california state prison. corcoran. when we interviewed these men, our crew was required to wear stab-proof vests. one of the corcoran inmates we san down with was christian knighten. nobody describes the daily pressures, the ups and downs of being a predator, like he does. >> it's seductive, you know what i mean? you can love the game, but the game loves nobody. you know what i mean? you could sit there and give it your all and think everyone's supporting you, and before you know it, just like that. get your throat cut. seen it, done it. >> knighten was serving time for murder and attempted murder. crimes he committed at the los angeles county jail while awaiting trial on an outside murder/robbery charge that he was convinced would send him to prison for life. but when he went on trial for that original murder charge, something completely unexpected happened. >> they find me not guilty, and it righteously blew my mind. i had to laugh. the irony of it it was classic. >> knighten should have walked away as a free man, in

> but we have never seen a more bizarre display of the gut churning activity than at california state prison corcoran. it happened during a routine shoot at the prison hospital. >> we were there for like ten minutes. did a couple interviews with a couple doctors. initially it seemed like it was going to be mundane and going through the process. so we decided to leave. we were all packed up ready to go back into the other section of the prison when all hell broke loose. >> we have four inmates in four different cells that are holding food trays, some have started flooding the pier with causing the toilets to back up, causing water to come out on the floor. i'll first go out, try to talk to the inmates and trying to get them into compliance. inmates failed to comply with staff instructions we will probably have to extract them. you know, one guy is just other guy was covering up his i was like, wow, this isn't boring. this is pretty intense. >> i am going to talk to them. want to make sure we get that on video. at that time, if the inmate doesn't comply we are going to go and use the gas masks. i want

>> this is california state prison, corcoran. a maximum security prison that has housed some of the nation's most infamous criminals including charles manson and the founder of the mexican mafia. despite its reputation, violence doesn't come naturally to everyone at corcoran. >> i don't see myself as being like many of the people here. what i saw the longer i was here is there really is a thin line between them and me. >> before he was an inmate, stefan parro was a librarian. >> i'm here basically because i'm an alcoholic and i've done a lot of drugs, too. drugs are part of my story. >> parro's drug use resulted in a six-year sentence for crimes including burglary. >> at that time i had been married not very long. my wife was pregnant. the fact i couldn't stop drinking and i couldn't stop using, it was difficult to deal with the shame and guilt of all that. >> parro and his wife eventually separated, but he landed in prison for breaking into her home and stealing her credit cards to pay for drugs. >> i readily admitted to it. that

california state prison, corcoran.to easley. >> i got it pretty good. it's all right. it's fine. this is something that i like doing, you know? it's kind of like a relaxation, you know? >> ernest had a legitimate job given to him by the administration in the kitchen, but he was smart in that he had figured out a way to have a little hustle on the side to make extra money. >> i usually charge, like a suit, a pair of pants is a suit, a shirt is a suit. i wash clothes. i don't wash boxers or socks. that's what i don't wash. you know, other than that i charge, you know, a dollar to wash, a dollar to iron their clothes. you'd be surprised. a lot of people, well men, they aren't really into washing or ironing, so i do it. >> one of the first things that struck me about ernest was he had a happiness about him you don't often see in a prison and then we came to find out why. >> well, i have a significant other. he's a very good person. you know? his name is robert. and he's a good man. you know? >> easley met robert when they

for clay lopez, at california state prison corcoran, doing time led him to the harmonica. >> i'm almost get out. so i don't have a career or anything, so i thought, well, you know, if i learn to play the harmonica, i can at least pay my own rent when i get out there, even as a street musician, if i'm sober. i think i'll do okay. ♪ i started to play the harp better when i lost this tooth. i started getting the twanging sound the way it was supposed to sound. i was never so happy to lose a tooth. makes this harp sound real good. ♪ you can play what you feel without reading music, and i've tried to play guitar, piano, all kinds of stuff, and i never went anywhere, and not that i'm going anywhere with this, but, i know a few songs, mostly hymnals, gospel songs, and a few of my own, and it just expresses me. >> lopez was serving a 20-year sentence on 27 counts of burglary. but it was his exposure to inmates serving life terms that inspired him to pay them tribute through his songs. >> i just wanted to do something for the lifers to kind of express them. i could sing the last verse and it spe

. >> when we visited california state prison corcoran for "extended stay," we came upon clarence lees he was moving into a new cell with an old friend from the neighborhood. a place he might never see again. lee was a veteran of the crips street gang and is serving for murder. the majority of inmates in prison belong to gangs. >> welcome into our little casa. >> lee's old friend reginald maiden who preferred to be called terry was in a distinct minority. >> go to school together. help each other with schoolwork. go to chow together. i have no problem sitting with terry. i have no problem doing what it takes because i look at him as a human. i understand all of the things he went through. to others it seems like we're more than homies because they don't understand how long i've known terry. >> terry was a very overt transgender inmate. then we meet clarence who comes off as this very strong, straight-looking guy. and because terry was constantly running into problems with his cellmates, he needed protection, for lack of a better word, and clarence was willing to offer that for terry.