♪ before my fall ♪ wash me in the water ♪ wash me of it all wash me in the water wash me in the water before my fall ♪ ♪ wash me in the water wash me in the water ♪ if i had it my way ♪ if i had it my way ♪ lord if it had it anyway ♪ hey ♪

[ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: jamie n commons. "rumble and sway" is out now. you can see a bonus song at jimmy p. kimmellive.com. i want to thank sharon stone, dane cook. i want to thank matt damon for making the show tonight. tomorrow night julia louis-dreyfus, nick offerman and music from michael kiwanuka. nightline is next. thanks for watching! good night. xxxx ,,

tonight on "nightline," they're the subjects of fascination and punch lines, the amish. but underneath that is their intrigue and controversy. we'll travel to the corner of america on a list of outlaws, the so-called "amish mafia". how does this guy make $4 billion? well, you could say he brings new life to the common vacuum cleaner. meet a self-made man whose mantra is home making. and military strikes possible against syria, convinced that the regime released deadly nerve gas

against its own people. tonight, we have the latest. keep it right here, america. "nightline" is back in just 60 seconds.

>> from new york city, this is "nightline" with bill weir. thank you for joining us, in this media age if you go on national television and insult any one group of americans from presbyterians to pole vaulters, there will be heck to pay, unless you go to the amish. now there is a show blowing up everything we thought we knew about these humble folk. it claims to have a sub culture that keeps them in life. abc's lindsay davis went into their quaint corner of america to find out. >> reporter: here in lancaster,

pennsylvania, the amish here live like they have for decades, simply and humbly. but behind closed doors is an american subculture, bringing with controversy. it is also the subject of the show, "amish mafia" that tries to pull back the curtain on this traditional community, that many in america are so fascinated by but no so little about. >> the amish operates by the law, and they look the other way. >> reporter: now, in the second series, they follow this man, lebanon levi, and his assistants who reportedly look after the people here in the amish community, doing the dirty work that the community can't. >> levi is a great guy, but if

you cross him, he will crack skulls. >> reporter: they're said to work with the community, taking matters into their own hands with the secret police. they also provide aid, insurance, for personal buggy accidents or property damage. they also keep an eye on the teenagers who take time off to experience the outside world before committing themselves to the sect. levi calls himself "the enforcer." as a whole, the amish deny the existence of the amish mafia. much of the show's content has been strongly criticize, some questioning if the characters are actors. technically, the strict rules don't apply because they have not been baptistized in the church. we travel to get a better

understanding of the show and the characters in the context of the environment. would every amish family own horses? >> yeah, definitely. >> when you turn 16, your parents give you a horse and buggy. >> reporter: so why have you decided not to get baptised? >> i would rather have a computer, and not drive. >> reporter: this sub community is well documented on the show, including fights, "pimp my buggy" competitions, and parties. so tell me for people who have no idea or have misconceptions on what it is like to grow up amish. >> we never had electricity growing up. i never grew up watching television or computers, anything like that. i grew up without electricity or running water. as i got older, you know, you're exposed more. i learned of everything that is

out there. and then i wanted more, you know. >> reporter: and explain what that is? >> it is basically when you turn 16, you get the opportunity to go out and to actually you have more of a social life. you get to hang out with your friends, and go to parties. you get to go to hut parties. a time of freedom where you get to experience another side of life. >> reporter: esther's life is shown on the show, its not shown on tv. but she says with every generation the rule s are beginning to bend. >> the outside world thinks we're humble people who don't have anything, who would never dress in jeans, we don't have cell phones. they look at us that way, but in reality, 90% of the amish kids have those things. >> reporter: that was certainly the case for allen, who shows us

his bedroom. the only room in the house that has a tv. >> here i have movies. >> reporter: his parents allow it for their teenager son while he goes through rumsspringer. meanwhile, the rest of their house is furnished the same, every bed the same, and the bible, of course. >> the bible says your sins will find you out. >> reporter: merlin, the antagonist, comes from another part of the community. he spends his days trying to oust from power by any means necessary. >> pretty obvious, it what to be merlin. he must have found it. >> reporter: we have a hard time understanding, you're quoting the scripture, talking about god and setting his office on fire. i mean, is that something you should take into your own -- >> people said i set his house

on fire. nobody knows that -- how can you say that? oh, so you didn't? >> did you see me there? >> reporter: i'm just asking you, did you? >> i'm not going to answer that question. >> reporter: oh, okay. >> okay. >> reporter: initially, he didn't want to answer some of our other questions either. what did you do to go to jail? >> what did i do to go to jail? i had been -- well, i don't know if i want to talk about it. i guess -- >> reporter: it is public record, right, i could look it up, çóright? >> you could look it up. it was indicted for felony trafficking. >> reporter: drugs? >> yes. >> reporter: and so you're no longer doing that? >> i'm living a clean life and helping the community. >> reporter: steve wright is a criminal defense attorney in lancaster county, and says the bulk of his practice is representing amish youth who are in trouble.

>> every year i'll see amish clients, whether it is for mainstream, the alcohol abuse or the marijuana abuse and other crimes such as theft and things of that nature, as well. they're doing the same amount of this type of activity that mainstream american kids are doing today. >> reporter: if this show is real reality tv, then the centuries-old plain life-style certainly is not what it used to be. for "nightline," i'm lindsay davis, in lancaster county. amish mafia airs tuesdays on the discovery channel. coming up next, how a charming brit changed the way we suck dirt and made $4 million. >> abc news "nightline," brought to you by hotels.com.

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>> there are a few tinkeres in history who really understood that a good tool is handy, but a beautiful tool is loved. steve jobs is one guy that understood that. and james dyson is another. he decided that most vacuum cleaners suck, and not in a good way. so he built a more elegant way to clean our floors and this man became a billionaire overnight. here is rebecca jarvis. >> my solution is a radical technology, which delivered

constant suction. >> reporter: he is a british billionaire. with one goal. you're all about suction? >> all about powerful suction, most important, very, very fast. >> reporter: it is a promise that one james dyson, with a cult following, made the vacuum cleaner sexy. >> maybe i'm slightly strange, that is the view i take. >> reporter: he is sir james dyson, knighted in 2006 and visited by the queen during the golden jubilee. but he is as down to earth as they come. do people know you from the commercial? >> i have no idea, i would like people to remember me by my vacuum cleaner, not the commercial. >> reporter: so how did dyson, who started with almost nothing in the bank, make more than $4 billion, and transform this into

a must-have status symbol on the order of the handbag or smartphone. >> he is one of the few designers who is recognized as a personality, besides the late steve jobs. he did that by being the dapper brit he is, there are not many people in the world who would build over 5,000 prototypes in order to get to the perfect idea. >> reporter: have you ever been told by your friends, terrible idea, and go forward anyway? >> most of the people told me it was a mad idea. almost everybody told me that. >> reporter: what kept you going? >> apart from the very large overdraft from the bank, i knew i was getting there slowly. >> reporter: it all came from his mission to build a better vacuum. most of us remember it from this tag line. >> i just think things should work properly. >> reporter: he was a character nobody had ever seen before,

part inventor, designer, artist and engineer. and as it turns out, pitch man. rather than the housewife cleaning, he put himself in the commercial. >> solve it, whatever it takes. i thought it was a perfectly good idea. no one had ever heard of it. it had a lot to do with giving the company character. >> reporter: when the dc-7 appeared on the market in 2002, the average price of the vacuum was about $1100. he overlooked it, whereas steve jobs invented something that was sexy and cutting edge, james 5xc we all take for granted. >> reporter: he needed to questions the average american already -- to convince the average american. >> we don't do it to make money,

or be famous. we do it because we think we found a way to make something work better. >> reporter: you don't do it to make money, then why charge for it? why not give it away for free? >> if you can't do that, you can't go on doing what you're doing, it has to be products people want to buy. >> reporter: and buy them they are, about one in five vacuums sold in the u.s. is a dyson, a big chunk of the market. even rising during the recession. but critics complain that a dyson is too expensive, and that a bagless vacuum puts dirt in the air when you empty the canister. he brushes it off, saying his secret is in the motor. it is so fast that it generates more than 100,000 gs of force, three times the force of a bullet shooting from a gun. >> and i'm very determined and quite stubborn. >> reporter: stubborn, that helps? >> yes, you have to listen to

people's advice and sometimes not listen to it. and you have to be stubborn and believe what you are doing. >> reporter: still not convinced? well, "nightline" got a look at its newest vacuum, a hybrid that not only sucks up dirt but wipes with a wet cloth. so with a name like dyson heart, we wanted to put it to the test with two willing volunteers. oh, james, i have a gift for you. can you help? how fast do you think you could clean the whole kitchen? >> pretty quickly, i mean, two minutes. >> reporter: you're up for the challenge? two minutes? >> yes. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: i think that was about 60 seconds. nice work. >> you have to have the right bag, it sucks.

>> reporter: for "nightline," i'm rebecca jarvis, in new york. >> and there is more to the suction king that meets the eye. like why is he so particular about that red belt? you can read all about it on abcnews.com. and more on the edge of syria. when we come back. ha, that'd be like police who protect or serve... police! freeze! hey! can we get you something to eat!? we have a delicious sea bass. served with roasted vegetables or rice. i like "and" better. yeah "and" is better. the 2013 edge. only ford gives you ecoboost fuel economy and a whole lot more. go further. it's as much as you like, any way you like. try classic garlic shrimp scampi and more. only $15.99, offer ends soon. so come in and sea food differently.

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>> show of hands, who is up for another american war in the middle east? your probable revulsion to that is probably why the white house is not deciding yet on syria, but all signs point to missiles flying towards another islamic nation. and soon, the latest on the tension on tonight's "feed frenzy". >> his name is bashar al-assad, a former eye doctor who through a twist of family fate became president of syria. and now after a two and a

half-year-old civil war he is regarded as a murdering monster by america and her allies. while tens of thousands have been shot or blown up in the conflict, it was a recent incident of nerve gas attacks that has america and other nations on edge. assad insists the rebels caused it, but the white house is not buying it. >> there is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in syria. the syrian regime. >> reporter: so what to do? well, the president is vowing no boots on the ground, so missiles could likely go, with whehere s rockets are stored. no wonder there is a run on gas masks tonight in israel? so who would help? the brits and turkey could be

involved. but getting the okay from russia could veto an attack plan. and russia said "the west behaves like a monkey with a grenade." and the group of hackers, known as the syrian army continue to continue assaults on the media today, accused of breaching twitter and the times. at this point, the people trying to impersonate them have gotten into the press for the bbc and sometimes even harvard. most times, they just revel in their disruption, while singing the praises of bashar al-assad. >> and of course, we're on alert. we'll have more breaking news and of course as always we're on line at abcnews.com.