in san quentin. officers gather in the courtyard for a briefing regarding a recent of serious assaults they feel may be related. so they've organized an extensive cell search for hidden, makeshift weapons. >> this is how we're going to do it. we're going to do a search line right there in the rotunda. >> come on down. >> pat them all down. have them take off their shoes. they might be packing on the way in here. they'll be searched and fed. >> after breakfast, the inmates are moved to the yards where they will stay until officers can complete their search. >> we're looking for makeshift weapons. bed spreads, anything with razors. anything they can slash these guys with or even stab them with. >> the operation is broken up into several two-person teams. >> i guess i'll get the top, huh? >> you get the top. you're the tall guy. >> officers, david hamilton and meagan mcgee each have years of experience at second-guessing where inmates like to hide contraband. >> okay. i found two razors that were remove

>> among the nation's most notorious institutions, san quentin state prison. our cameras spent months documenting life on the inside where gangs, drugs and sheer boredom make up a violent mix. this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay." >> in america's prisons, violence is a way of life. san quentin, the oldest prison in california, has one of the longest histories of violence. >> there's fistfights going on, there's guys getting beat up pretty good. >> whether it's an inmate fresh off the street -- >> i refuse to get disrespected by anybody. >> a gang dropout in protective custody. >> it happened a couple of days ago so -- >> or an officer trying to maintain order. >> he was going for the jugular but he just missed. >> they've all fallen victim to violent attacks. in the three months we were at san quentin, we saw our fair share. ♪ for the ruler of all evil i pray to god i don't die for the wrong people ♪ >> administrative segregation, otherwise known as ad seg, is a unit mainly reserved for the worst of the worst offenders at san quentin. >> it's a place w

this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay." san quentin state prison served as the reception center for 17 counties in the state of california. each week, the prison releases 150 prisoners. and welcomes 350 new inmates. san quentin was built to hold about 3,000 people. it currently houses more than 5,000. >> unfortunate for some of them, they think this is a step up. in the circles they travel in, unfortunately, it is. you know, i made it. i'm in state prison now. >> with repeat offenders clogging up the works, the officers struggle to keep the inmates under control. >> control, be advised we have an alarm in south block. >> i can only speculate and the only thing i can think of is we have a missing inmate. that's probably the number one thing. >> step on the tiers and conduct a count, submit it to patrol immediately. >> 5-west-45, hernandez. i don't know where he is. >> his name is skanvinsky hymes. my prison number is e-04448. i've had this prison number since i was 18 years old. i just turned 37 on february 15th. i'll be dis

. >> our first ever extended stay series was shot at california's fabled san quentin prison.se just over 3,000 inmates. it was home to more than 5,000. when we shot there, robert ayers was san quentin's warden. >> we are grossly overcrowded, which is just totally unacceptable for the inmates, and the staff. >> been here before? >> no. >> all right, come over here and stand on the fence right there. >> the incoming population at san quentin was relentless, with staff releasing 150 inmates each week, but welcoming in 350 new ones. >> let's go, gentlemen. let's go, let's go, let's go. clear the door. >> many of them wound up in the gym, which had been converted into a huge, overflow housing unit. >> when i first walked in to the dorm at san quentin, i was taken aback by how many people were packed into this small area. it was very loud. ♪ >> james, report to the office upstairs. >> there's always people talking, people yelling. some people in there were trying to read and some people in there were trying to sleep. so you'll have a big group of people having a conversation over h

this is "lockup" san quentin, extended stay. >> san quentin is home to more than 5,000 inmates, ranging from the most violent offenders in california. >> i will rob you in a minute, don't get me wrong. >> to the all too common parole violators in the system. >> if i do drugs, that's my violation. >> the overpopulated san quentin serves as the reception center. >> there is 384 inmates. i have six staff members. >> he got the drugs, the fwangs, the weapons. it can be real dangerous at times. >> i have been a pretty successful robber. >> level four inmates, the worst in california, are housed at san quentin while awaiting permanent transfer to other facilities. >> i used to rob stores. that in itself is a rush that you can't explain. i own the world. i can do whatever i want. i can -- it's better any ceo in the world. i can instruct you to do whatever i want to do with a pistol to you, you know. it's an a's adrian lynn you can never get from anything else. unfortunately there is a consequent. because i got a strike. my years was doubled, like up to 521 years. i have got 11 consecutive life

but san quentin had one program designed to discourage troubled teens. from ever joining its ranks in the future. through the squires program, selected inmates shared their experiences with teenagers who had already had run-ins with the law. >> what we need you to understand, you are in san quentin this morning. you are in a place that no kid should ever want to be in. you should be out playing somewhere in the park. you are here because of something you did. >> what's your first name? >> angel. >> angel? >> yeah. >> how old are you? >> 13. >> i'm 16. >> jonathan, i'm 16, too. >> what you want to know, that this is your life, man. you have an opportunity to leave out of this place and never come back. >> let me introduce myself to you guys. my name's david. i'm about to be 25 years old in a few more months, but i have been in prison since i was 15-years-old for murder. >> david monroe is serving a 15-year-to-life sentence after having pled guilty to second degree murder. >> i banged before. i have been on the streets before. i'm from stockton. i done did

we were shooting at san quentin in alpine section, and we were down on the ground floor.uddenly i felt something hit me on the top of my head. and i had the worst thought, oh, my god i had just been gassed. luckily it turned out to be a banana peel. >> when we visited the stateville correctional center in illinois, we encountered another bizarre practice involving human waste. >> feces, spreads it on everything. clean it off every day. every day he puts it right back on. >> this is unit "i," the segregation unit at stateville correctional center. basically this is where the bad people, being extra bad in the facility, come to be locked up. they urinate, bowel movement everywhere, i think they just kind of have gone crazy, prison life is probably getting to them. >> but we've 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 of doctors. initially it seemed like it was going to be munda

was that for quentin? >> i don't really know. i felt a sudden urge to go to the bathroom.n i was afraid to miss my bus. >> jimmy: you're not a culture club fan, huh? >> no. >> jimmy: none of the fantastic men are, really. really, not even, like, "church is a poison mind?" nothing? >> it reminded me of whenever it was, you know, in the '80s, when -- >> jimmy: yeah, the '80s. >> i hated it then. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: you hated the '80s. you're the only one. >> i'm the only one who remembers them. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: you and quentin still socialize or is he so used to having you here now -- >> we're friends. >> jimmy: what do you do with him? >> with him? >> jimmy: yes. what do you guys do? >> oh, i see. >> jimmy: yeah. >> we actually -- sometimes we watch movies at his house. he has this wonderful little movie theater in his house. but sometimes we -- most of the times we just go have dinner and talk about the world. >> jimmy: he loves movies. you know, he did a weird thing to me once. he was on the show, we had a screening of "kill bill" after the show. and so i went wi

. >> at california's san quentin state prison, we saw how sophisticated some inmate weaponry can be.his homemade pistol is known as a zip gun. >> this portion is filled with ground up matchheads. the two holes here, inmates insert a wick. the inmate takes a plunger, pokes shrapnel in the open end, pieces of metal, ground up zippers. when the target walks by the cell, be it an officer or an inmate, the inmate lights this, it goes down, strikes the match heads, basically acts like a firecracker and shoots the shrapnel out. >> the majority of inmate manufactured weapons or shanks are designed for slashing or stabbing. the ease with which lethal weapons are made is shocking. this san quentin inmate who goes by the name speedy agreed to show correctional staff and "lockup" cameras just how simple it can be. he starts by using a roll of toilet paper as a crude forge to melt plastic coffee cup lids. >> i'm making a weapon right now. melting this plastic down into a shape. what i'm doing is trying to get a wad of it to where i can -- i have something to work with. you know what i mean? what

and the staff here call me the bird man of san quentin.he first day i got here at san quentin, birds seem to have flocked to me for some reason. i don't know, they probably think i'm the bird man of alcatraz. maybe they're mistaken because he had a shaved head, too. >> miller was serving an eight-year sentence for burglary when he proudly showed us his cell. a virtual shrine to his winged friends. >> ever since i've been here, the birds just come up to me like they know me. you know, i've got them landing on my shoulders and my hands. you know, different kinds of birds. not just pigeons but different kinds of blackbirds like finch and the red wing landing on me. i think the birds is a good way of releasing a lot of tension and anger. before i got arrested, my girlfriend used to chase the birds away. she didn't want me around them. and so now i'm in here, i have a chance to mingle with the birds. basically, that's about the only friends i've got is birds. i can't trust anybody else. >>> communities across the country are making plans to get

at san quentin, we met one young inmate who compared it to a once popular tv show. >> it's just likehat little show "cheers" where everybody know your name. [ bleep ]. you see all your friends, you know what i mean? you feel like, well, i'm cool here. these are my boys, you know, what i mean? this is my home. >> but most inmates hold a much different opinion. >> prisons are hate factories. they can't produce anything but hate. all you have is hate, loneliness, greed, and just misery. >> when we met gerald mccullough at the river bend national security institution near nashville, tennessee, he was halfway through a 12-year sentence on a sexual offense charge. >> there's no way out. there's just nothing to do. this is just a total waste of someone's life. >> despite his pessimism, mccullough had found a productive outlet to express his pain. ♪ they say it's raining in denver ♪ ♪ that it's really kind of cold but i'm just pulling time in nashville ♪ ♪ how am i supposed to know ♪ >> in a prison in nashville the home of country music, we decided it would be great if we could find a countr

we were shooting san quentin, alpine section, and we were down on the ground floor.top of my head. and i had the worst thought, oh, my god i had just been gassed. luckily it turned out to be a banana peel. >> when we visited the stateville correctional center in illinois, we encountered another bizarre practice involving human waste. >> feces, spreads it on everything. clean it off every day. every day he puts it right back on. >> this is unit "i," the segregation unit at stateville correctional center. basically this is where the bad people, being extra bad in the facility, come to be locked up. they urinate, bowel movement everywhere, i think they just kind of have gone crazy, prison life is probably getting to them. >> but we've 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 of doctors. initially it seemed like it was going to be mundane and going through the process. so we

at san quentin, we met one young inmate who compared it to a once popular tv show. >> it's just likeittle show "cheers" where everybody know your name. [ bleep ]. you see all your friends, you know what i mean? you feel like, well, i'm cool here. these are my boys, you know, what i mean? this is my home. >> but most inmates hold a much different opinion. >> prisons are hate factories. they can't produce anything but hate. all you have is hate, loneliness, greed, and just misery. >> when we met gerald mccullough at the river bend national security institution near nashville, tennessee, he was halfway through a 12-year sentence on a sexual offense charge. >> there's no way out. there's just nothing to do. this is just a total waste of someone's life. >> despite his pessimism, mccullough had found a productive outlet to express his pain. ♪ they say it's raining in denver ♪ ♪ that it's really kind of cold but i'm just pulling time in nashville ♪ ♪ how am i supposed to know ♪ >> in a prison in nashville the home of country music, we decided it would be great if we could find a country sin

inmates in san quentin are learning skills for a fresh start. ,, the family of the 4-year oly who fell from a cliff is fod >>> she survived a 200-plus foot fall and a rescue. now the family of a 4-year-old boy who fell from a cliff is focused on his recovery. rescue teams found the child monday night. his father told us doctors are worried sebastian johnson might have suffered brain damage. but it's still not clear. the good news is sebastian is slowly coming out of a coma. his father thanked the rescue crews. >> he said think of spider-man which is perfect. he said think about that all the time. and, you know, i really thank him for doing a good job. >> darrell says he thinks those words helped his son find his courage. he is being treated at oakland children's hospital. >>> new at 6:00, oakland is turning to a new tactic to get businesses the money they need. kpix 5's mike sugerman with how they are trying to get the community to invest in the community. mike. >> reporter: i love it when the timing works out perfectly. ladies, take it away. [ chanting ] >> 3, 2, 1, whoo! >> reporter:

we met christopher carrillo inside a heavily graded cell at san quentin. >> you give respect, you getpect. a lot of people say these guys don't treat us right. at times they don't, but it's hard when you've got a lot of people in here. can't be happy too much in prison. it's not disney land. >> but another inmate at another california prison had a harsher view the cos. >> i hate cops. they're diabolical. they're petty. they present to the public that they're law and order, this and that but in here they'll stab you in the back. they write false write-ups. they got a hidden agenda. they want to keep us locked up in here so they make money. you know, this is a prison industrial complex. it's all about money. >> there is one place, however, where trust is put to the ultimate test. it's the prison kitchen. >> everything back here could be made into a potential weapon. those sheet pans are very thin and they're sharp on the edges. it only takes one of these guys to pick one of those up and they could almost cut my head off. >> we met officer epperson at the kern valley state prison in cali

our reporters, sara lacy and quentin hardy of "the new york times" this week on "press: here." >>> good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. for thousands of americans, where did i come from is more than just an existential question. as adoptees, many do not know where they come from. they're just one group of people using dna kits from 23 and me to find out. $99 and a cheek swab later, the company tells you literally who you are genetically. your ethnic background, some cases can identify your relatives. until recently, they could also tell you about your health, including p including predispositions for various diseases. the fda recently put a stop to that. anne wojcicki is the founder, a graduate of yale, a very accomplished individual from a very accomplished family. her mother is a legendary teacher from palo alto. her other sister runs youtube. and she's raising two children with one of the founders of google. joined by quentin hardy of "the new york times" and sara lacy of pando daily. >> i would love if your kids are just artists who drop out. >> let's start with that. what abou

. >> at california's san quentin state prison, we saw how sophisticated some inmate weaponry can be. this homemade pistol is known as a zip gun. >> this portion is filled with groundup matchups. >> the two holes here, the inmate inserts a wick, inmate takeses a plunger, pokes shrapnel in the open end. pieces of metal, groundup zippers. when the target walks by the cell, may it be an officer, inmate, the inmate lights this. when it goes down, strikes the match heads, basically acts like a firecracker and shoots the shrapnel out. >> the majority of inmate-manufactured weapons or shanks, designed for slashing and stabbing. the ease and with lethal weapons are made is shocking. this san quentin inmate who goes by the name speedy, agreed to show correctional staff and "lockup" cameras just how simple it can be. he starts by using a roll of toilet paper as a crude forge to melt plastic coffee cup lids. >> i'm making a weapon right now. melting this plastic down into a shape. what i'm dying i'm trying to get a little wad of it to where i have something to work with, you know what i mean? ri

i saw san quentin i saw the backend as are many there looking left and he looks right as it is time to decide which way to go. no matter which way would come there was nothing there fo for them. in to me that really describes how we, we were releasing people from our present them without a plan. it's what we do with their county jails every day. we release people in the middle of the night from county jails and no services are open. so the doubtful truly is in the detail, looking at those local policies and the things we do that need to change so people can be more successful when they leave our jails and prisons. >> i think we are realizing we get people there forever. that sense that we can even if they're antisocial we can keep and refer ever. we can't afford but it does work but it's not necessary if we do have to think about presence not just in isolation but in the context of our communities. >> can you talk a bit about your experience and what is taught you about what people need when they get out of prison and what's missing now from the system? >> so, i just want to say yes

this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay."

. >> eventually transferred to san quentin state prison, the man who is arguably california's most violent inmate completed his sentence and was released in 2007. >> you have people locked up in this, this type of environment and then you release them to the street. what do you expect? >> back up -- ha-ha. >>> next on "lockup: raw." >> they'll come across their enemy, slice them across the neck. >> the ingenious weapons inmates use to attack. and the lengths officers will go to in combating them. and the legion of super fans. wow! [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbell's chunky soup. it's new chunky beer-n-cheese with beef and bacon soup. i love it. and mama loves you. ♪ so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are24/7branches? it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things? feel that in your muscles? yeah... i do... try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. >>> every day in america's prisons correctional officers are searching for them. >> a lot of these weapons were confiscated on the yards. >> in prison slang

this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay."

this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay."

but san quentin had one program designed to discourage troubled teens.joining its ranks in the future. through the re

the northern hispanics is our main gang here at san quentin. and it's because they're better organized. the white guys are over here on the parallel bars and on the picnic table. over in the corner you see where the asians are sitting. you can't just walk and sit on a table. i had to explain that. i almost got into a confrontation with that two or three times because, you know, i saw a table and i sat down, you know, it's not like that. you got to ask for permission to sit down there. >> even such a minor misstep can be taken as a sign of disrespect, and that can lead to widespread violence. though correctional staff is constantly on the lookout for weapons, it's well known that many on this yard are armed for battle. and none more so than the northern hispanics. >> they have a minister of defense. and his thing is he's to have ten weapons ready at any time down here on this yard. their weapons are all hid over there. and in the morning we'll come over and we'll search that area and try to find their weapons. but they're getting better and bett

you will hear from a former san quentin warden, a criminal justice investigative journalist, and two ex-convicts, one of the whom is currently rug for public office in california. this is an hour and 20 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> good evening and welcome. welcome everyone. in particular it is your first visit to the california endowment center for public communities we will continue, first time. for those who are return visitors, welcome back. always glad to have you. my name is dr. robert ross, i'm the president and cal -- california endowment. this is a conversation about issues of the day, typically health and civic minded issues of the day. this particular conversation tonight is timely and compelling and powerful. this issue, the topic of this issue and the timing of it is interesting for me personally. they goes back 30 years for me when i was a practicing pediatrician in a clinic in camden, new jersey, 1984 is when crack cocaine hit the streets of urban america. and when some evil genius invented crack cocaine, and it made cocaine, which is an intensely addictive, i

meanwhile, second year nose tackle quentin dial will start tomorrow with ian williams out with a broken leg. dial was drafted last year out of alabama! and he told me about getting recruited by the crimson tide head coach nick saban. what is nick saban like? >> like you know nick saban he's a great guy, a great coach but when you're on that field coach is strictly business. you don't know you stuff he gonna be on ya. [ laughter ] >> when you signed with the crimson tide, i mean, was he the one that came in and closed the deal? >> yeah. coach saban came and see me at my high school and we closed it out there. signed them papers and everything. it was good. >> that was almost bigger than the governor coming to the school, huh? >> yeah. >> nick saban's coming to the school, huh? >> oh, yeah. everybody wanted to get a picture with him and get him to sign stuff. >> big news in clay, alabama, huh. >> clay, alabama, baby. [ laughter ] >> had to sit him down, ann. guy's almost 6'7." i go 5-foot nothing just to equalize it. >> when in doubt, set him down. >>> that's it for us at 5:30. see you in

quentin patton got a chance to speak. >> what is the frustration level light? >> no frustration.are all here. we are all in. we are going to be back. >> we are all in. >> time for the thursday night top five. highlight, the bengals tonight. they beat him 24-3. thousand habit cleveland? sorry brian wilson. but james harden has the best beard. houston beat the spurs. they are 6-0. there is a function at the junction with the warriors coming up. don't try this at home. make sure there are not any metal poles close by. volleyball. extra effort by katie wolfson who weeps it in the air. keep it alive. they work hard against the point for purdue. she was able to watch her father devin still play football tonight in cincinnati. lee has been battling cancer and the bengals donated over a million bucks thanks to proceeds from sales jerseys. with all the negative publicity surr,,,,,, female announcer: tuesday's your last chance to save big during sleep train's triple choice sale. for a limited time, you can choose to save hundreds on beautyrest and posturepedic mattress sets. or choose $300

meanwhile, second year nose tackle quentin dial will start tomorrow.lliams out with the brokendial was drafted last year out leg.of alabama! and he told me about getting recruited by the crimson tide head coach nick saban. what is nick saban like? >> like you know nick saban he's a great guy, a great coach but when you're on that field coach is strictly business. you don't know you stuff he gonna be on ya. [ laughter ] >> when you signed with the crimson tide, i mean, was he the one that came in and closed the deal? >> yeah. coach saban came and see me at my high school and we closed it out there. signed them papers and everything. it was good. >> that was almost bigger than the governor coming to the school, huh? >> yeah. >> nick saban's coming to the school, huh? >> oh, yeah. everybody wanted to get a picture with him and get him to sign stuff. >> big news in clay, alabama, huh. >> clay, alabama, baby. [ laughter ] . >> have you seen him? he looks like yosemite sam. he just -- wah! all clenched up. yosemite sam without the moustache because he is so

few, though, made as lasting an impression on us as solon league of california's san quentin state prison a third timer. youngster is a first timer. he got 12 years. i only got 13 days now. so i'm really preparing him to what's ahead for him. keep our house clean. >> league gave both his cell mate and our producer a lesson on the finer points of laundry behind bars. >> i clean my t-shirt. grab my bar of soap. dip it in the toilet. i keep my toilet fresh and clean. scrub it out. use soap. when your toilet fills up, it's fresh water now. i can just rinse it. i fold my towels. put it here. right up under here is my clothesline. >> league went on to give us a cooking demonstration using toilet paper like a stove top burner. >> take this. you sit it on the edge of the toilet. because it's got to breathe. might sit it here. i might light it at the bottom. as you see, it's like a fire. you hold your can over it. and you cook. there are, your water gets hot. flush it down. you grab a damp towel. because you don't want it to be on the toilet. you don't want to burn your toilet up. i get my bowl, c

he served some of his 8 month stretch at san quentin prison.ng a decent job was impossible. >> when you have felonies on your record, nobody trusts you. nobody wants anything to do with you. you're not a real human being anymore. >> reporter: after 25 years, that felon label is about to disappear. under recently passed proposition 47, californians convicted of drug possession and many other nonviolent, low level crimes can ask a judge to have their convictions reduced to misdemeanors. that's a big difference. powell's public defender told him the news. >> he cried a little. >> to get that taken away, that could actually almost be considered being accepted back into normal society. >> reporter: powell is one of an estimated 40,000 convicted felons in california who have already served time, and now may be eligible to expunge their felonies from their record. >> this is a list of cases that we have to review. >> reporter: jeff adachi set up a special hotline for people to call who think they might be eligible. he says he's gotten dozens of calls

the pilot, 47 year- old eric quentin howlett, died. his plane began having left engine problems shortly after taking off from midway bound for ohio state university. the wreckage is now gone from the scene. >>we are getting our first look at surveillance video of a deadly police shooting that took place earlier this month inside a hospital in highland park. the video shows the deadly confrontation between police and christopher anderson. he was in the emergency room of northshore highland park htal on no 3 afternd daughter werenjn a crash. anderson pulled a gun after he reportedly became upset with the care they were getting. officers are heard telling him to drop the gun several times and then they fired nine shots in less than two seconds, killing anderson. prosecutors have ruled that the shooting was justified. the fire that destroyed an historic building in lincoln park yesterday, re- ignited this morning. the 114-year-old building, at sheffield and willow, once housed the mulligan school. it was several months into a redevelopment

order the bonds i'm here with steering wheel and proponent of measure a we're also joined by just quentin the chair of the transportation under 98 to 98 and the member of board of supervisors 80 from 1986 a property thank you he'll start with opening comments ms. brinkman the bond is boo about the sufficiency and efficiency and safety you have our streets if you use the streets in san francisco by private automobile or bus why business bike you care about this bond measure passing it will help all to move better and get rid of congestion it has not passed a bond measure in over 60 years you you'll of the work done to packing pass the bond measures give us the system people will say night not good in order to continue to improve this system we're going to have the make the investment now and not only for the generations to come. >> thank you just coping our opening remarks measure a is as simple as abc so that at this point the abc a stands 0 for a blank check they don't thrill this is a general obligation bond a boring of money a half a billion dollars repayable over thirty years at inter

i think a lot of the top democratic surrogates be the president or the first lady or quentin don't lookt right now, generally a poor night for democrats so they would always have a bad batting average in their campaign appearance. heather: i hear it is the case in the state of virginia, and west virginia you have when in the female senator from that state, first republican in 56 years, do you see demographics changing in states like that, or people just not in agreement with the president on his policy? >> in general the whole thing has turned against the president, west virginia used to be pretty reliably democratic state, now this republicans are ascendance, but you have the broader demographic changes in states like genia and north carolina and even georgia that in the long term will probably be helpful to democrats but in a low turnout midterm election where republican voters are more enthusiastic to vote, you saw what the results were. heather: thank you for your expertise. covering some of the big races. >> thank you. jon: there while he most wanted couples out there. a former may

he served at san quentin prison but getting a job was impossible. >> when you have felonies on your record nobody trusts you. nobody wants anything to do with you. you are not a real human being. >> reporter: after 25 years that is about to disappear. under prop 47 californians convict offend drug possession and many other low level crimes can ask a judge to have the convictions reduced to misdemeanors. that is a big difference. >> he cried a little. >> to get that taken away, that could actually almost be considered being accepted back into society. >> reporter: he is one of 40,000 convicted felons in california who served time and now may be eligible to expunge their felonies. >> this is a list of cases that we have to review. >> reporter: san francisco public defender set up a special hot line for people to call who think they might be eligible. he got dozens of calls in two days. >> we expect that we are going to get thousands of requests for help. in san francisco we identified at least 2500 cases. >> reporter: he says getting the felony label removed would be a big lift. >> hey, i mi

that's what charles pelham, an inmate at san quentin discovered about the tattoo on his forehead.we asked about his missing leg. >> i had an accident, i fell off of a moving freight train and the wheel ran over me, crushed my foot. >> then he showed us the troublesome tattoo. >> it's a tattoo of a nazi flag. you know, it's supposed to mean that i represent the nazi clan. the rest of the brothers of the lodge, so to speak. i had this put on my face when i was a youngster. you understand? i wanted to make a political statement. i also wanted to impress my girlfriend, but it impressed her the wrong way and she got rid of me. >> why do you wear the hat? >> because there's people in here that tell me the thing on my face is not cool and they don't want to have to look at it. so i wear the hat and that's peace in the valley. does that explain anything? >> but none of our crews ever had a tattoo encounter quite like the one at utah state prison. >> i will never forget the moment that i first set eyes on curtis algire. it's really quite shocking to see the ss lightning bolts, swastikas, n

. >> reporter: from san quentin and prisons throughout the state, prisoners are being released becauseved. dozens of prisoners went before a judge. each hearing lasts about 15 minutes, one after the other the prisoners rarely speak. the judge granted 11 inmates their releases. >> her charges were dropped down to misdemeanors designated misdemeanors and she'll be released today. >> reporter: the california department of corrections and rehabilitation estimates 5,000 inmates may be possible for reduced sentences. and thousands more from jails. a thousand alone from san mateo. but steve wagstaffe has concerns. >> misdemeanors don't get maximum time. they don't get supervision. i'm concerned that that will cause our property crimes to soar. >> so two weeks before the election, the public defenders office, the das, judges, probation and parol all sat down together. we had a meeting about how this process was going to work. >> reporter: it could take counties several months to wind through all the cases of inmates who may be trading incarceration for freedom under proposition 47. in martinez

from marin wood to san rafael to san quentin to mill valley the bridge is getting light rain as is the bay bridge san francisco to oakland with a light cell. we will head to the south and south of the dumbarton bridge to the salt flats and north of 237 we have a healthy shower and that will move crass the dumbarton bridge to the south into fremont and the sunol grade with more wet weather through the santa cruz mountains and headed to the south bay and more developing over the ocean moving to all of us from the east bay hills camera it looks like and we could not see far if the rain was heavier. cooler today. a break technology. faster rain but more intensity and possibly heavier amounts tomorrow and rain on saturday and dry on sunday. temperatures are mostly in the low-to-mid 60's in the north bay where we will have the better chance of rain and you are in the upper to low sick. tonight we are in the upper 40's to mid-50's with mostly clouds and possibility of a little bit of fog, so the front is still to the west so the main triggering mechanism is out there and we will have waves of

originally constructed to relieve overcrowding at san quentin state prison, folsom housed some of the most dangerous inmates of the time. today its history of a more violent time has not been forgotten. >> folsom, just the aura of this place hangs above us like a fog hangs over this place. >> daniel bell is a newcomer, only on the yard for four months. >> i mean you're like totally in awe of the fact that you're actually here, and so many men have died and lost their lives on this very yard right here, at the very spot we're standing, i mean, you know, men have got killed, so it's like you're terrified. >> this is my first time here. don't like it. i don't like it. >> a lot of people getting stabbed, you know. i've seen people's throats get sliced. my first night in this building behind me here, when i woke up in the morning to gunshots on the tier, you know. >> you always have a fear factor when you walk through those gates. anybody would be lying to you if they told you that they weren't scared when they were in here. >> there's not anyone who walks into folsom that looks at those g

. >> among the nation's notorious institutions, san quentin state prison.

quentin tarantino did it as well.h in primary colors and "lucky numbers," but getting a feel for each other, the stories, it is more important just a rapping you all do that almost the personal. >> nichols talks about that he wants you to open up and have people talk that may be embarrassing or may not want to know. you are somehow. >> that is how i went to film school. i wrote two movies for mike. he was the greatest. he could get people to say the most amazing things. i cannot get anybody to say things like that. >> he does that by offering up himself. >> i offer myself. i degrade myself. [laughter] >> why did mike nichols choose you? >> long answer or short answer? >> you obviously had talent but why did he choose you? redford was sort of the model. >> it's in the book. blue eyes, blonde hair. member of tracking, debating squad. >> none of that is in you. >> none, none, none. he had tested radford and get -- and he tested a lot of people. he was scraping the bottom of the barrel right time he got to me. i do not th

♪ >>> a death row inmate at san quentin prison died of natural charges today.rder for hire of a brentwood couple. there are currently 750 inmates on death row, and since the death penalty was reinstated in california, only 13 have been executed. but nearly 90 others have died from either natural causes, or suicide. >>> president obama today brought up the fight against isis during his lengthy post election news conference. the president said he would ask congress for specific authority for what could be a long military campaign. so far, the president has justified air strikes against isis in syria, and iraq, under two existing laws. now with the election over, the white house said president obama decided it was a good time to go to congress for more explicit authority. >>> the president is also asking congress for more than $6 billion in emergency funds to fight ebola. the president said ebola has to be stopped in west africa in order to protect americans here at home. the money would be used for treatment programs and research. president obama wants congress t

you have san quentin, another gorgeous location.k at this, we set your time lapse in motion. red sky, sailors be warned. we have a storm system on the way. could that be any prettier? just gorgeous from tiburon, temperatures a little point the chilly side. we're in the 30s right now but it's going to be nice today. in fact, today will be the warmest of the week. we're going to end up a couple of degrees warmer than yesterday as we're still on the warm side of this front. 70s sound good and then we drop your temperatures into the 60s for days after that. you'll notice always scrolling at the bottom of your screen. we know how you are. you want your information instantaneously and we'll gratify that you way, always scrolling there. the good news is you'll notice we've got rain on many of those days on your seven-day forecast. really kind of dependent on where you live in the bay area. for all of us today, increasing storm clouds, getting dark by tonight, darker clouds on the way. then our first rainfall is expected up in the north day

. >> darryl "big d" wright is serving hard time at california's aging san quentin state prison.no frills shop. >> we have three barbers in here. we're pretty steady. you know, they come in. one of us try to be here at all times. so we all have to know how to cut all kind of hair. >> as with any barber, it's important to keep the customers satisfied. that's especially true when your clients are inmates. >> you know, occasionally guys, they drop by and want to give you a little something if you give a good haircut, you know? want to give you a soup or something like that or a canned good or something like that. it's not a mandatory thing but they won't let you refuse them. you know what i'm saying? they won't let you refuse them. >> barber shops have been a favorite stop for "lockup" crews at prisons nationwide. >> any man that walks through the door can get a haircut and he'll get a good haircut. he might not get a whole lot of layers and feathers and all that, but he'll get a good haircut. >> we met willard lucas at indiana state prison. he had been working the same chair for 26

." >>> the number of units here at san quentin has grown beyond the capacity of this prison and what designed for. >> free us. free us. >> i took sociology in college. and you can stack a bunch of rats together. eventually they start eating each other. >> with the age of the building the way it's set up, almost anything you do, you're in