due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons to a world of chaos and danger. now, the scenes you've never seen. "lockup: raw." the day we arrived at colorado state penitentiary, a super max prison at the base of the rocky mountains, we found a sterile environment, steel doors behind austere environment, steel doors behind which inmates are locked up 23 hours a day. but despite his surroundings,

inmate shawn shields was in high spirits. when he sat down with us, he was eager to help our producer get the interview underway. >> quiet on the set you boneheads. >> it's a prison, you know. >> let's roll tape. >> then he calmly told us how he got 16 years added to his original sentence of 12 for robbery. >> me and another inmate had an altercation, i manipulated the door so that it wouldn't latch completely. and when he came out to walk, i came down after him and proceeded to stab him. >> why? was it because you guys weren't getting along. >> it was just a verbal altercation. >> does that happen a lot in here? >> there is a lot of verbal altercations between people. you've got to understand, there's 16 men living together behind closed doors with stress, animosity towards one another in some cases. it's not always a pleasant 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 came behind an officer and used a derogatory statement toward him. i immediately told him his recreation was being taken for that comment. he decided to lean forward as if he was going to brace himself and bit right into my left arm. >> 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 in and he severed the nerve in my arm where i now have permanent damage. >> 209. >> while officer mills' bite wound was severe, his ordeal wasn't nearly as terrifying as the nightmare one of his fellow officers experienced. in this previously unaired footage provided to "lockup" by the prison, hostage negotiators are outside the cell of inmate willie hill.

moments earlier, hill overpowered a female correctional officer, shackled her with her own restraints and was now holding her at knifepoint in his cell. meanwhile, riverbend's emergency response team suits up for action. while the negotiator speaks with hill, the team quietly assembles undetected outside the cell door. >> here we go. coming in. >> at a precise moment, the door is opened and the team rushes the cell, setting off a flash bang grenade. the team uses pepper spray to subdue the inmate.

within seconds, the still shackled officer is pulled to safety. a short time later, hill is also removed from the cell. though dazed by the effects of the pepper spray, hill is uninjured. his assault on the officer earned him two months in punitive segregation and an extension of his sentence. riverbend's emergency response team regularly trains for crises where a cell extraction is called for. our crew was there to cover one session.

>> as you can see, when you get that many people in as small a cell as it is, it makes havoc about being able to operate in there. >> straighten him out. there you go. move him out now. straighten him out. >> that's the reason we do more training. more training you get to do, the better you get, the less injury you have on the inmate or the staff. >> during the course of our shoot at riverbend, 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 for weapons in the prison's maximum security unit. >> this inmate, because of behavior, assaultive, if they can get their hands on pieces of metal, particularly, they'll sharpen it and make shanks, knives. >> we search a lot.

we search as much as we can to make sure that they're not storing contraband items like weapons, drugs, money. >> it was during this cell search we first met inmate terrell shropshire, serving an eight-year sentence for carjacking. >> they shaking us down, they shake us down all the time, try to see if we have illegal things on us that we ain't supposed to have and stuff like that. i call it harassment, though. >> his cell is thoroughly searched. >> they still like to hide shanks and homemade knives in their boots a lot of times. they'll come in here and tear the soles up, put stuff in the bottom of them.

it's an endless process. >> what are you doing? >> they're not allowed to have anything on the doors or the walls. i'm just taking it down. >> this guy looks like a doctor's waiting room. he has magazines on the thing. >> yes. >> even something as seemingly harmless as a set of headphones can be considered contraband. >> is there a number on it? >> no. no number on it. it's contraband. >> every electronic item had to be documented and approved by the prison officials. there was no record of his headphones so they were confiscated by the search team. >> bring them back to me. >> later, shropshire's led back to his cell. >> we followed him back to his cell, really having no idea how he would react. 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 when they're in prison, that the slightest thing becomes a precious possession. >> why did they take my headphones. >> there wasn't a number on them. >> a short time later, shropshire repeals to another co for the return of his

headphones. >> what do you want? >> i want my headphones. i want my stuff replaced. >> what do you mean? >> they come in here and open up everything we have. they brand new. these are the things we do every day. try to talk to you like a man. these are the type of things we go through every day. they want it's to act like animals. it's all they know. it's like being buried alive. >> though he's agitated, our producer attempts to interview him about living in maximum security. >> terrell, where are you? >> right here. >> tell me what life is like in maximum. >> ask me what being back here is like is like asking a cancer patient how it feel to die slowly. it's being dehumanized,

demoralized and belittled on a day-to-day basis. that's what i feel like. >> our producer didn't know just how meaningful her next question would become. >> have you heard about officers being assaulted by other inmates? have you talked about that. >> i don't know nothing about no guards by assaulted, i don't know nothing about no inmates being assaulted by other inmates. i don't know nothing about that. i'm here to focus on my time. i don't know nothing about no guards being assaulted. if anything i know about guards assault inmates. that's what i know about. >> the next day, our crew found the cell extraction team suiting up for action. shropshire had assaulted two officers. coming up on "lockup: raw" -- >> the assault was urine being throw in an officer's face yesterday. >> shropshire raises the stakes. are you crazy?

let's hide behind the chainsaws. smart. yeah. ok. if you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. it's what you do. this was a good idea. shhhh. be quiet. i'm being quiet. you're breathing on me! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. head for the cemetery!

during a routine cell search at the riverbend maximum security institution in tennessee, a pair of contraband headphones was removed from the cell of inmate terrell shropshire. >> they don't want to hear that. >> by the next day, things had escalated. >> the riverbend cell extraction team has been activated for removing all hard items from inmate shropshire. he was assaultive toward staff last night. the assault was a cup of urine thrown in an officer's face yesterday and also a coke bottle full of water thrown and hit an officer in the back of the head. we have tried to gain compliance voluntarily by the inmate. he's refused, so a cell extraction team is needed. >> when a cell extraction team is called, it means they're

getting ready to force the removal of an uncooperative inmate from his cell. when you see them, you can see 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, an officer gives shropshire one last chance to comply. >> i'll ask you one time to comply. if you don't we'll have to come in to get your hard items. >> you can't take my stuff. >> i'll ask you one more time. that's it. >> with shropshire still refusing orders, the extraction team moves in. >> on the bed, face down. don't resist. don't resist.

[ bleep ] >> i ain't resisting. >> turn him over. face down. [ bleep ] >> all right, gentlemen, take him on out to the rec yard. >> shropshire is taken outside while his cell is cleared. >> don't resist when we take these off. >> medical staff is always called in after a cell extraction to check the inmate for injuries, though they do not find any, shropshire's complaints continue. [ bleep ] cutting off my circulation [ bleep ]. >> mr. shropshire, if you can comply, we wouldn't have to go through this. >> [ bleep ]. i don't take [ bleep ]. [ bleep ] you all [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. you all gonna [ bleep ]. with these [ bleep ] cameras here. that's why you all did this

[ bleep ]. >> everything went according to the way it was supposed to. the inmate was removed from his cell, taken to the rec yard so all his property can be removed. hard items which he used to assault staff with. took him out, got him restrained on the rec yard. there were no injuries. mote of what he was doing was basically theatrical. we moved him back into his house. he'll be in there for a minimum of two hours. >> [ bleep ]. >> as his demeanor and he wants to comply with the policies and procedures, he'll be removed from the restraints. i think it went excellent. nobody got hurt. >> terrell shropshire eventually completed his sentence at riverbend and was released from prison in february 2008. but another memorable inmate featured on "lockup" may never know such freedom. >> i was accused of assaulting

an inmate with a padlock. that's why i'm in this area for. >> when we met daunte bullock at the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa, he was spending his third day in ad seg, the administration unit, also known as the hole. authorities say he stuffed this padlock inside a sock and brutally attacked another inmate with it. >> do you think you have a violent past, history, angry? what's the situation? >> i'm violent when i'm provoked. >> bullock is already serving a life sentence for kidnapping but if the padlock assault charges stick, he could spend the next year in ad seg where he would be locked in a cell 23 hours a day. >> i was in the wrong place at the wrong time. inmate has been assaulted, my defense to them was telling them that i was in the area. i was just pushed out of the way as the inmate was trying to get away from the person that assaulted him.

>> bullock was anxiously awaiting a hearing with the prison's administrative law judge to plead his case. he let us know while ad seg men the losing his television, the location of his cell at least made it possible to keep up with current events. >> this cell right here in front of the police station, to me i think is the best cell on this range due to the fact that you get a lot of movement, you see who's coming in, who's coming out, inmates, cos. who's with the cos, who got into it with who or whatever may be. >> three days later, bullock was about to face his own life-altering event, his hearing on the assault charge. >> we came up to get inmate bullock to see the adjustment committee today. he's being charged with a serious rule violation and anybody that is locked up gets the belly chain put on them and hand cuffs and the dogs, just a

little extra security. >> coming up -- >> how can i defend myself when you say there's a weapon involved and i don't know what the weapon is. >> i showed it to you. >> the hearing heats up as bullock and the judge face off. >> now you tell me what the weapon is. >> if you choose to be hard-headed about it, which apparently you are, then there's nothing more i can do.

at the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa, inmate daunte bullock faces the possibility of one year in the hole with allegedly assaulting another inmate with a homemade weapon, a lock in a sock. >> anything you say may be used against you in a criminal prosecution. >> our cameras were with bullock as he was about to plead his case during a prison disciplinary hearing. >> have a chair, please, mr. bullock. >> your number. >> 1147.

>> after addressing procedural matters, administrative law judge william sapeen reads the correctional officer's account of the assault. >> inmate bullock assaulted [ bleep ] with a weapon and sustained injuries to his head above the right eye, and required stitches, breaking his right hand trying to block the weapon that required a cast. i have photos of the scene of the incident that i will share with you. this is the victim of the assault and injuries. also before me i have a sock with a padlock, combination lock inside. i have a statement from the staff member that located that. >> i didn't have nothing to do with this. when the assault took place i was on the stairs when the inmate ran by me. i could have been easily mistaken. that's what i believe, i was mistaken for somebody that they thought by me being pushed aside when they were running that i was the one that assaulted him. >> inmates that witnessed the

assault and provided statements 6 remain anonymous in hearings like this but it's up to judge sapeen to determine their credibility. >> do you have any enemies in the institution, mr. bullock. >> no, i don't. >> tell me people who would make things up about you. >> people i gamble with. >> who are they? >> i'm not going to disclose their names. >> well, i'm trying to help you with your defense. >> what i'm saying is -- >> i'm giving you an opportunity to provide to me names that may not be credible. if you choose not to provide those names, that's entirely 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. >> i showed it to you. >> now you tell me what the weapon is in a report it don't say nothing about what the weapon is. >> is there anything else that you wanted to say today. >> yes. you ain't got no evidence. how can you prove the padlock's mine? >> let me assure you, there were multiple witnesses to this incident. >> how do you know they're credible? >> that will be my responsibility to determine their credibility, just as i attempt to determine your

credibility. you've been given every opportunity to present a defense here today. i've listened to your defense and your defense -- you told me your defense was i didn't have nothing to do with this. that's what you told me. >> you guys had the opportunity to make sure the report clearly states when and where, how and who. >> the standard of evidence is some evidence. the courts have ruled that that can be the report of the staff member. now, hopefully i'm going to use a greater standard than that for you. i usually do. but that's all that's required to make a finding of a violation of the rules in an administrative hearing in this institution. whether you accept that or not is entirely up to you. i've answered your questions, given you an opportunity to present a brief defense. >> how can i defend myself -- >> i'm going to conclude your testimony. you may have a chair. >> you're telling me the padlock is mine. you ain't proved that the padlock is mine. >> you asked a question, i've given you the answer. >> how are you going to do that? >> you may have a chair in the other room. >> that's exactly what i'm

talking about. they say the padlock is mine. they can't even prove it's mine. >> have a seat. >> i believe i probably have a pretty clear understanding of due process. i'm not certain that he does. we have met that requirement. >> by this being a serious issue, you know what i'm saying, you would think they would take a serious look at, you know what i'm saying, of what really happened. >> it's only a matter of moments before the judge is ready to render a decision. >> mr. bullock, my finding is assault with a weapon, that is a class "a" violation. accountability for that is 365 days of disciplinary detention and a forfeiture of 365 days of current time. you may also be required to pay medical costs associated with this incident. you've been locked up for six days awaiting this hearing. i'll give you credit for those six days. you get 365 days. you may go.

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battling big brands. how a small apple cider brewing company, and an independent coconut water business were able to compete against the major food corporations. and we continue to celebrate national women's small business month. with a look at two women who found second acts in their lives by becoming successful entrepreneurs. time to get down to business, coming up next on "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy.