that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." due to mature subject w 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." >> i get mad sometimes, man. i get angry. >> the emotional toll here is like water torture. every day it's like a drip, drip, drip. >> always somebody bugging out, always somebody causing trouble in the cell house. >> i'm not a man till i can tell

you that. >> [ bleep ] >> it really wears on you after awhile. you know, you got to get away from it. >> [ bleep ]. i really like birds. they're pretty neat. >> "lockup" crews have met hundreds of inmates facing long-term sentences. for some like dale veers at iowa state penitentiary, that means the chance to pick up a new skill or two. >> you start out with a block. then cut it down. and then i keep grinding and shaping it until i get it where it's supposed to be. >> a life sentence for kidnapping has given viers a chance to master bird carving. >> i kept the very first bird i ever carved because i just knew that i would get better. that is the first one i carved. that's my duck head.

duck's getting a little bit better. i have another bird here. they get better. >> when we met him, viers was hard at work on his most elaborate piece yet. >> i have a robin pulling a worm out of the ground. >> he even had a live model to work with. >> i've got a worm in here. see? he's alive. i've had him for three weeks. so i can get the color and everything right when i make it. >> viers is hardly alone when it comes to finding creative ways to kill time. at first our crew thought indiana state prison inmate donte kidd's stack of toilet paper with a mirror on top was some form of abstract art. but he had a far more practical reason for pushing his creation into the corridor outside his cell. >> for those who don't have tvs, sometimes they try to watch it

off the range, something like that, fuss put it on the range, catch the reflection of an individual tv in the next cell. and just sit back and watch tv. >> kidd is serving time for drug sales dreamt up his creation when his own tv stopped working. >> i call it a porta tv stand. actually because toilet paper, porta stand. tv. parta stand. just a little jailhouse ingenuity. not as good as high def. you know what i mean? >> while the quality of kidd's television viewing might be compromised, other inmates lose the privilege altogether for causing trouble. >> i don't have a tv. they took all my privileges for spitting on that dude. so it's like i don't know, probably take my privileges and, like, good time, that don't matter here. there ain't no sunshine here, man. >> when we met edwin smith, he had been at colorado state penitentiary for less than a month just starting a 30-year sentence for cutting a man's throat in a bar fight.

he lost his television privileges for spitting on an officer during intake and things were about to go even further downhill. >> mentally, you have to take it [ bleep ]. you can't really fight with someone. >> the night before our interview with him, smith had received a lesson in supermax security when he chose to hold up in his cell. >> we're here to perform a cell extraction on inmate smith, edwin. the reason for the extraction is the inmate refused to come out for a cell search. >> smith's actions triggered colorado's emergency response team. one of their primary functions is to extract uncooperative inmates from their cells. >> when our crews follow a cell extraction, it's one of the most intense moments on "lockup." it's when an inmate refuses to cuff up or come out of the cell or is doing damage to the cell and the special response team is called in. >> need you to cuff up. if you refuse to cuff up we will introduce o.c. gas in your cell. >> what's that? >> you'll find out. it's a chemical agent. >> it's almost like watching a car chase on tv. you know the inmate's not going to win. the officers have the equipment,

pepper spray, stun shields, handcuffs, the manpower. >> one last chance to cuff up. inmate refuses, introduce gas. >> ow! whoo! >> the gas quickly convinces smith to cooperate with correctional staff. >> strip down to your boxers. take your shirt off. turn around. when we open this door, i want you to drop straight down to your knees, do you understand me? >> yes. >> because of the spitting incident when he first arrived, officers cover smith's head with a spit net. >> we're going to put a net over your head. don't pull away from us. >> i can't breathe. it's been hell, man. they threw gas on me and degraded me, treated me like an animal. i can't breathe. ow!

>> as long as you're compliant, you'll get a decontamination shower. >> the more you rub the more it's going to burn. >> oh, really? now you tell me. >> as far as cell extractions go, smith's was fairly routine. it was a different story at the spring creek correctional center in alaska. >> [ bleep ]. >> prisoner demonstrated aggressive agitated behavior by using abusive language and continually banging on his cell walls causing injury to his hands and wrists. >> when spring creek's extraction team was called to remove steven blevins from his cell, he was in a state of rage and had been pounding the walls with his bare fists for over an hour. >> [ bleep ] come on come on come on. >> but when we first met blevins, he was in a much calmer state as he told us how mental

illness led to murder. >> i fell in june of '93, psychotic delusion, out on a fishing boat. i attributed it to working too much, too long, too hard. and basically tweaked out and killed a couple guys. i've been fishing out of dutch harbor for about 4 1/2 years. and never thought about murder, never contemplated killing somebody. but a guy walked by me one time and just -- i thought that he was going to kill me and i killed him and another guy first. >> how? >> with a knife, fishing knife. just a six-inch fishing knife in the chest did it fine. >> were you hearing voices? what was going on? >> no, no. it's kind of a story line. i just -- i believed they were going to kill me.

and a moment passed that when i thought they were going to do it now. and i was either going to be killed by them or kill them first. and i decided to kill them first. i didn't say nothing to them or talk about it to them. i just did it, you know, and threw them into the bay. >> blevins almost got away with the double murder. he told state troopers looking for the missing men that they had quit their jobs and had moved on. but when blevins tried to leave the state, his anger resurfaced. >> next day was my time to ship out, and i assaulted a guy at the airport. so the troopers found me for the second time in three days or whatever and they went back to the boat and found the blood and the bodies. and -- >> how did they find the bodies? >> one floated up on the spit. the other was sunk beneath the stern of the boat. >> when we met him, blevins was taking medication to correct the chemical imbalance that drove him to kill.

the prison gave us permission to interview him. >> as long as i take the medication twice a day, i can stay on the compound. you know? >> what happens if you don't? >> what happens is if i refuse it, in a matter of maybe three days, they're going to use whatever means they need to use to put the drugs in me. >> the prison provided this dramatic evidence of what does happen when blevins goes off his meds. >> what you gonna do? i can be like this now for an hour from now. [ bleep ] come on. >> his behavior has increased in the past two days. mental health recommended the restraint chair be used. so he does not cause any harm to himself. >> blevins, come over here and talk to me for a minute. if you don't cuff up, we will come in on you and use oc. >> [ bleep ] come and get me. come and get me.

coming up, the extraction team moves in. and later -- >> this is your maximum security unit inside of a maximum security prison. >> killing time in the hole. >> i'm being accused of attempted murder to a staff. [ bleep ] greater risk of stroke - they can pool together in the heart, forming a clot that can break free, and travel upstream to the brain where it can block blood flow and cause a stroke. but if you have afib that's not caused by a heart valve problem, pradaxa can help stop clots from forming. pradaxa was better than warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke, in a clinical trial - without the need for regular blood tests. and, in the rare event of an emergency, pradaxa is the only oral blood thinner other than warfarin with a specific reversal treatment

to help your body clot normally again. pradaxa is not for people who have had a heart valve replacement. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke or blood clots. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before any planned medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, and sometimes, fatal bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding. and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems, stomach ulcers, a bleeding condition, or take certain medicines. side effects with pradaxa can include indigestion, stomach pain, upset or burning. go with pradaxa, the only blood thinner that lowers your stro risk better than warfarin and has a specific reversal treatment. eligible patients could pay as little as zero dollars on co-pay. ask your doctor about pradaxa today.

inmate steven blevins, suffering the effects of having gone off his medication, has been continuously pounding the walls of his cell at the spring creek correctional facility in alaska for more than an hour. >> mr. blevins, we need you to come over here and cuff up. >> [ bleep ]. >> with blevins refusing orders to cuff up, it's up to the prison's special response team to forcefully remove him from

his cell so that he can be given his medication. first, they attempt to subdue him with pepper spray. >> mr. blevins, cuff up. >> the burning spray eventually brings compliance. >> ah! >> blevins is removed from his cell and sedated. he is strapped into a restraint chair and watched until he no longer poses a threat to himself. >> mr. blevins, do you have any injuries you want to report? no? >> never crossed my mind one

time other than to tell someone that i'm not interested in doing it. you know? >> today, spring creek staff uses medication and therapy to help blevins serve his 45-year sentence. >> even though he's done a horrible double murder, he's still a person and he has to have some kind of human contact. so what i try to focus on is just a relationship. we try to be alert to prisoners' mental status, to make sure they're not thinking of harming themselves or someone else. beyond that, we try to help them be together enough to serve their time and serve it as quietly and peacefully as possible. >> serving time quietly and peacefully is exactly how we found ramona rosario. in the gym at the north carolina correctional institution for women. she was a long way from home. >> i'm originally from dominican republic. i live in new york city. and that was my first time that i come to north carolina and i

got in trouble. >> seven years earlier, rosario agreed to carry a package for a friend. she's now serving 18 to 24 years for trafficking heroin. >> i don't know anyone down here. i need to go home and be with my children. my children need me, and i think i have done enough time. >> rosario told us that she had one source of comfort from the seemingly endless amount of time she must be away from home. then she showed us what it was. ♪ amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ that saved a wretch like me i like to sing. i've been singing since i was little. i remember when i used to sing in my country when i was like 5, 6 years old. i've been singing a long time. now i have to sing in here.

♪ my mother, she sing beautiful, and i think it's the talent in the family. ♪ >> but not all inmates make such harmonious use of their time or their voices. [ bleep ] >> i wish death on all you [ bleep ]. >> at iowa state penitentiary, our crew went inside the unit that houses the state's most chronic offenders, cell house

220. known inside the walls as the hole. >> shut up! [ bleep ] you. >> this is unit cell house 220, the disciplinary detention unit for long-term disciplinary detention inmates. this is your maximum security unit inside of a maximum security prison. here's where we house all the disciplinary detention inmates that couldn't be handled in our general population area. now we have to deal with them over here. >> the co's told us these inmates are among the most incorrigible of all inmates within the prison. and my observation was that they seemed to be lacking in the ability to restrain their impulsive behavior. >> i'm in here for cutting myself and stuff like that. getting a bunch of reports for flooding my cell and stuff like that. >> and some are in for more violent deeds. our female producer was warned to keep a safe distance from luis nieves. >> just don't get too close. >> i'm being accused of attempted murder to the staff. >> nieves is known at iowa state

as the monster. he was appealing a murder conviction when we met him. >> were your victims or alleged victims mostly women or all women or what? >> i'm not allowed to say that. >> convicted of brutally killing a woman on the outside, he's in disciplinary detention for viciously assaulting a female prison worker. he claims the charges were made up. >> sometimes they got to cover their ass. they don't want to lose their pretty job. without this job, they ain't nothing. on the other hand, job or no job, i'm still going to be the same individual. >> do you consider yourself a totally innocent man? >> i'm not an angel, i can tell you that. but i'm not a monster like everybody tells me to be. >> in the cell next to nieves, we met robert harris. >> it's bad. all there is to do in here is -- you got to listen to other people banging on stuff, officers constantly running in on them and cussing. just a lot of crazy stuff. you know, what i call thugs. there's always bugging out, always somebody causing trouble

in the cell house. >> harris is serving ten years for forgery in order to obtain prescription narcotics. it's his behavior inside the institution that keeps him in 220. >> i'm in here on like three assaults. >> in fact, just days before our crew arrived, harris assaulted an officer escorting him to the shower. >> putting urine in a cup, mixing shampoo with it, he was in the shower taking a shower, takes it and throws it in the officer's face when the officer comes by. >> because i was so mad. right? i just wanted to prove to them there ain't nothing they can do to me or make me do what they want me to do. >> i don't want you to think every inmate we have in here is raising hell and causing problems. but there is a goodly number that is doing that. >> and for many of these

inmates, killing time becomes cruel sport. our cameras rolled as they unleashed a seemingly endless barrage of insults on each other. >> hey, brian, you talk about how you suck [ bleep ] out at the rec pen. hey -- >> you show your [ bleep ]? >> he's really in here for prostitution. >> this is a very harsh environment for them because the other inmates will egg them on. they're very easily persuaded. >> you're special, brian. >> i like to say on camera -- pants down and show all the inmates' butts. >> when i get out to the yard and i see these people out there, i'm going to smash them. that's what it all amounts to. up next -- >> you don't feel like you're going to hurt anybody else? >> no. >> okay. >> the inmates in iowa's cell house 220 greet a new young

arrival with taunts and threats. >> i'm scared to death where i'm at because i don't know what's going to happen. >> but this new inmate might be more dangerous than he looks. an. and the power to automatically find your car... i see you car! and i got the power to know who's coming and when if i break down. ...you must be gerry. hey... in means getting more from your car insurance with the all-powerful drivewise app. it's good to be in, good hands.

cell house 220 at iowa state penitentiary houses the most disruptive inmates in the entire state. this is administrative segregation, also known as ad seg. >> the first time i entered ad seg, i was completely blown away by the cacophony of noise. every single prisoner seemed to be screaming at the top of their lungs and every single scream was an insult directed toward someone else. >> iowa state penitentiary is a maximum security institution, and there are challenges every day just by a virtue of the type of inmate we have here. many are here because of their lengthy sentences but an awful lot of them are here by virtue of their conduct at other prisons. this is the end of the road for them. >> and our cameras were rolling as the latest van full of

trouble arrived. >> we're expecting 12 inmates coming in. they'll be processed in, their photos taken, height and weight and they'll be processed and sent to the appropriate cell houses. >> among those on their way to cell house 220 is jeremy fickling, a baby-faced inmate with a penchant for violence. fickling is serving four years for assaulting a police officer. he was transferred to iowa state for allegedly throwing bodily fluids on a correctional officer. >> you don't feel like you're going to hurt anybody else? >> no. >> if things change, you're feeling bad, feeling like you might hurt yourself or somebody else, you need to tell the officers, okay? all right. >> despite his sheepish demeanor, officers aren't about to take any chances. a police dog escorts fickling all the way to 220. >> some of the inmates are assaultive.

that's why they're here, a little extra security. >> entering the unit, fickling is both a new topic of conversation and a new target. >> what do we have now? >> a-2. >> they got the camera on him? >> yeah. >> don't do it, jeremy. it's a setup. don't do it. >> tell me what's been going on since you've been in prison. where did you come from today? >> i came from state anamosa penitentiary. due to an inmate causing some problems. they accused me of throwing -- >> hang on. hang on. >> as our cameras roll, fickling's new neighbors continually attempt to disrupt the interview. >> i'm scared to death where i'm at because i don't know what's going to happen. you know. supposedly they say this is the worst penitentiary in iowa. >> but as we learned later, fickling's new neighbors have equal cause to be wary of him. >> the reason i'm mainly in lockup is because i got in a fight. that was my original thing while i was in ft. dodge. i assaulted an officer with

urine and feces. >> i don't want to sound ignorant. how do you use your bodily fluids and throw it on somebody? >> i mean -- i used a cup. i mean, there's crazier inmates. they'll put [ bleep ] in their hand and throw it at you. i mean, you got inmates that will smear it on the walls and write graffiti. it just depends on what your mind frame is. that's not me. you know. i don't do that kind of thing, because, i mean, that shows like a little kid, you know, a little kid playing in the toilet or something. it's not a grown man thing, you know? but obviously i couldn't get to him, and he kept disrespecting me on the range. so i just dumped in my toilet. there was some pissy water in there and i winged it on him. water, whatever was in my toilet at the time that i done it. >> as we concluded our interview, cell house 220 was finally calm. but fickling's final words to us indicated things might not remain so. >> me, i don't know, i'll probably mess up somewhere along the line, you know.

crazy stuff because i was going slinging ink runs rampant in do when they come in here is khrr

another hot day expected in the southwest, and bracing for more triple-digit temperatures, as high as 120 degrees forecasts in phoenix. and donald trump took aim at republicans who are reportedly plotting to derail his nomination at the upcoming convention.

due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is grave stone down here, a couple we have a standard question that

i represent south vallejo, always have, always will. 707, solana county. >> done by a good friend of mine. his name's carlos. >> i got all of my dead homies individual level.

the wrong way and she got rid of >> why do you wear the hat? so i wear the hat and that's peace in the valley.

>> when you do it yourself, it's not near as bad. with crude but ingenious are often confiscated during >> this here is several vials of ink and a homemade tattoo gun.

>> they make their own tattoo guns out of electronic motors from portable radios or tape players. correctional center in alaska. all the shops and stuff, it's very clinical. i mean, yeah, we clean things as best we can. but kind of ramshackle materials we have to use, pens and guitar strings and such. they have out there on the

it's a legitimate trade on the but if we get that done here, people can get out, go out it, it would be a really positive thing. coming up on "lockup: raw" -- >> one inmate kills time with president bush and his budget and later -- steel bars give

we do the laundry ourselves.

>> sometimes i can see the i have dreams about it, you learned that armstrong was >> she was an ex-girlfriend of it started infringing on her life. and she started getting scared and tried to stop me and didn't

listen. and there's been this discrepancy as to what she was going to the police and talking >> armstrong told us he chose to plead guilty even though he wasn't the hit man. mostly middle class families. i don't have no excuse for being here. >> once in prison, armstrong earned an additional six-year sentence. >> the sergeant sprayed a guy in a wheelchair for no reason. i didn't like it and i harmed him. >> what does that mean? >> physically hurt him. >> and what happened? >> other police came and they physically hurt me back.

>> i'm an a.d.a. supporter. that means i help the wheelchair people, anybody that have canes, wheelchairs, whatever and i'm they need anything done. i'll keep their wheelchairs clean. push them to chow, push them to the yard, push them back. like water torture. i compare it to that. every day it's like a drip, drip, drip. because i took a life.

karma really has something to give me, i'm going to take it. >> i read newspapers, magazines. i get "tv guide," "xxl," "rolling stone," "newsweek," if i didn't make it in and i see your colleague, tom

i write little comments. you'd be surprised, we discuss things in here. everything in prison is not just conversations we have in here, you know what i'm saying? >> he tried out some spin in response to an unexpected line of questioning from our producer girlfriends? >> in another lifetime. most of them come out of "xxl" minority based magazines. but sided toward the hip hop

i'm going on 11 years, right, and all i dealt with is men, so this is an escape so to speak. it's blunt, you know what i'm saying?

if they get to the "r" part, they're not rehabilitating anybody. there's no education. i come from a school background. you got the internet out there. you got, you know, technology, you know, people, i got the tomorrow and i'm pretty intelligent. if i got out there tomorrow i think of these guys with fifth grade educations here. a lot of guys came here, level getting out, they're not right talking about religion. jesus went to the lowest to low to preach. if you reach these guys, they'll be your most powerful warriors to push your agenda. you'd be surprised. give some of these guys a chance. i'm through. i don't deserve a chance. but a lot of these guys deserve a chance. you'd be surprised. that's all i have to say. up next -- >> it's what keeps me sane. machine.

you know, you got to get away stocked with instruments.

♪ >> we write all our own songs. tommy writes all the music, i mainly, the guitar player, there's only a few around here you're no longer in prison up

six-by-eight cell and lockdown you just forget about it. >> i've seen some great players they start with nothing, they have no knowledge but it's amazing to see how far they've

they all have to come and work within a small, confined space. >> to me, music is what takes me to a whole different level. keeps me out of trouble. >> i believe as a whole you music, black music. music.

everybody needs to just mellow anybody, i take it out on miss purdy. nothing else is going to last. music is always going to be

kind of lost ourselves. the guys were jamming out and we just didn't really want to leave. actually at one point our production assistant got up and they cannot take that. they can take all of the speakers, the drums, the microphones and all the stuff that they want to, but i still and i've still got this and i can hum and i can sing, i can they cannot take music. take your soul is if you give it

visitation draws families together. but it also sparks a crackdown on contra band that grips the entire prison. and now we've put our cameras in the hands of inmates who share intimate thoughts about life behind bars. >> this prison will eat you up and spit yut