on the west bank of the mississippi river is one of the oldest prisons in the country, iowa state penitentiary. there is a separate facility at iowa state penitentiary called ccu, the inmates who are considered mentally ill are housed here. lieutenant john fedler oversees the correctional staff at ccu. >> the staff have been through specialized training to be able to deal with the mentally ill inmates. >> up to 200 men can be housed in ccu. most of them reside in single cells in one of the four general population pods. >> i am here for depression. i was out on work release. i escaped from a work release center because i couldn't find a job. i robbed a bank in my hometown where the work release center was. i got in a high-speed chase with state troopers of missouri and local law enforcement. i hit one of the state troopers head on, trying to commit suicide. and i killed the state trooper. i got 20 years fed, and 5 years for escape. i got a detainer in missouri for -- [ crying ] >> open 11. 22-year-old caleb etter's physical appearance is a testimony to his many crimes, beginning with an addicti

harmonious use of their time or their voices. >> i wish death on all you [ bleep ]. >> at iowa state penitentiaryent 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 mu

there's no going back. >>> cell house 220 at iowa state penitentiary houses the most disruptive inmates. 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. a lot of them are here by virtue of their conduct in 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 st

for some like dale veers at iowa state penitentiary, that means the chance to pick up a new skill orwo. >> 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. >> 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 it was abstract art. but he had a far more practical reason for pushing his cor

. >> when we met dante bullock at the state penitentiary in iowa he was spending his third day in thee. authorities say he stuffed this padlock inside of a sock and brutally attacked another inmate with it. >> do you think that you have a violent past or angry or what is your situation? >> i am violent when i am provoked. >> bullock is already serving a life sentence for kidnapping, but if the charges with the pad lock stick, he could be locked in his cell 23 hours a day. >> i was in the wrong place at the wrong time. the inmate had been assaulted and my defense to them was telling them i was in the area and pushed out of the way as the inmate was trying to get away from the person assaulting him. >> bullock was anxiously awaiting a hearing with the prison's administrative law judge to plead his case. in the meantime, he let us know that while ad seg meant losing his television, the location of the cell at least made it possible to keep up with current events. >> this cell right here is in front of the police station, and to me, it is the best cell on this range due to the fact that y