. >> the cook county task force also includes crisis counselors like brenda powell, a former prostitute, who now works the other side of the street, reaching out and offering guidance to girls and young women trapped in the life. >> in the 25 years i was in prostitution, i've been shot five times, stabbed over 13 times, beat, kidnapped, held against my will, all those things happen when you're in prostitution. every time you go out there and somebody pulls a gun to your head or something like that, your chances get lessened. you know what i mean? i understand where they come from. i understand who these women are. so who better to sit down and talk with them than someone who has been there. that's what i've done. >> it's a little after 1:00 p.m. when the task force sets up in a hotel near o'hare airport. this strip of hotels and motels is a well known hot spot for the business of sex for sale in cook county. male undercovers in one room begin making contact with women advertising sex for sale on backpage.com. >> hi, cherry. this is tim. i'm looking at your ad on backpage and hoping you'

>> at least for tonight, anna's traffickers have met their match in brenda powell. >> i cannot sleep if i let you go back there, you understand? >> her life lessons ringing loud and clear. at last, anna sees a genuine opportunity to get away from her pimp and agrees to take refuge for girls and young women struggling to get away from prostitution. >> give me a hug. you not going anywhere. sometimes i believe that things happen for a reason and it's divine intervention and i feel that's what just happened right now. >> brenda says there's no guarantees that today's intervention will turn anna's life around but at least for tonight anna will be safe and warm securing shelter from the storm of the underground sex trade. >> we're trying to find that piece of them that's left, the best of what is the best of them so we can help bring it out because they are not a lost cause. >>> america's prisons. they're often deadly. there are two million people doing time. every day is a battle to survive and to maintain order. >> down, on your feet. down. >> among the nation's toughest, california's s