there are 1,300 inmates serving life sentences at kern valley. their crimes were often coldblooded. >> i'm here for aggravated mayhem, attempted murder, kidnapping, and great bodily injury. >> i'm in here for the heat of passion. i caught my wife with somebody and killed her. >> for some of these inmates, the prospect of spending decades behind bars affects their ability to function. for others, a prison job can give them a sense of purpose. they work in the kitchen preparing and serving the food. they serve as porters, clerks, and barbers. marcus armstrong and jeffrey cattera know it's likely they'll never see the outside of prison again. >> january 13th, 1989, i committed my crime, was arrested the same day. it was a murder/robbery. i got life without the possibility of parole. stupid. stupid. i was a kid. did the wrong thing. you know? i've never denied my crime. i accept responsibility for what i did. although i regret what happened and -- i mean, it happened. i can't take that back. >> i'm in here for first-degree murder. i have 25 to life w

when we ran into dylan dunn at work in kern valley's kitchen. >> how unusual are you here?his prison, i'm the only one. >> the only what? >> the only white crip. >> when we met dylan dunn, i think the whole crew was very surprised to find out he was a crip, a white guy as a crip. >> i run with the blacks which there's not too many people like me. >> at first we thought maybe he was just messing with us or just trying to have a little fun. but we found out he was the real deal. >> talk to me a little bit about how an irish boy becomes a crip. dillon dunn. i got to tell you, somebody named you irish. >> i'm not irish. >> but are you white? >> i'm puerto rican and italian. so, yeah, you know, a little bit. >> dunn's fish out of water status could last for a long time. he's serving 25 years to life for armed robbery. >> how are you perceived here? i mean when you -- >> i get my respect. or else if i didn't, then, you know, like they could stab me or whatever. i mean i wouldn't be here. i'd be dead. you know, so evidently i get my respect. i mean, it wasn't easy. you know, it's

happen in prison before, an officer brought out the rule book. >> okay, hamilton, this here is kern valley state prison operational procedure, number 222. >> and set it down in front of dennis and said, look, here's what it says. >> in a nutshell it says that every inmate will accept a cellie except if he has -- see this little thing? it's called an "s" suffix. that means single cell status. if you have that attached to your cdc number, then we'll never, ever try to house you with another inmate because you have gone through all the hoops, whatever it takes, either you committed battery on your inmate -- or cell partners or you've, you know -- >> murdering, battery, i know. >> or a psychiatrist says. >> yeah, but i'm not crazy. >> well, that's your answer. that's it. call the governor. that's pretty much it for me. >> hamilton was sent back to the hole. but a few days later, we heard of an alarming new development in his case. he had assaulted an officer. >> sometimes you anticipate your moves as far as what inmates are going do and their capability, and sometimes you are just surprised. i

. >>> on the first day of production at california's kern valley state prison our producers set out ton deal with the monotony of being locked in their cells 23 hour as day. they pass reading materials and other items to each other through a process called fishing. >> go ahead. take off. >> though fishing is against prison rules, inmate, tracy washington, was willing to demonstrate how to make a fishing line. >> you get the string made out of the waistband of our boxer. we take the string apart and then we put a little piece of plastic as a weight and we slide it across the floor like this. they might come in here and take my line now that they know i've got it. but i'll make another one. >> shoot it out. >> but our producer was about to find out that there was a far more dramatic story surrounding inmate, washington. >> i was on suicide watch last week and i just came back last week. >> why? what happened? >> they was trying to send me somewhere i didn't want to be. >> so what did you do? >> i cut my wrist with a razor blade. >> washington went on to explain that he cut his wrist to p

this was at kern valley state prison. the injuries are stab, puncture and slash wounds mostly but none are considered life- threatening. >>> the marine corps says those involved in an inflammatory video will be held accountable. the defense department says this video is disgusting. we have blurred out much of the 39 seconds of the video t appears to show american marines in combat gear urinating on the corpses of taliban fighters and joking about it. the marines are investigating and preparing for all the fallout. >> it depicts us in the worst possible light so it's going to be a real challenge for the administration to handle this swiftly and properly and within the constraints of the military judicial system. >> a muslim civil rights group and the nato-led security forces in afghanistan are condemning the video. >>> on to north korea now. kim jong-il's body will be permanently displayed at a palace where his father has been since 1994. there is also word that north korea will put up a statue of kim jong-il in his honor.

. >> at kern valley state prison in california, we met inmate aaron yost who participates in anotherillegal, yet very common practice behind bars. tattooing. >> mine's art work. you know what i mean? i did this myself. >> where? >> in a cell like this. >> how? >> how? see this cassette player? i ripped the motor out of it, and i attach a tube to it with the needle, spin the needle back and forth. and i make the ink. burn plastic or baby oil, and the soot will go up. i collect the soot and mix it with shampoo to make a thick black ink. >> tattooing in prison is illegal and poses a variety of health risks, but we've met countless inmates who have gotten their ink both on the outside and inside. many tattoos represent gang affiliation and are documented by prison officials. most of the rest have a meaning all their own. >> what my trip is is physics. my tattoos represent it. on the back of my legs it says quantum physics. i've got an atom on my hand. i study what the ultimate nature of reality is. it sooths me. it soothes me to try and figure out what i am, what all this is, what it's a

it happened at the kern valley state prison. the injuries are mainly stab, puncture and slash wounds but none considered life- threatening. >>> it's another busy day politically in south carolina. republican presidential hopefuls are there. mitt romney is the front-runner after winning in iowa and new hampshire. but south carolina republicans are more conservative. so newt gingrich, rick santorum and rick perry are hoping that they are going to benefit as romney struggles in the state. romney is still looking ahead to the november bout with president obama. >> we are going through tough times in part because of the failure of one man. that's why he's got it go. >> jon huntsman and ron paul are also stumping for votes in south carolina hoping for momentum from new hampshire. the south carolina primary is the 21st. >>> the flights are supposed to be nonstop but lately that's not the case. strong head winds are forcing a lot of flights from europe to eastern u.s. cities to make unscheduled stops in places like ireland, canada and m