. the start of the republican convention has been delayed due to the storm. >> due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> when lock up producers travel to the jolliet correctional facility, they walk through the corridors of one of the most notorious institutions. this was built in 1857. the friction seems every bit as old. >> during our shoot at jolliete,

a disruptive new inmate had just been taken to segregation. our cameras were there as captain kim morgan atempblted to make the transfer. first, a brief stop to ro cess paperwork. >> he hit me, man. >> that particular inmate was from the rnc. we just received him from the county. he was upset for one reason or another. he was at the front of the bars being aggressive. i told him to go have a seat in the back of the cell and remain quiet. he wouldment. and then he was progressing towards ourselves. >> i didn't hit you. >> you did, on my mom, you hit me. hit me again. don't touch me, man. >> as captain morgan processes the paper work the inmate

continues his tie rate against him. captain morgan completes the paper work and then escorts them towards segregation. a 23 hour a day lock-up for inmates who violate prison rules. >> i was thinking in the north segregation to lock him up in oir unit. >> when inmate turns on him, morgan tightens his grip. but the situation would soon get much more intense. >> when he tried to pull away from me and turn around on me. that's when i had security on the ground until i could get more security help.

>> most particularly charges, i charge them with that. this was a direct order. he atemplted to spit on me. he'll go to a justice committee, it's a panel of hearing officers and he will plead his case against my disciplinary rorlt that i give him. and they will do whatever is just. >> while this inmat received an extended term in segregation, combative inmats always sufficienting physical kons chemical weapons, as well. where ever inmates congress regait, there is usually an overhead postmaned by armed correctional officers. if extreme violence breaks out,

these officers may use lee shall means as a last report. but they usually stop most assaults through verbal orders. if that doesn't work, they have an arsenal of nonlethal weapons, including ones that firewood wloks. though not deadly, they can leave a lasting impression, as we discovered at the state prison in california. we often talk to the correction officers about the nonlethal weapons they use. it's not often we end up seeing what they co. it was something that happened just the night before. we're lucky to talk to him. during our shoot, the inmate is serving 8 years for being involved in a high speed chase

while on parole. was hit in the head by a wooden block. we met him the following morning. >> tell me the story. tell me what happened? >> i had a personal problem. i ran over and handled it and i didn't make it all the way. i was in the chow hall meet k. . >> next thing you remember? >> they were dragging me out telling me i got hit in the head. >> the shooting left johns with seven stables in his head and a wound still caked with dried blood. he says the scar running towards the back of his head was the result of getting run over when he was younger. >> so you knew. >> yeah, apparently i didn't like him.

i didn't see him. he hit me and i ran and asmacked and hit him. that's why i got a few stitches in my head. >> jeff is the inmate johns attacked. though asked a number of times why he started the fight, johns was never specific. >> if you can't tell me, don't tell me. >> i just told you as far as i can go. he didn't spit in my soup or nothing, he didn't do nothing like that. i felt it progressed to the point to where i just explodesed. i have a bad impulse problem. >> but ahart has his suspicions about why the attack occurred. he thinks johns wanted to be segregated from other inmates for his own protection.

>> he chose to hit me, to tackle me right in front of the cops and the tower right in the somehow hall. he was just saying the other guy was doing a pc move. he's saying the reason why he's doing that so he's in the hole now so he dubt get stabbed in the yard or what not. so if they're telling him in the yard, hey, they needed money or you're going to get stabbed. they do something in front of the cops and they stay here, until, you know, a later date. they're going to have to deal with it for a short time. >> johns did, in fact, get sentenced to time in the hole but never confirmed whether it was on purpose or not. >> was it worth it? >> no, at the time, i didn't

think about falling down and getting staples. i didn't think about none of that. >> up next. >> alcohol inside correctional institutions are a very big problem. >> when inmates get drunk. >> if you have that in your system, you immediately get violent. capella university understands rough economic times

have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up? with a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from

capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu you can't tell how wild a prison inmate may be just by looking at him. but, sometimes, you can learn a lot from his nickname. and it seems in prison, almost everybody has one. >> my name is alvin williams. everyone calls me gator. a lot of us have animal names

because it's supposed to represent something. but that's prison life. >> calvin williams got his nickname while working as a sparring partner to a heavy weight boxer. >> every time i get against the ropes, he would jab me and hit me real hard. he kept doing it and kept doing it, so i snapped hi gloves off and i beat him. when they wiped the little blood off of his chest, it was just the shape of a gator. i don't know how it happened. >> do you have any nicknames? >> people on the street, they call me hustler. >> i got called skunk a long time ago. ksr, they called me stinky because it sprayed me. >> everyone said i looked like dracula. people said i looked like drack, for short. >> is it cocaine or what is it? >> i don't know, they just gave me that name and you hustle. so that's how i got the name,

you hustle. >> being quick, i don't know how you got that name. >> that was a nickname my grandpa gay me when i was a little baby. the lowest guy out there that says i got those three. they call med me out law. it's just self explanatory, i guess. the name hustle got me here, too. so sometime it ain't good to hustle. >> while nicknames are common in prison, we've discovered something else is, as well. but it's not as harmless.

the prisoner made whisky. it's got a strong, whisky aroma. >> inmate-manufactured alcohol goes by many names. whatever it's called, our crews have seen it, heard about it, smelled it and it exists in every prison we filmed in. alcohol is used daily. alcohol inside correctional institutions are a very, very big problem. it's only takes a small amount of time to make the alcohol and just about everyone does it. >> this is a bag of pruno we discovered just a up canal days ago. inside, you can smell the sweet smell of the pruin itself and the apples. >> how much could that serve? >> actually, it will say it would serve up to five or ten people, all depending on some of

the inmates actually sell it. >> we've met plenty of officers and inmates who would. >> we give them everything they need. fresh fruit, which we have to give them. you need something that has sugar in it. most fruit has some. extra sugar helps, but we don't give them that. you can give them candy from your canteen issue. you need containers to keep it in while it's heating. we'll get those little milk cartons. the mattresses and the pillows are all in plastic cases. they can be torn apart and make a very nice bag.

and then you need a little heat. you'd have a light fixture in there. lights give off heat. fruit, sugar, water, container and heat. three to five days and it's drinkable. >> like a vintager choosing a wide array of wines. >> catchup, tomato paste, pruins, peaches. >> sugar and yeast. >> of the many experts we've met, the truest con soir had to be tyrone ironically, located right in the heart of the central valley wine country. >> well, we have two types of alcohol that's made from fruit that we let sit and rot and thep we pour it into a bag and make

mush out of it. and then you add a lot of hot water with it and let it sit with a lot of sugar in it. that ferments it and then we strain it and keep all the muss outs of it. we came up with three bags and you can sell it each time it will cost $10. that's a 16 ounce tumbler. so you can sell them $10 a piece or just get drunk off of it all you want. >> outlaw then told us about a much more potent concoction. >> the second personal we deal with is called white lightning. that's similar to jack daniels, hennesse. it's like 150 proof. >> and according to alcohol, white lightning has a very different side. >> it will get you rouled up and just that intoxication,

under-the-influence trip where as white lightnings, you could drink a half of cup and it will actually comes with the seals to ask you a common question, something like can i see your id card because you have that white lightning in your system, you immediately get violent. >> at pel can bay, we saw the definitive inmats guide to distilling white lightning. the 150 proof, that's not your regular. this is a final result. this here is about the equivalent of grain alcohol. oh, extremely potent.

>> how does this stuff taste? >> white light ning tastes like whisky without any cut. some guys in prison cut it with probably cool aid or something because it's too strong. and then you have other inmates who justdown it, okay, just raw. a lot of the dudes that make this stuff, they don't realize that the bacteria and the stuff that they're drinking does nothing but give them te best of your recollection tur best of your recollection low sis. >> the officers are out there searching cells. they'll find it. three days later, the same cell, they're making alcohol again. it's just constant. we have over 3,000 inmates doing this. >> coming up on "lock up raw." >> one of the items he makes the most of would be scorpions and spiders.

>> the confiscated artwork of america's most infamous inmate.

while some inmates might spend their time behind bars creating mayhem, we've met plenty of others who choose a very different path. they use their time in prison to do something construct ef. for many, that means turning to art. paul majors had been in and out of prison for most of the last 23 years when we met him at the maximum security institution in tennessee. >> it was therapeutic for me to release a lot of tension and situations in the world today. and what i can't say verbally, i can say in the picture because they say the picture pants a thousand words. i guess this is my way of saying

a tow sand words. and some artists, especially those confined to high security cells, have to go to such lengths to create art. >> i'll just take the colors off of him. like a piece of paper. i use it as color. >> because of his high security level as a confirmed gang member, we could only shoot his art outside his cell at pel can bay. at another california prison, one inmate's artwork is either

immediately confiscated and destroyed or kept in a secure location. the inmate is charles manson. >> we have some manson memorabilia that charles manson has created since he's been inkars ralted here. during one of our shoots, they barely got a shot of man son. a recent mug shot shows you how much he has aged since coming to prison in 1971. but his artwork provides a unique insight into his life behind bars. >> there's a scorpion that he's made. basically just taking thread from various types of items, socks and t-shirtings and towels and he creates it this is probably one of the items he makes the most of. and spiders. this is, i would assume

something like a harp. and he's maid it out of toil et paper and newspaper. it looks like for coloring, he used some cool aid. he doesn't have a happy card. inmats are going to try to sell it and whatnot. sometimes he's passive. for the most part, he's usually pretty pazive. there's one other remnant

hanging on the wall. >> this was when charles man son was out in the protective yard. and the inmates have run a maximum skurts yard and were actually able to defeat the security log. they were playing his guitar and hit it with it. the girl that actually came into the yard was more scared than matt's. just broke the guitar out and got down. >> any idea of the song that manson was singing? >> no, i have no idea what was playing.