they live at the iowa state penitentiary. behind this 40-foot stone and concrete exterior is a population of drug abusers, murderers, and the mentally ill. 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

. >> anamosa state penitentiary is a maximum security facility located in eastern iowa. home of some of the state's most violent offenders. one would think that the overcrowded conditions would lead to a constant barrage of bloody confrontations. well, think again. behind the walls of anamosa is a world of unusual contrast. >> to the security office. >> for new inmates arriving at anamosa state penitentiary, the very look of the prison can be intimidating. more than 100 years old, it was built entirely of limestone from nearby quarries. over the years, as the criminal population increased, so did the size of the prison. today, some 1,300 inmates live behind the massive 35-foot-walls and, like any prison, the threat of danger is everywhere. >> around our perimeter we have seven gun towers. they're manned throughout the day. >> the danger is there each time you walk through that gate, you know. you don't know what's going to happen from the time you get on shift to the time you get off shift. >> there's only two types of people in prison. you got the predators and you got t

in september 2009, scott connen left the oregon state penitentiary. lam meth river to dallas, oregon where nearly a decade before he'd been tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. but when he returned to a courtroom, it was clear that authorities in polk county were intent on trying him once again on those three murder counts. it appeared cannon could sit in the county jail for months, maybe years waiting for that new trial. but the defense wondered. so much had changed over the past decade. what evidence could the prosecutors use at trial this time? >> you don't have anything that leavenings scott cannon to the scene anymore. >> the comparatively bullet lead analysis from the first trial was no longer considered rivalry. the prosecution's chief witness, bimla boyd is now a convicted killer herself and the defendant turned up new witnesses pointing to plausible new suspects like tom mcmahon, the suspected drug dealing partner of jason kinsler. his picture turned up in a police photo array hours after the murder and at least tw

>> we met murray at iowa state penitentiary serving ten years for stealing cars. he spent the last two years as cell house 220 also known as the hole. >> this is your maximum security unit inside of a maximum security prison. here's where we house all the inmates that couldn't be handled at another institution or couldn't be handled in our general population area. now we have to deal with them over here. >> during his time in prison and especially in the hole, murray has found a coping device in self-mutilation. >> i've been in here so long it kind of releases stress. >> how do you cut yourself? >> i was on razors but they put me on razor restriction and i find stuff in here, staples, plastic from deodorants and stuff like that. >> when was the last time you cut yourself? >> about two weeks ago. >> the next day on their way to another interview in cell house 220, our crew ran into murray as correctional officers were moving him into a holding area so that they could inspect his cell. >> can you tell us what is going on? >> we are taking him out to shake down his c

. >>> at kentucky state penitentiary, some inmates can apprentice in an auto body shop. at rikers island jail a bakery churns out nearly 90,000 loaves of bread per week while teaching inmates how to bake. in many of the prisons profiled on "lockup" inmates have opportunities to learn skills that can help them find work on the outside. but all too many spend their time honing skills more suitable to mayhem and murder. >> i stabbed an inmate 12 times over some dope in front of the chow hall. >> i took a knife and stabbed him with it three or four times until he was dead. and then i butchered him with it. >> you find a piece of metal or something, file it down on the concrete. it ain't got to be sharp, it's just got to have a point. put your handle on it and do what you need to do. >> "lockup" crews are regularly exposed to the tools of a deadly trade. >> you know, in every prison we film in there's always a shank museum, a place where the authorities display all the weapons that are confiscated by staff. homemade weapons the inmates have made from like bed springs or melte

the mansion is staffed from inmates from the state penitentiary. almost all of them are murders because the experts say they're the least likely to commit another crime if their crime was a crime of passion. so the department of correction sends us who works there. i don't pick them. the governors traditionally given them clemency. four years ago i pardoned the prisoners who worked there. however, because of katrina and other things we didn't look at any other pardons. so we are looking at eight years' worth of pardons. 215. 189 of whom had been out of prison in many cases for ten or 15 years. so there are 26 people we are talking about who will be free shortously. what we did is valid and consistent with mississippi's constitution. in fact, the attorney general you just heard talk when the previous democrat governor pardoned people for which there had been no publication at all, jim hood didn't say a word. >> bret: okay, governor, you heard. >> in our case we made the effort to do the publications, some of the newspapers ran them late. >> bret: yo

we work together. >> our visit to the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa led us to a memorable pair ofchael and brad love whose lifelong allegiance drove them to kill. >> growing up i wanted to be him, you know. he was almost four years older than me. i see him running around drinking. breaking into stuff. doing whatever he is doing. i'm like i want to be like him. that's my big brother. that's my idol. so i kind of followed in the same footsteps. >> but as the love brothers revealed to our crew, those footsteps led down a bloody path that ended at a holiday party in the trailer park. >> christmas night, 1992, me and my brother went to a party with what we thought were friends. but they tried to rob us. take the liquor that we brought. >> they started beating me up. four of them. >> they hurt brad. i couldn't let them get away with that. they threatened his life. and i just couldn't handle that. so we left went to my trailer. i got a shotgun. my brother got a knife. machete. we went back out there and did what we did. >> i remember mike standing there he had the gun pointed at the door

and, in the case of these five inmates, at the state penitentiary that is what most of this is about. four murderers, they have all said they were guilty, they have served on average 20 years in the penitentiary. you know, these are not guys that got a slap on the wrist. >> reporter: he added the majority of those granted clemency have been out of prison for years and that 90% of the decisions were based on recommendations from the parole board. kelly? >> kelly: all right, doug, i think the story will be around for a little longer. doug mcelway, reporting from d.c. thank you. >> patti ann: major developments in the face off between the feds and the u.s. gun industry. why the obama administration's new rules on sales along the u.s. border are likely to stick around. also, the death of a nuclear scientist sparks new tensions with iran. up next, we'll speak with a retired four star general on how the u.s. can try to calm the waters. >> we cannot tolerate iran blocking the straits of hormuz. and that's a red line. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gon

. >> when we visited iowa state penitentiary, we found the prison attempts to provide services for a. >> a lot of the religions are a quieting, mellowing, peaceful type of thing. for them to pray, to see god answer something is just very very special, it's empowering. >> then we met an inmate named travis wolfkill. >> in the name of satan, ruler of the earth, the king of the world, i command the forces of darkness to bestow the infernal power upon me. >> i'm in a satanic group here. there are only about four of us. it's a real small community. the church of satan is about enjoying life. it's about doing what you want to do. we believe in indulgence rather than abstinence. we believe in doing what makes us happy and what improves the quality of our life. >> such an attitude may have been what led wolfkill to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for murdering his grandmother over a $300 tax refund check. but he told us he has found a salvation of sorts in his religion. >> this has what's called the 11 satanic rules of the earth. if you look at number nine, it says, do not

. >> that's what they do in the state penitentiary, don't ask me [ bleep ] i don't tell them. respect yourself. they're going to feed him to the wolves. he's a lamb chop. he's a lamb chop. [ bleep ]. >> without the nazi low rider code of honor to adhere to, speedy can work with isu. even as a dropout, he is blatantly breaking gang ranks by helping officers gather intelligence, working directly with officer morales, who he has known for four years. >> hi, speedy. >> if it's saving somebody from getting hurt, then that's cool. >> i brought you in today because i want to actually get more insight on gangs, weapons, how they're made. i know every step we try to take, you're always one up. >> exactly. we've got 24 hours to stay ahead of you. you only come here for eight hours so you have to step up your game to keep up with us. >> what is this working for? >> this right here is a plastic bottle, a pepsi bottle or something you buy off the canteen, take a rubber glove that's accessible all over the place, put it on the end of the water bottle with a rubber band, tighten it down, and

be and we believe in forgiveness and second chances and in the case of these inmates at the state penitentiaryut. four murders, and they've all said they were guilty, they have served on average 20 years in the penitentiary. you know, these are not guys that got a slap on the wrist. >> reporter: he added the majority of those granted clemency have been out of prison for years and 90% of the decisions were based on the recommendations of the parole board. heather? >> heather: all right, doug mcelway reporting live for us from washington. thank you very much. and, gregg, a little later judge jeanine pirro will join us and she'll have some comments on the pardons. >> gregg: controversial. a school board ending a controversial mexican-american history program after the state threatened to pull the plug on millions of dollars in funding. casey steegel is following that in los angeles. what is controversial about the program? >> reporter: gregg, we were down there in tucson last weekend, last saturday, and reported on this, top education officials in that state say the program violated the state law

kern valley state prison opened its gates in june 2005 to help ease overcrowding at other state penitentiaries. it brings california's total number of correctional facilities to 33. 130 miles northeast of los angeles is california's central valley. known for farming and agriculture, it is also home to kern valley state prison. the facility costs $379 million to build, and it will eventually hold 5,000 men. >> we want to try to get the inmates to start programming and try to rehabilitate them to be able to get back on the outside and get their footing back into the community. >> there's no rehabilitation in the california department of corrections. and i don't care who tells you that there is, they're lying to you. >> this prison is supposed to be a model throughout the entire state. its specific purpose is to show society, right, that hardened criminals can be rehabilitated. okay, but that's not what it is. everybody's landing here and it's just exactly the opposite. >> behind triple-layered razor-wired fences, inmates occupy four housing units. open less than a year, the prison is still strug

it replaced its 100-year-old predecessor, the tennessee state penitentiary, known as the walls. today, riverbend houses close to 700 male inmates, 480 of them are high risk offenders, classified this way because they're a threat to the security of the institution and other inmates. >> we house the worst of the worst including the male inmates, male offenders that are sentenced to death. >> ricky j. bell is warden at riverbend. he's been on the job since 1995. >> it's the state of the art operation. and very proud of what it represents for the taxpayers and the state. >> let's go! chow time! >> the prison compound consists of six different housing units. maximum security inmates live in one, three, and four. nicknamed the high side. it's here you will find riverbend's most dangerous inmates. >> the screaming never stops. it drives people crazy. i've seen a young man come to prison to maximum security, completely sane. three years later, he was screaming and cutting his self. >> ask me what being back here is like. it's like asking a cancer patient how it feels to die slowly. be d

." >> for decades, the mansion part of the staff are trustees from the state penitentiary. in my time all but one of them have been murderers because the experts say that those are the people who are the least likely to commit another crime and that they are the ones who will serve the best. i have found that to be the case. >> barbour says his pardons were based on the christian idea of giving people a second chance. you can see him talk about it the focus of "cbs this morning," starting at 7:00 right after our program. >>> meanwhile it is not only cold outside but we have a little bit of rain coming. let's kick it over to elizabeth and find out how much and weather. >> i have to say i'm getting a little excited about the rain. it is going to stay dry today. clear and cool. we can see this beautiful waning crescent moon from the view of our roof cam but don't let that deceive you. it is very cold out there. santa rosa 32. another freeze warning in effect this one for the south bay so santa clara valley, san jose, morgan hill that's where that freeze warning is effect until

christians, we believe in forgiveness and second chances and the case of these five inmates at the state penitentiarythis is about. four murderers, they have all said they were guilty and have served on average 20 years in the penitentiary and are not guys who got a slap on the wrist. >> reporter: he added he did not pick the prisoners, to be pardoned. 90% of the decision was made by the mississippi parole board. >> thanks, doug. a fix-up job for the martin luther king memorial in washington. one quotation carved in stone was taken out of context. marking criticism for not reflecting the spirit of dr. king's full remarks and giving a false impression. the inscription currently reads: i was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness, edited from a sermon he gave in 1968, and monday, the national honors -- nation honors the civil rights leader in a nationwide holiday there. deservedly so and rick, here's the full quote, he says, yes, if you want to say i was a drum major, say that i was a drum major for justice and say i was a drum major for peace and a drum major for righteousness and of all th

in just a few days, curtis will travel with the boxing team to a nearby state penitentiary where he willght, you got to be a stone warrior to fight, especially in prison fighting because i think it's more harder than professional fights. if i take this belt, if i win, i'm the man. i mean, nobody has beat this cat for three to four years, and if i beat him, i'm the big man on the compound. nobody tell me nothing. >> one way in which curtis draws inspiration is through his family. >> i brought him in. >> two days before this fight, curtis' mother, sister, and niece traveled to elayn hunt to wish him their best. >> i try to come and visit him every other weekend. in the beginning it was real hard because i knew i had to leave him here, but now it's getting better because i realize that it was just -- it was a mistake that he made, and it's just something that we're learning to cope with. >> we're behind him, we're with him, and whatever it takes for us to see him through this, then that's what we're going to do. and once he's released, then we'll be released. to me he's the heavyweight cham

governors in mississippi, for decades, the mansion, part of the staff are trustees from the state penitentiary. in my time, all but one of them have been murderers. because the experts say that those are the people who are the least likely to commit another crime and that they are the ones who will serve the best. i have found that to be the case. these people that have been -- that are at issue here, david gatlin, these guys served on average 20 years in the penitentiary. david gatlin, in 20 years, never had one citation for any infraction or violation of the rules. >> but in terms of the man he shot in the head and that man survived, have you reached out to him or other victim's families? >> only to give notice that these guys were being released. let me say, i understand, recognize and respect the fact that if you were injured by somebody or if your loved one was killed, that there may be vengeance, there may be fear, there may be all these things. but my state spends about $350 million on corrections every rehabilitation. >> governor -- >> a lot of guys won't be rehabilitat rehabilitated.

for decades the mansion, part of the staff are trustees from the state penitentiary. of them have been murderers because the experts say that those are the people who are the least likely to commit another crime. >> so we did some research. wanted to see if, in fact, what governor barbour was true. many convicted killers released from prison do commit crimes again. a 2002 department of justice story followed more than 270,000 prisoners for three years after their release. 1.7 were there because of homicide. within three years of their release 40% had been re-arrested. not all of them on homicide charges. some rapists were released. 46% of those released had committed another crime within three years. the survey does not qualify homicides by category, such as crime of passion, but domestic violence experts say that only serious counseling would keep somebody from abusing again. as for the prisoners, the current attorney general in mississippi is exploring whether or not he'll be able to put those prisoners back in prison and that state's new governor says he will not b

understanding judge and they're offered a very fundamental choice, mister, i'm going to put you in the state penitentiary for three years, you you'll have the opportunity to turn your life around in treatment that you can start today. what is your choice? 99% of those defendants say give me the treatment. when you see them come in, i mean, they are right off their mug shots, you know. when they come dragging into courts, they wear the orange jumper and generally in chains. then you come back over a period of months, and you witness this gradual extraordinary change where a human being is emerging from this chaos, this baggage, that's been discarded, thrown away, where you see they had no self-motivation, that they were totally dependent on the next hit or the next shot or the next drink. to see that development of a human being flower and reach its potential and then turn to the community after graduation which usually takes a year, a very hard, intense rehabilitation and 12-stepping, and begin to serve those people coming out of the cages in the orange jumpers and in the shackles, it's that turn towards

state prisons. >> my grandfather before he passed away was associate warden at tracy. my uncle worked for new folsom or something to do with the folsom penitentiarymy biological father worked at tracy at one time, and now works at a women's prison in chowchilla. my mom right now currently is getting ready to retire from tracy prison. she's not a cop, she's an accountant. she works for the corrections department. >> when kirkpatrick left his gang, he asked his family to take him back. >> all these letters i have all over my bed right here, 90% of those are from my mom. >> but there are complications. kirkpatrick's past makes it impossible for him to even keep pictures of his relatives, including his mother. >> oh, i don't want one. my mom don't like the way she looks in pictures. i said, it doesn't matter, i'm your son, it's not like i'm going to go around showing it. she's like but what you don't understand is i work for cdc. i don't want my picture going through and people might recognize me or know who i am. i was like all right, i understand. and that's [ bleep ] up because that shows that she's ashamed of me. you know what i'm saying? that's

state prisons. >> my grandfather before he passed away was associate warden at tracy. my uncle worked for new folsom or something to do with the folsom penitentiaryal father worked at tracy at one time, and now works at a women's prison in chowchilla. my mom right now currently is getting ready to retire from tracy prison. she's not a cop, she's an accountant. she works for the corrections department. >> when kirkpatrick left his gang, he asked his family to take him back. >> all these letters i have all over my bed right here, 90% of those are from my mom. >> but there are complications. kirkpatrick's past makes it impossible for him to even keep pictures of his relatives, including his mother. >> oh, i don't want one. my mom don't like the way she looks in pictures. i said, it doesn't matter, i'm your son, it's not like i'm going to go around showing it. she's like but what you don't understand is i work for cdc. i don't want my picture going through and people might recognize me or know who i am. i was like all right, i understand. and that's [ bleep ] up because that shows that she's ashamed of me. you know what i'm saying? that's the way i s