msnbc takes you behind the walls of notorious prisons into a world of chaos and danger. now the scenes you have never seen. "lockup: raw." >> you have a lot of people here that now that they're in prison they resort to what they have to as far as sex. >> couples aren't usually housed

together. >> there's a way around everything. >> you may kiss your lovely bride. >> prison weddings, openly gay and lesbian relationships, conjugal visits where inmates can spend intimate time with their wives, siblings doing time together. >> that's my only brother. we are really close. we are really tight. he's for murder, i'm attempted murder. >> some of the most compelling stories we've ever produced on "lockup" have been about intimate relationships behind bars. >> but in prison, love can be a double-edged sword. >> they're quick to tell you in here that they love you. but the minute you do something that they don't like they'll cut you. >> even though sex is one of the most basic of human desires, behind bars it's prohibited. but that hasn't stopped one of the most memorable inmates to ever appear on "lockup" from getting his needs met.

>> here you go, man. >> when we met keith "precious" mason at the holman correctional facility in alabama, he was carrying on a sexual relationship with inmate marquez nobles. >> when i first met him, i told some of the other girls that he had the prettiest feet i've ever seen. i'm into feet, man. i like feet. >> as far as sex is concerned it is very, very frustrating and uncomfortable. especially if that's something you really want to do. basically it is done quick and quietly. >> for prison officials, sex is a complicated topic. >> i don't think you really crack down on homosexuality. you can't stop it. you can prevent it from happening openly. if the relationship is not causing a problem, generally we don't do anything with that. if they are not openly having

sex, you can have a relationship that doesn't have sex involved. >> but mason believes it's the lack of sex that leads to the unrest among inmates. >> that frustrates these dudes. there's not a man that i know that wakes up and don't have an erection in the morning time because that's what happens. we are dealing with reality. when a man wakes up, first thing that comes to the man's mind, damn, i wish i was on the street, damn i wimiss my wife. >> but behind bars, sex can be a combustible concoction of desperation, homophobia and predatory behavior. especially at prisons as notorious as california's pelican bay. >> this is the last place they need to be sending a flambuoyant homosexual, is pelican bay. >> adolph green was on the pelican bay yard when our producer noticed him and asked for an impromptu interview. >> i'm a flamboyant homosexual. the kun ones that prefer to fix

ourselves up like girls. and we call each other girls. you understand. some of the dudes call you girl, call me girl this and that. then you have those that smile in your face and laugh at you behind your back. you walk around the track, you hear somebody call, look at that punk, look at that [ bleep ]. it's a bunch of disrespect day in and day out. >> green told us that those who are open about their sexuality face retribution from inmates. >> you have people that are undercover. you got people that are hiding in the closet that's doing each other. but the minute they see somebody that's flambuoyant that's out they don't understand then they have something against that. and to go they through this every day a bunch of people telling you what you can, and can't do, who you can live with and can't live with, it's wrong. half of all the ones who are telling you not to do it are doing it in the closet.

>> and in this environmentment, sexual partners can turn into blood enemies in a blink of an eye. >> in here you don't have no friends, i suppose. because you can laugh and you can sit up and talk, and play cards and dominoes and whatnot, but the minute something happen to you they all go the other direction, leave you to die. and they got a lot of people up here call each other loved ones, i love you, i got love for you, you my homeboy. but the minute you do something they don't like they'll cut you. that's what pelican bay is about. >> but we've met many openly gay inmates who have little or no fear about being who they are. >> yeah, they call me amy. >> why? >> i chose that name. i want to live my life as a girl. i have always felt like i was a girl. >> when we met matthew campbell, he was serving 12 years for armed robbery and assault at kentucky state penitentiary. but his troubles began much earlier. >> first time i went to jail, i was 15 years old.

i turned an elementary school down, and it's pretty much downhill from there. >> and as an openly gay man, campbell's time behind bars has had its challenges. >> being gay in prison is really hard. i mean, it's hard enough doing time in here. but the fact that everybody knows that you are gay, it is constant pressure for, you know, sex. you have a lot of people here that now that they're in prison they resort to what they have to as far as sex. i have to say there's very few people here who are gay on the streets and gay in here as well. there's a lot of people that say they don't mess around, but when they get you by their self, it's like, hey, man, what's up? >> one of the things that struck me about matthew how comfortable he was in his own skin. here is an openly gay inmate in a southern prison, and he didn't have any problems with it. but when we went out to the yard

to get some b-roll with matthew playing back gammon, it was clear other inmates did have a problem with him being openly gay. some people were just avoiding him. he was actually calling out to them. >> are you scared? >> it wasn't until the cameras went away and we backed off a little bit that people were willing to come up and get involved in a game with him. >> in spite of the hardships, campbell told our producer that prison has played an essential role in his life. >> if i hadn't have came to prison, i probably would have ended up dead. now my family knows i am gay. i told all them when i came here. so they all know what to expect from me now and i told them it's going to be a different person. >> but before campbell can prosper on the outside, he will have to learn how to deal with perhaps his greatest temptation. and it has nothing to do with his sexuality. >> i'm fascinating with guns. i find guns fascinating. and, you know, i get a gun in my

hand, it's like, you know, trouble. >> coming up on "lockup raw: prison love" -- >> we've been together two years. >> i'm the wife. >> they're not only lovers. they're loan sharks. >> mostly everyone in here somebody has some type of hustle. >> later the unique complications of a wedding behind bars. but the truth is... we don't have to. the experts have spoken. now it's your move. ♪

because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson.

these girls right here are my homeys. some of them have been together four years, some five years. some have been together for a long time, long relationship. you see what i'm saying? >> if male inmates look for sex in secret, we found a different story when we visited the north carolina correctional institution for women. >> a female offender has a lot of needs, and part of that is to

feel that someone care bz ths a them. and that has a lot to do with bonding. because a lot of women have been abused, the first time they see somebody who they think cares about them, they run to it. they don't take time to see if the person is good for them or not. >> as a result, the prison places strict limits on intimate relationships. >> ladies, put some space in between y'all. >> it is a rule violation for inmates to have sex in prison. if we see it, then they are punished because of that. we can't have it. >> but we met one group of inmates willing to share their secrets for skirting the rules. they were led by dawn braswell, known around here as heavy d. >> she's mostly have ten-fours in here, ten-fours is like another inmate. like i say, chelsea, ten-four for me and my girlfriend when we go in here. she'll fall down and have a seizure. it's easy to get them to

ten-four, give them cigarettes, a pack of coffee. and stand there and watch. some police don't care. you got some police down with inmates. and some polices that is against inmates. >> while some inmates sneak away for quick sex, others like kathy phillips and devon gann seek long-term relationships. >> we have a good relationship. we've been together about two years. and for a relationship in here it's good. known couples aren't usually housed together. but we manage to connect some times. >> yeah. there's a way around everything. >> when we met them, cathie was 42 years old and serving 14 to 17 years as a habitual felon with multiple counts of forgery, larceny and resisting officers. >> devon was 25 years old and serving 9 to 12 years for second-degree murder. >> it was a man i lived with, he was a drug dealer. it was a robbery gone bad, and he got killed.

and i left the crime scene with the guy who killed him because i was -- it was a bad situation. >> but in prison, the two women seem to have discovered a comfort zone. >> you get in here, and you don't have anybody. you don't have anything. so you sort of cling to somebody. >> and women are more affectionate or whatever anyway so it looks like normal couples on the streets, but it's all women. some look like boys. >> yeah, they shave their head and walk around like a little boy. >> they even hold themselves like there's something down there. >> but any relationship in prison involves toeing the line. >> a new couple is like the staff sort of zone in on them give them a hard time. but then after a while it's like they just get used to seeing it as a couple and they sort of ease off. you can't, you know kiss in front of them or do a sex act in front of them but they're not on you for every little thing. i respect the staff. they got their job to do. so i don't cross that line. >> in spite of rules against it,

cathie and devon appear to be a picture of domestic bliss. >> i'm the wife. >> we spend our money together. i shop and get our stuff and cook our food every day. and make sure she has her stuff. we do everything together. everything. whatever she's involved in i'm involved in. yeah. >> that includes the family business. cathie and devon are not only lovers, they're loan sharks. >> whatever you give them they, they owe you double. i started out with $10. i put the $10 out, pulled in $20 the next week. pulled in $20, $40 the next week. kept doubling until i got on my feet and got stable. it's a good hustle. mostly everybody in here has some type of hustle because, i mean, a lot of people don't have help from home. you have to survive in here. prison is not free. they give you three meals a day and a bar of state soap. that's about it. >> your hygiene, your food, if

you don't want to eat what's in the dining room, you pay for it. if you don't have anybody on outside sending you money, only jobs you can make money off of is 40 cents a day. 40 cents a day will never support you. people do all kinds of stuff to make hustles if they don't have somebody on the outside. there is all kinds of hustles. loan sharking is one of them. >> but the loan shark lovers insist they never use muscle to extract payment. >> if somebody doesn't pay me, i generally just -- i mark it up as a loss. i just don't deal with them no more. i tell my friends that loan shark, don't deal with them. you got some people in here that will bust them in the head with a lock or something. i ain't down with that. >> devon told us that she used to run an even riskier business. >> before her, i had my own hustle that was pretty much staff related. yeah, i would find weak staff, whoever i found in here because

they obviously can't find somebody on the streets to hook up with. and then i would play them to get some money. >> then what? >> i would continue to get money. >> then she'd have them fired. >> devon believes that the officers she seduced deserved their punishment. >> i have no remorse when it comes to that. i feel as though it's some type of perverted injustice when you come in here and think you can get a free lick off of an inmate when you have access to the free world. i've gotten a lot of money that way. yeah. but i have kind of cut that out in this relationship. >> yeah, no more. no more. >> i'm retired. >> as close as cathie and devon were, they told us they have no illusions about a future together. >> we take it day by day. there's no promises of forever or nothing like that. we're very realistic in our relationship. there's a lot of dreams and

wishes, but we know that those aren't realistic. >> we're just enjoying today. up next on "lockup raw: prison love" -- >> i raul take thee alicia -- >> -- exchanging vows when the groom is locked up. and later when visitation includes sex, emotions run high. >> we'll let you take one of these. >> i need both of those. you can't tell me i can't use my personal hygiene for my body. i need both of those. across america people are taking charge

of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar, but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® is different than pills. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once-a-day, any time, and comes in a pen. and the needle is thin. victoza® is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza® is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza® has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza® is not insulin. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer,

multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include: swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat, fainting or dizziness, very rapid heartbeat, problems breathing or swallowing, severe rash or itching. tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza®, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which may be fatal. stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back, with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®.

it's covered by most health plans. raul and laquisha, today is a very special day for both of you. because today marks the beginning of your new lives together as one. >> under the best of circumstances, marriage can be challenging. even more so when it begins behind the walls of one of the nation's most dangerous maximum security prisons. >> i can't touch her or nothing.

you can't even consummate the marriage. >> the groom, raul vidal, has been in california's pelican bay state prison since age 18. >> i was involved in a gang, street gang, drugs, violence all that. got in a shoot-out. there were six guys in the car and they say i shot at. and actually they gave me six life terms for that. >> because of his gang affiliation, vidal is assigned to the secured housing unit where contact visits are not permitted. >> right now here together you stand free and apart from all other people in this world because right now you stand within that charmed circle of your love together. >> vidal and his bride were childhood friend and had reconnected five years earlier. though it's unlikely vidal will ever be free, she agreed to marry him anyway.

her son reuben stood in as best man. >> you have a ring picked to go on your hand. >> this wedding dress. >> she sees me as a human being. she opened up her house, her heart and gave me her family. >> i raul take thee laquisha -- to be my wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward. >> i'm the black sheep of my family. i'm the only one that has ever been to prison. >> i laquisha take raul to be my wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward. >> i have been thinking about the sacrifice she made, how much she loves me to do something like that. >> as you take this ring and place it on her hand, raul, would you repeat after me. i give you this ring -- >> i give you this ring -- >> -- as a symbol and commitment in marriage. >> she knows that the

possibilities of me getting out are slim to none. and she accepted that. >> this is the first day of the rest of your lives together, and we would all hope that tomorrow would be even happier. you may kiss your lovely bride. >> though there will be no reception or first dance for this couple, the odds aren't totally against them. according to one study, unions in which one partner is incarcerated are less likely to end in divorce than a conventional marriage. >> it gives me the hope and the love. she is a friend. i'm a friend. and you know we just got married to show our love for each other. next on "lockup: raw prison

love" a rare night of physical intimacy for a convict and his wife. and later -- >> you hear people say, she got condemned to death. she is going to die for the sins she committed. >> identical twins divided by death row. and when you put them in charge of making an unbeatable truck, good things happen. this is the ram 1500. the 2014 motor trend truck of the year. ♪ and first ever back-to-back champion. guts. glory. ram. [ blows whistle ] then spend your time chasing your point "b"... ...the war of 1812. [ bell rings ] you get to point "b", and sometimes things change.

but your journey is not done. capella university is the most direct path to what's next, because our competency-based curriculum gives you what you need to move forward to your point "c". capella university. start your journey at capella.edu.

i'm melissa rilissa rehberg. here's what's happening. the group believed to be responsible for recent bombings in russia have posted a video threatening problems at the olympics in sochi. the super bowl is set. seattle beat san francisco 23-17. and denver beat new england 26-16. the super bowl is set for february 2nd in new jersey. back to "lockup."

prison inmates don't have a lot to look forward to so visitations are a big deal. for some of these inmates, they haven't seen a child or a wife or a parent in years. so it's a very dramatic time when they come to visit them. and in "lockup," these visitations have provided some of the most compelling moments in the series. >> and few visitations provide as much drama as conjugal visits when an inmate is allowed an evernight stay with his spouse. >> makes you appreciate the little things in life. >> when we met ron golden at the california's kearn valley state prison, he was serving a 22-year sentence for armed robbery and assaults on correctional staff. he claimed his recent marriage to a childhood friend helped turn him around. >> before we were married i was always in a lot of fistfights ajd riots, whatever, in and out

of the hole. >> golden's improved behavior earned him the right to a 46-hour conjugal visit with his wife in one of the prison's family cottages. but before the visit begins, hope golden must pass through security. >> do you have your i.d.? >> it's in here. >> can you get it for me. >> it's inside in an nfl. >> can you get it for me. >> when ron's wife hope showed up, we thought we would get shots of her being processed coming through the metal detector, opening her bag, getting shots of her and the c.o. there going through her things. then it turned into a bit of a scene. >> baby oil can't go in either. >> that wasn't on the list. >> it's a lubricant. this isn't factory sealed. it can't go in. this can't go in. this is not in a clear bottle and unopened and contains alcohol. >> everything that is made like that has alcohol in it. >> everything that contains

alcohol it specifies in the rules. >> everything just about has alcohol in it. >> it appeared some of the things she was bringing in were not allowed, and hope was not very happy about that. so as things were being pulled out of her bag, hope started to get a little angry. >> we're going to let you take one of these in. >> i need both of those. you can't tell me i can't use my personal hygiene for my body. i need both of those. >> i just talked to my supervisor. she said -- >> can i speak to her, please, because you guys are going a little bit to the extreme. >> i'm letting you know the department's policy. >> you're asking me to come in here without any type of lotion or oil for my skin. i'm a woman. you guys are really going to the extreme right now. >> ma'am, no products with alcohol are allowed. you need to abide by our policies, ma'am. >> i am. >> after coming dangerously close to being denied her visit, hope is allowed to proceed to the prison's gated conjugal unit. >> there's good things and bad things you have to go through to get here.

>> hope says the difficulties of a prison visit are worth it. >> i knew who he was before i started coming to see him at the prison, and i liked him then. because we were friends first. and that's what made us bond as lovers even better. and it was special because we didn't make love until we got married. that's something that i never did before so i was happy about that, too. >> what are you going to do for two days? >> we're going to have fun. we're probably going to do a lot of exercise, jumping jacks and stuff like that. >> liar. >> golden is escorted across the prison yard to the family visitation center. his long-awaited reunion with his wife is just moments away. >> i'm feeling marvelous. extremely excited.

>> are you nervous? >> uh-huh. >> i know, we ain't used to this. >> you know, sometimes when a camera is in the room, people are not going to act naturally. and ron and hope both knew that we would be there for the beginning of the conjugal visit, certainly not during any part of the conjugal visit. >> oh, the crew was real nice, very pleasant. >> but as i stood to the back of the room to get kind of a wide shot, i could hear them talking, saying, is he gone yet, is he gone yet? they just wanted me out. >> but visitation is also bittersweet. our crew saw how much so at indiana state prison when the family of inmate jerry bonds arrived for their first visit in months. >> to be honest, i grew up with a two-parent middle class home. you know, my brother and my

older brother they all graduated from college, you know? i just happened to go down the wrong road with selling drugs and living on the streets. >> bonds is serving 85 years for robbing a liquor store and killing the owner. >> i had two daughters at the time, and my girlfriend at the time, she was pregnant with my son. she was two months pregnant when i got locked up. >> that child, bonds' son eddie, was 8 when we shot at indiana. even though he had never lived with his father, eddie was missing him nonetheless. >> he actually shot a person and he didn't mean to. but when i see him again i want to live with him and be with him together so we can go to the park and the museum. >> his youngest son cries sometimes because he doesn't have his father around. and there are some things that he really needs to be in his life for. >> but bonds has had a tough time following the rules in prison as well.

his last infraction was for attempting to intimidate an officer. that, along with three urine tests that proved positive for marijuana, has cost bonds visitation privileges with his family. he had only recently gotten them back but with restrictions. >> so right now i'm on noncontact status, like through the phone and the glass. >> how did you react when your son told you he wasn't going to have contact visits anymore? >> well, i was upset at first. i even threatened him to not even bring his kids up here, you know? very upset with him. matter of fact, i was so upset with him i couldn't think straight. >> bonds acknowledged that his actions both in and out of prison don't set the best example for his children. >> it's like, how can i tell you guys to be good, do good in school, stay out of trouble, and every time you see me i am on

restrictions, can't have visits i'm in trouble. they're like, you're a hypocrite, dad. you tell me to be good, but you're not being good. >> our crew caught up with bonds shortly before his first visit with his children and parents in months. >> you want to look kind of spiffy. it is a special day. your family has come far. it puts a smiles on their face to know you are doing okay. >> but first bonds would need to pass previsitation security measures starting with his freshly pressed clothes. >> all right, do me a favor. completely disrobe. >> despite the fact he will not have physical contact, bonds, like every other indiana inmate, is strip-searched prior to visitation. >> this time open your mouth. put your fingers in, spread the cheeks apart. upper lip up. lower lip down. look inside your nose, please. >> authorities must ensure that inmates are not attempting to pass contraband to the outside.

>> turn back around, squat, cough. all right, go ahead and get dressed. >> meanwhile, the bonds family has to pass through security as well. and even though it was nearly a three-hour drive to get here, jerry bonds sr. feels it's worth it. >> when a person is down, you really have to be there for them. so what we try to relay back to jerry is that we hope he will get out of here sometime soon. and then when he do get out, you know, to pick up where he left off and show these kids they're not just coming up here for nothing at all. >> i'm just anxious, man. i want to see them so bad. i wish i could touch them and hug them. i guess it's better than nothing. >> finally, the waiting is over. >> what's up, man? how y'all doing?

look at you. how are you doing in school? >> good. >> what grade are you going into, eddie? >> the hardest part is like seeing him behind the glass and he's in here and stuff. so i really want him to get out. >> when his kids can't hug him, like i told him, he's hurting his kids. you know, i can stand the hurt. sometimes the kids can't. >> what's going on, man? >> what's happening, dad? how you doing? >> staying strong? >> yes, sir. thank you for bringing them up for me, dad. >> i want to let him know we love him no matter what. but make it easier on us when we come up here. we're in here with you. don't make it to where we are locked up being locked up. you understand? hey, have i told you i love you

guys? i love you. i'm sorry. >> limited to 30 minutes, the visit hardly seems to have begun when it's time to leave. >> i love you. y'all be good. bye-bye. >> all right, stay strong. >> yes, sir. i'm praying, hoping, hoping that this is the last time they have to come up here like this and see me behind the glass because it is not a good feeling. it's not a good feeling. >> i just feel bad when i don't see him anymore. i get sad. when i see him, i get happy. >> i want him to be here, and i don't want him to be here. i want him to learn his lesson while he's here so when he comes home he knows right from wrong and knows what to do and what not to do. >> as a mother, i would like to touch him and say, are you okay? i want to give him a hug. i haven't been able to do that. i know one day i will.

coming up on "lockup raw: prison love" -- >> i love him to death. i would do anything for brad. anything. short of killing someone. >> the family bonds lead to murder. and later -- >> one of the first things i noticed something i never thought i would see in a million years in a prison yard. that's all the cats. >> when inmates adopt. >> especially when they're little babies and you can raise them up, pet them, feed them, you watch them grow. that's your cat. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. isn't it time you discovered the sleep number bed?

the only bed clinically proven to relieve back pain and improve sleep quality. and right now, for five days only, save $300 to $800 on our newest innovations. plus special financing until january 2017 on select sleep number beds. ends monday! only at a sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699.99. sleep number. comfort individualized.

[ male announcer ] welcome back all the sweet things your family loves with 0-calorie monk fruit in the raw.

♪ welcome back [ male announcer ] it's made with the vine-ripened sweetness of fruit, so you can serve up deliciously sweet treats without all the sugar. so let no drink go unsweetened. no spatula un-licked. and no last bit un-sipped. you don't have to throw a party, but you'll probably feel like celebrating. get recipes at intheraw.com. the bond one inmate develops with another is the only thing that helps them survive the bleak existence of a life behind bars. in some cases those bonds have existed their entire lives.

over the years "lockup" crews have discovered a surprising number of family members serving time together. but few have ever had to face the difficult circumstances that confronted yvette and doris gay. >> being on death row was like, it was like i needed to be with my sister. >> the identical twins, both convicted of murderer for helping yvette's former boyfriend for carrying out a atriple homicide, were sent to the correctional institute for women. doris got a life sentence. yvette condemned to die. she told us about her first day on death row. >> i begin to hear hurls and insults when i first got in the gate. i heard people saying, oh, she got sentenced to death. she's going to die for the crimes she committed. >> even though they were housed at the same prison, the women were prohibited from seeing one another. but occasionally doris would catch a fleeting glimpse of yvette. >> i would go by the chapel and

see my sister. she would be in the window. i would walk by with a group of ladies. and everybody would say, doris, there's your sister. i would say, god, there she is. i wish she was out here, you know? i hated to go by there just to see her. it would hurt my heart, and i would ache. >> after six years of separation, yvette's punishment was reduced to a life sentence, meaning she could leave death row and reunite with doris. >> i was so excited for her. she came and hugged me and we were crying, kissing and hugging. it was like a great reunion. >> i started crying. i got emotional. and i just began to praise god. yeah. >> though they can see each other on the yard, prison officials won't let the sisters share a cell for security reasons. >> they think we are the same person in the same dorm, the officers. they get confused. >> it's interesting and kind of unusual for corrections because

if you're not paying attention, you don't know who you're talking to. it's one of the reasons why we house them separately. >> look. >> yeah, you look wonderful. wonderful. >> that's my only brother. we're really close. we're really tight. we eat together. we live together. we work together. >> our visit to the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa led us to another memorable pair of siblings, michael and brad love, whose lifelong allegiance drove them to kill. >> growing up i wanted to be him, you know. he's almost four years older than me. i see him running around drinking, breaking into stuff and doing whatever he's doing, i'm like, i want to be like him. that's my big brother. that's my idol. so i kind of followed in the same footsteps. >> but as the love brothers revealed to our crew, those footsteps led down a bloody path

that ended at a holiday party in their trailer park. >> it was christmas night 1992. me and my brother went to a party with what we thought were friends, but they tried to rob us, take the liquor that we brought. >> they started beating me up, four of them. >> they hurt brad. i couldn't let them get away with that. they threatened his life. and i just couldn't handle that. so we left, went to my trailer. i got a shotgun. my brother got a knife, a machete. we went back out there and did what we did. i remember mike standing there. he had the gun pointed at the door of the trailer. and one of the dudes looked out the window he was like [ bleep ] you or whatever he said. and boom, he shot. >> i shot three. he cut up two. >> we were charged with first degree murder carried a life sentence in iowa. and that's it. life means life, means you don't ever get out. >> but michael wasn't prepared to see his brother suffer that fate. >> brad didn't kill anybody. i'm the one that shot and killed the guys so i didn't think it

fair for him to spend his life in prison. they come to me and said if i pled guilty to first-degree murder they would plea-bargain him down to lesser time. he plea-bargained to 125 years. to me that's still excessive but better than a life sentence. he gets to go home, where i'll probably end up dying in prison. >> how does that make you feel? >> makes me feel like a piece of [ bleep ] really. man, my only brother, and because of something we did, and we did it together -- he takes responsibility for his own actions. i don't know, man. it makes me feel like i'm that tall because i let it happen. >> i think in my mind he is here because of me so i carry the guilt around every day. he was 18. he turned 18 in county jail. he had a whole life ahead of him. he could have been a pro football player or a rock star, whatever he wanted to be. and i feel in my mind and my heart that i ruin thad it for

him. there's no way to explain how much guilt i carry around. >> the love brothers were initially incarcerated together at another iowa prison. but, once again, brad followed michael, and the result was more violence. >> the last fight that we got into, this guy told on my brother for smoking weed. mike told me, here, i'm going to go beat him up. i want you to shoot jiggers, watch out for us. i said all right. so i was standing outside the cell. mike goes in there. i don't know what made me do it but i looked in the window. there was only supposed to be one dude in there, but there was two guys. they was trying to get on mike. i was like no that ain't going to happen. so i ran in there and i grabbed the other dude. and beat him up pretty bad. and then they shipped me out. that was it. yeah, that sucked. >> brad was transferred to anamosa only to find a long lost relative was already doing his own time there. >> my father was in here for

messing with kids, and, you know, i ain't cool with that. and he tried talking to me. i told him, i said, i ain't got no respect to you for what you did. >> i hate that. that's the worst crime you can do, including the crime i did of murder. i think that's worst. >> in 2003, their father died of a heart attack while incarcerated. when their mother became ill, authorities approved michael's request to be moved closer to her home, which reunited the brothers at anamosa. >> just excited to see him again, man. it's my brother. >> can't ask for a better [ bleep ] to hang out with. >> the love brothers may have found their place, but, as we learned, their bond has yet to face its ultimate test. >> i'll never see him again. once he gets out of prison, that's it. i'll never be able to visit my brother again because of iowa law. anybow on paper or parole can never visit anybody while they're incarcerated.

>> yvette and doris gay know all about that. since our visit to the correctional institute, doris has been paroled. the soonest she'll be able to visit yvette is in 2012 when her probation expires. brad and michael love have more time. brad is eligible but has not yet made parole. >> we're going to spend as many years together here as we can. >> i love him to death. i'd do anything for brad, anything. short of killing somebody again. coming up on "lockup raw: prison love" -- >> these cats are their kids. you mess with the cat, it's their family. that's all they got. >> special bond between prisoner and pet. >> it's like anything. you treat it with love and respect, it treats you with love and respect back. footwear. and how about the 5 pound barbell at this resort? in to soap? this lodge has some! ...and this hostel has ice cubes! and this hotel has eggs!

if you're into it.... we know a place that booking has it. liquid! recreational sand! electric wind! aggressive relaxation! that guy! round things.... tanning apparatus... whatever is going on in here! colorful beverage accessories... ...maximum "plushology"... ...airborne-ness... find that one thing that you... and only you... ...find awesome. on planet earth's number one accomodation site: booking.com booking.yeah!

at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal. the social center of almost every prison is the yard. it's the rare space where inmates socialize, exercise, and occasionally fight to the death.

but "lockup" crews have found that on some yards, even at dangerous maximum security institutions, inmates have found something to fill their hearts with love and nurturing. just not for each other. >> this is bang. this is my buddy. >> nobody's family home cat i could see be happier than these cats in here. >> one of the first things i noticed when walking out on the yard in kentucky was something i never thought i would see in a million years on a prison yard, and that's all of the cats. they were all over the place. >> nobody remembers exactly when dozens of stray cats began to adopt kentucky state prison as their home. and, as our crew discovered, the inmates were more than happy to adopt the cats as pets. >> pets, when they're little babies, you can raise them, feed them, watch them grow, that's your cat. >> it was really amazing to see

all of these guys in the state's maximum security penitentiary with cats climbing all over them. they had them up on their shoulders. they were petting them constantly. and it was really interesting how the inmates had developed very, very nurturing relationships with these cats. >> we got all kinds of cats. you've got these guys here, these cats is their kids. mess with one of the cats, just like messing with my kids at home. these cats is their family. that's all they've got. >> and like any proud parent, the inmates shared photos of their favorite felines. >> we are cat lovers up here. here comes one. this is a monster right here. >> people had specific cats, and if you didn't want anything to happen to that cat, the last thing you were going to do is commit an act of violence that would send you to segregation where you couldn't care for it anymore. so in this funny little way, the cats contributed to a lower level of violence on that yard. >> event comes once a month.

you can buy dry food, medicine and toys and stuff like that. >> so guys work hard at their jobs to earn their money, and they'll -- >> sometimes their bill is 60, 70, 80 bucks. takes everything they've got. >> my baby. >> i wish you cats would get together and get rid of some of these rats we got running around the yard. >> don't want any rats, man. >> the people rats. now, you leave the little bitty mice alone. >> we found an even more unlikely bond at california state prison corcoran. >> just like anything, you treat it with love and respect, it will treat you with love and respect back. >> we were just out on the yard shooting, and i looked over and i saw these guys petting something. at first i thought it was like a little kitten. it ended up it was a gopher that they had tamed. >> we shampoo him, give him

little baths, you know. play with him, let him run around in our cells, feed him apples, lettuce, take care of them. they're good little pets. >> like the best little companion i ever had. >> a lot of the guys we ran into probably have never had anybody to love or anything or anybody to love them. when you run into somebody who has adopted a gopher and it gives them some sort of outlet for affection, it's got to be a good thing. >> but we found a very different case of inmate/creature bonding inside california's san quentin prison. >> i'm mike miller, my real name, and the staff here call me birdman of san quentin. the first day i got here at san quentin the birds seemed to flock to me for some reason. and i don't know.

they probably think i am the bird man of alcatraz. maybe they're mistaken because he had a shaved head, too. >> miller was serving an eight year sentence for burglary when he proudly showed us his cell, a virtual shrine to his winged friends. >> and ever since i've been here the birds come up to me like they know me. i got them landing on my shoulders and my hands. and you know different kinds of birds, not just pigeons. i got different kind of black birds like the finch and the red wing landing on me. i think the birds is a good way of releasing a lot of tension and anger. before i got arrested my girlfriend used to chase the birds away. she didn't want me around them. but now i'm in here, i have a chance to mingle with the birds. and basically that's about the only friends i got. i can't trust anybody else.

there are 2 million people behind bars in america. we open the gates, "lockup." >> i charge pelican bay with the following crimes -- extortion, racketeering, police brutality. i charge pelican bay with racism, promoting inmate-on-inmate violence. how it was in the beginning it