get through the doors is a challenge. >> go to the west gates, see officer von reagan. >> the maricopa county jail has been the subject of more media attention than probably any other jail in america. in recent years it's been due to the county's policies toward illegal immigrants. before that, much of the coverage centered on its practices. such as constructing an outdoor housing facility with tents. the striped uniforms and pink underwear inmates are required to wear. and the use of chain gangs to perform everything from maintenance work to burying the indigent. behind it all is the man who has run the jail since 1992. sheriff joe arpaio. >> one of my philosophies is you should never live better in jail than you do on the outside. >> you purposely want your jails to be tough, correct? >> well, i sure don't want it to be a hilton hotel like some other prisons around the nation. it's all this rehabilitation, education. we have all that in our jails, nobody talks about, but we punish our children, take away certain things from them, privileges. why can't we punish people who committed crimes a

stands for the maricopa county sheriff's office animal safe haven. regularly get animals in that are at death's door. >> m.a.s.h. is a housing unit for abused animals whose owners are incarcerated at maricopa. its located in one of the original jail facilities, which was shut down for human occupants in 1999. >> we get animals in that are literally skin and bones. we nurse them back to health. we resocialize them. we get them used to being around people. and once their court case is cleared, we take actual ownership of the animal, we adopt them out to a good home. >> good boy. >> the animals are cared for by inmate workers who have no history of animal abuse. male inmates take care of the horses and other farm animals. >> we get accused of standing around scratching our ass all day here at m.a.s.h. unit. best job on the yard. >> female inmates work with the dogs and the cats. >> i bond more with the dogs here than any of the girls on the yard. what i like best about the dogs is they don't argue with everything that you say like the inmates do. >> abi

that's amazing. >> life at the maricopa county jail in phoenix was never meant to be easy.ules are strict. and the accommodations bare bones. inmates aren't even allowed to have pillows. but even in this spartan environment they still come up with creative ways to find comfort. christina ranich discovered with a few raw materials like soap, water and a plastic bag, she can sculpt something to temporarily take her mind off jail. >> that's big. >> just let it dry. >> oh, my god. >> you need to make me a little one, the short and fat one comes with a lot of money, that works for me. >> they come with the money. >> gross. >> the short and fat ones come with money. >> is that a fact? >> the big ones, huh-uh. they just have -- they just slinging and not slinging. >> the next one, don't cut it in half. >> yeah, don't cut it in half. >> for me. >> unless it's an anteater, then it's all good. >> that's a short 12 inches. >> no, it's girthy. it's good to go. >> no, you got to go to jamaica. >> no, it's not. >> even in jail, ranich manages to have a few laughs but she also has some ge

. ♪ >> the maricopa county jail is divided between two distinct worlds, the first is an outdoor worldthe jail is internationally famous for tent city, a cluster of outdoor housing yards for both men and women. >> ladies, fall in. i'm not talking to the fence, am i? >> life here sucks. i mean it's terrible. i don't even think this place should exist to be honest with you. >> but the vast majority of maricopa inmates live in one of five different indoor facilities where they will rarely, if ever, experience any time outdoors. >> i'm cousin ashton, i come out blastin', i'm about as hungry as a taliban fasting so just like the clumps i'll fill my plate, ghetto grinding all day it's a crime of fate. >> in one of maricopa's primary men's facilities, the fourth avenue jail, when inmates are not in their small two-person cells, they can work out in an indoor rec room or in the common area between their cells. but every afternoon many of the inmates shift focus from their bodies to their bank accounts. >> this is how i make my money. i get 50 or 60 bucks every week. i got money coming off the

and the maricopa county jail in phoenix, arizona, is no exception. >> i'm born and raised here in phoenix, arizona been here 24 years, my whole life pretty much. i actually live about seven miles down buckeye road. >> robert miner wound up hereafter being caught with marijuana and a loaded shotgun. even though his old job only required at most a seltzer bottle. >> i am a bum clown, man, it's kind of, a hobo clown what they call it. a little hobo bag. it's good. i am a good guy, you know. there is a lot of good people in here. just unfortunately we break laws too. >> helen smith was a full time sales wa mon before being sentenced on drug charges. but her part time job, at least, got her familiar with handcuffs. >> i also am a dominatrix on the weekend. so, yes -- >> a weekend gig? >> a weekend gig, yes. >> we have shackles and we have handcuffs that we use on them if they want that. >> when the sheer monotony of life in tent city gets to william frost and timothy young they take refuge in the identity of others. >> greetings, live from tent city. >> yo, hey, over there, this is rocky stall

. >>> life inside the maricopa county jail in phoenix, arizona, is constantly changing. due to a steady influx of nearly 400 inmates per day. unlike prison, where all the inmates have been convicted of a crime, the majority of jail inmates have either been accused of a crime or are awaiting sentencing. most of these new arrivals will stay a day or two before leaving on bond or dismissal of charges. others might stay for years, until their cases are settled. but no matter how long they're here, jail has a way of changing people. the dorms at maricopa's women's facility can be as transformative a setting as any. and one dorm in particular has earned a reputation. >> this particular dorm, g dorm, houses a lot of different inmates. a lot of them are repeat offenders and they come back in and see each other and they begin these relationships that are unauthorized or that we don't allow. so it can get pretty wild here in g dorm. >> one of those repeat offenders, kelly mcnaughton, is better known by her nickname. >> mcnaughty. as every officer here knows me. the sergeants. i tr

>> the minute we met josh pike at the maricopa county jail in phoenix, arizona, he stood out. >> look how g they made this. give us a fricken -- this is all we have to cut our fingernails and sharpen our pencils. that's what the black stuff is on there. after you emery board your nails you have a little sashay action going on. you know what i mean? sup? you know what i mean? >> josh pike was a firehose on full open throttle that was uncontrollable. was whipping around and you just -- you couldn't contain the stream that was josh pike. >> i have to say the dinners have gotten better. i don't know what they did. i guess they have a new nutritionist or something like that that's coming through here and shaking things up. the dinners are a little bit better. i mean, they're edible. >> josh pike is great for tv. huge personality. however, i didn't quite realize he was going to be such a difficult interview subject. >> what's going on with you? you're getting a little approaching over there, huh? what's going on? i see you out of my peripheral, i'm on you like that. i know what's going on,

please welcome me in welcoming -- please welcome maricopa county sheriff. joe, come on up here., ladies and gentlemen. >> thank you, governor. nyquil (st uffy ): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. is to dig right in. but as his dentist, i know that to do that, he needs to use the brush more dentists use. oral-b. trust the brush more dentists and hygienists use. oral-b. life opens up when you do. >> that kind of behavior is not acceptable. i strongly urge the iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task. >> president obama moments ago calling for action from iran after the embassy attack in tehran. it was a response to a scene earlier today, a mob of protesters screaming death to england as they stormed the british embassy. for more on this, i am joined live from tehran. good afternoon, ali. w

joe arpieia sheriff joe of maricopa county, arizona, will join perry in new hampshire on tuesday.sidential hopefuls have courted arpaio known as america's toughest sheriff by some. he generated national controversy over his crackdown on illegal immigrants and strong support for arizona's immigration law. some believe that will frankly perry could use his clout. conservative critics jumped on perry after he suggested that people who don't support education for children of illegal immigrants "don't have a heart." as we reported, there's a tentative deal in place to end the nba lockout. among those relieved is the country's basketball fan in chief. president obama was asked about the deal after he finished playing basketball at ft. mcnair. here is what he said. >> what do you think about the nba strike? >> good deal. >> the president also spent his afternoon in maryland watching townsend fall to arizona state which is coached by his brother-in-law. >>> voting is under way right now for 2011 cnn's hero of the year. nate berkus introduces us to one of the top ten finalists. chef bruno

. >> the maricopa county jail is one of the busiest in the country, housing about 120,000 inmates a yearoken sheriff joe arpaio, it's one of the most violent and controversial. june 7th, 2006, violence erupts in a crowded holding cell. >> this is the entry point for every inmate other than a few very small jails for some small communities. >> chief of detention, jack macintyre, oversees the jail. >> in the holding tank we're looking at the people who have an array of various felony charges. could be a burglary, car theft, stealing 12 packs of beer from your local circle k. >> after arrest, suspects wait in the small cement cell for hours. too many prisoners and not enough space is a common scenario. on this day, there are more than two dozen sandwiched in together, including rick herman. >> rick herman was arrested for a number of charges by the phoenix police department. >> the 35-year-old receives a card that lifts his charges, and then his clothes are taken away. >> the department took them into evidence and issued him what we call a bunny suit. it's a white paper suit. and booked him

foabc news reports sheriff joe arpaio of maricopa county arizona will endorse perry and campaign withnew hampshire. arpaio could help perry rebound from criticism he took over comments he made that those who were against educating illegal immigrants "don't have a heart." newt gingrich is taking the lead in several key presidential polls this week in battleground state. here to break it down with us, adam geller and bernard whitman, former democratic pollster for the clinton administration. adam, i will start with you. look at an overall poll that we have that does a look at the gop presidential nomination. gingrich at 26%. romney 22 and cain at 14. gingrich wasn't there a few weeks ago. can he stay there? >> well, he wasn't there a couple of weeks ago. you got to give him credit because he really hung tight and obviously a lot of it has to do with his terrific debate performances. can he stay there is the big question. it is going to take a lot of money and a lot of organization. he has gotten there on the strength of his intelligence and his grasp on the issues. now, the challenge is

we have 263,000 empty homes in maricopa county, arizona.: when you think about those numbers, it's quite incredible. i'd like to talk to you about fannie and freddie, but going back to one thing you just said about closing tax loopholes, some fellow republicans say when you cloatz those loopholes, that's like raising taxes. do you think some of your colleagues are being too rigid about that part of tax policy and should be open to compromising with democrats to try to fix whatever the job crisis is and the debt crisis as well? >> i know all republicans, including me, who campaigned last year saying that we wouldn't raise taxes is for simplifying the tax code, reducing taxes -- the overall tax rate and closing these loopholes and giving the american people a tax code that's that big rather than one that's that high. all republicans, all americans are in favor of that. what the democrats are demanding is just outright tax increases and, frankly, that's not the commitment we made to the american people in 2010. jenna: when you showed us the si

. >> he was then thrown in the maricopa county jail even though his family and witnesses say he wasn'te going overboard. i understand a deal, you can get things half price, all of that, but something has got to stop when it gets to this fever pitch with black friday. and including, and next, this is over a waffle maker, a $2 waffle maker and one woman is about to lose her pants, keep it eye out for that. >> dave: this is again at a wal-mart in little rock, arkansas, clearly absolute mayhem and yes, there is a crack problem here at this (bleep) >> hello, hello. >> and not to make light of it. >> ali did pick up on that. >> how do i avoid it. obviously, shoppers are out of hand and need to settle down and layoff the caffeine, but those stores and specifically this wal-mart have a responsibility to try and curb this craziness? >> yes. >> you can't get your mind on-- >> i can't turn my eyes away, i wish i could, we would love to hear your suggestions and some people have been sending you tweets. let's go to brunch, instead of shopping on-- >> spread the deals out throughout the weekend. >>