i-t i spelled it out ♪ this is "nightline." >> and she says she dropped 100 pounds thanks to hypnosis, and some say you can get the benefits of surgery without ever going under the knife. and never say justin bieber is a stranger to the mug shot. he is not alone among his famous friends. so what happens when a mega watt celebrity is thrown into jail? tonight, the guy who struck gold bailing out the rich. and remember that

commercial, the devil wears prada? everyone needs a little help now and then, and now there is an app for that. but first, the "nightline" five.

u up. good evening, thank you for

joining us. what if you could lose more than 100 pounds without doing anything drastic? a major study shows that you can shed more weight by eating more carbs than fat. but the big key is not what you put in your stomach but what is going on in your head. these before and after's just may blown your mind. >> one, two, three, and close your eyes. >> reporter: clarissa is trying out a new weight loss technique, she is being hypnotized to convince her mind that her body is having gastric bypass surgery. >> you can see it is time to put the band on your belly. >> reporter: clarissa says it helped her lose 40 pounds and she is not alone.

barbara cox lost weight, julie, that is her before and on the right, after. when julie first heard about the gastric bypass news, she just didn't think it would work. >> i was a big skeptic so i had to see for myself, and that is what i did. and i am no longer skeptical by any means. >> reporter: now, she is a true believer in harnessing the power of the mind to shrink the body. >> before hypnosis, i would have come from mcdonald's and probably had a bacon double cheeseburger, and fries, and pop, only thing i would get here is a bottle of water. >> reporter: it all began in 2006, after two pregnancies, julie found herself heavier than ever. >> i looked at the number, it was about 287 pounds.

i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: that is when she decided to have the hypnosis. >> it was the craziest feeling in the whole wide world, i just wanted spinach and salads. >> reporter: julie said she was unable to tolerate a bite more than necessary. >> the next day i had a turkey burger and i could only finish a quarter of it. and before it wouldn't have been a problem to finish it. >> reporter: six years and 140 pounds later, julie is a trim and fit size six, far more playful with her family and credits hypnosis with turning her into a salad-loving gym rat. it is that kind of help thousands are seeking when they opt for real surgery. every year, more than 220,000 americans undergo painful and expensive surgery, paying thousands to have their stomachs

removed, re-positioned or constricted. where as the surgery-free, inexpensive trigger of the mind holds appeal for many of the 7 million americans classified as obese. but is it really as simple as thinking yourself thin? >> get under the anesthesia, and feel yourself thin. >> reporter: the doctor has treated thousands of patients with the hypnosis, julie is one of her great success stories. >> what we've done with julie in the hypnosis is help her to go deeper in a place where she can access her deepest strength and her deepest motivation, and because of that her thoughts about herself and food change and she was just able to change her eating habits. >> reporter: dr. greenburg tells patients to picture themselves every step of the way to the weight loss goal. >> i wanted to provide an alternative that is basically

trauma-free, risk-free, and yet with the same benefits of actually feeling like there is a band on the belly and you just cannot eat that much food anymore. most people that come to me, that is not the first stop. so that is the type of person that comes to me, it really is the end of the rope. they realize until they change their thinking nothing will work. >> reporter: while julie credits the before and after to dr. greenburg's methods, there is no proof that the hypnosis weight loss works, and still there are sceptics. it is not that you're saying it is a crock? >> not at all. it is unproven. it works for some, doesn't work for all and the studies do show that you have to want to believe. you have to believe it is going to work for it to work. and that goes with hypnosis and also goes with any type of change that we make in our life. >> reporter: so it is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

if you believe it won't work for you, it won't work for you. >> that is what we see. the people the most motivated, they want to have success, almost as much as they choose it, it produces a calorie deficit. >> reporter: julie took it a step further, visualizing things like pushing away her plate or eating just have the meal. it is the kind of technique that jenny craig says is crucial to the program. to help avoid the pitfalls. i interviewed valerie bertinelli about it. >> i would come home, make myself a big box of food and cranberry and watch the tevo. >> reporter: and mind-feeding is the flip side of hypnosis, instead of tricking the subconscious, it makes you hyper

aware of what you put in your mouth. studies show the real key is to usher in long-term changes in life-style. >> taking a kind of drastic measure whether it is real surgery, whether it is hypnotic surgery or investing a lot of money in a weight loss program or a gym but having a conscious dividing line between this is the way i live my life now and this is the way i'm going to start to live my life, i think that facilitates the real change. >> reporter: so whether you use your conscious mind or trick your subconscious, there is no magic spell. the proof is in the pudding. >> i am not special by any means, i have no special power that is make the hypnosis work for me. >> reporter: for julie evans, it seems, it is mind over matter. next, justin bieber in trouble again. so where do stars turn when they land in hot water? [ terri ] my antidepressant worked hard to help with my depression.

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ira you're about to meet the man who has one of the hottest numbers in hollywood. and no, he is not a celebrity, he is the one they call when they land behind bars. and his high profile clients are often involved in high stakes cases from famous singers to infamous stars. everybody needs help sometimes and that is where this guy comes in. here is in co-anchor, dan

abrams. >> reporter: some celebrities have drivers to take them around the block. like rihanna, who keeps fit with a trainer. but only a few select celebrities have had to employ this guy, ira judelson, the guy no celebrity is proud to call. a bail bondsman to the stars. >> i do a job that requires people to come to me. and they're so scared and they're shaken up, and they can hardly think. >> reporter: ira says that like ja rule's hit song, on time, he was on time for ja rule when he needed bail. >> i become a counselor or priest, and then i come in and fix their problem. >> reporter: from plaxico

burress, to the infamous dominique strauss-kahn, bail bondsmen like ira make money by charging a fee to cover the bail set by a judge. but if someone skips town, ira is on the hook to the court for the entire amount. so he sits somewhere between an insurance agent, legal loan shark and a bank. so are you a bank? >> in the nicest term i am a bank, and i take collateral to support whatever i do to ensure the court that they're coming back. >> reporter: he takes us to his new york city office where he is pleased to show off his work, plastering his walls with the biggest headlines from his clients' cases. >> some might call it a hall of shame. for me, it is people i helped out a lot. this is the ja rule case, i

worked with lindsay lohan to get her into a rehab facility. >> reporter: in his new book "the fixer" ira talks about the bonds, and in his book, dominique kahn was his biggest payday. he was charged with attempted rape, sexual assault, and imprisonment, charges that were later dismissed. do you think many people look at you and say he is the guy that helps bad guys get out? >> i think they do. >> reporter: but is it true? >> there are times where people walk in and think that, and i just want them to know i have a family to feed also. >> reporter: it sounds like it gets personal. >> my clients become part of my life. i respect them and they respect me. we keep cases even after their cases are over. >> reporter: and he talks about

guys who worked with him, like rapper fat joe. >> i get very close to a client, because you know i start to hear about what goes on in their life. in a case like joe, he became a friend. >> reporter: although ira didn't post bail for him he did provide some counseling. >> he was there for me, with all the experience and wisdom he has and all the knowledge, and as a friend. and as a family he wrote a letter to the judge, a reference letter. he wrote a beautiful letter for me. >> reporter: now, fat joe is returning the favor, becoming a spokesperson and co-founder for a new app ira is working on. >> this right here is perfect because everybody gets jammed up. >> reporter: ira has been in this line of work for almost two decades and it is not without its risks. so the glass partitions you have here, are they bullet-proof? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> just in case you get a client that is not happen, in 17 years nothing has ever happened but

you never know. >> reporter: ira always seems to have a phone glued to his ear. >> what are they putting up for collateral, do they have a house? how much is it worth? >> reporter: we headed to the courthouse to see him in action. >> i need you to find out what bar the case is on -- >> reporter: you're old school? >> i'm old school. hello, your honor, how are you? everybody knows ira? >> everybody knows ira. he works at the concession at the train station. i'll let the defendant know, thank you. >> reporter: ira posted a $5,000 bond for a client, not a big payout like one of his celebrity jobs but these smaller bails add up. >> the big bails, you know, they don't come very often so the small bails are your business. >> reporter: and that business has afforded ira a very comfortable home life. for most people crime doesn't pay, for you it is different. >> for a lot of people, crime

doesn't pay, in my world, crime does pay. >> reporter: he lives in this mansion just outside new york city with his wife and children. >> you're going to do the current events later on, right? >> reporter: but being a celebrity bail bondsman means even if you're at home you're on call. ira's clients are an anxious bunch and he prides himself being at the ready. >> i'll jump out of bed and go to any jail and courthouse, any time. >> reporter: ira's wife of 15 years and his three children have learned to live with it. >> at some point, i'm like you need to turn off your phone but at the same time i understand if he turns off the phone he loses the bail, loses the lawyer, we lose sleep. >> reporter: but despite the busy life-style, this father is sure to make time to see his kids off to school before another hectic day begins. >> give me a kiss. >> reporter: for ira, it is all in a day's work. are you proud of what you do?

>> yes, i love what i do. i provide a service to get people out of jail, and give them a chance to get home to their families and fight their case from the outside. take this phone number down, this is my guy. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm dan abrams in new yorkúrcit. up next, can your smart phone be better than a personal assistant? the new app that is putting people to shame. abc news "nightline," brought to you by bp. when folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america.

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♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪ ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪

a whole new wave of apps is helping their smartphones live up to their names. our developers know so much about them. they say it is ready to start acting like it. >> reporter: we've all been ther there. >> oh, oh, my god. >> reporter: too bad we don't all have a personal assistant to help jog our memories like miranda priestly in "the devil wears prada". >> that is the woman he left his wife for, rebecca. >> reporter: but now, a new app promises to be the next best thing. human is all about making your

smartphone, well, more human, transforming it into a kind of personal digital butler. here is how it works, say you bump into somebody you first met at a party two weeks ago but can't remember her name. simply search the words "girl from party two weeks ago" and it will mind your network calendars, even your social networks, coming up with names and faces that fit that description. >> what we've done is redesign your phone. >> reporter: he is the brain behind the human, and claims the app will boost your performance at work. >> so when you land in new york, you can quickly text to let people know you're in town. >> reporter: and after one of those blurry nights out he said you will never again find yourself in a swing straight out of "swingers". >> who is that?

>> reporter: human is part of a new breed of contextual apps, that make our phones better information servers, like google map that helps, or the ones that have the travel plans and boarding plans at the ready when you start for the airport. >> it makes the app smarter. >> it actually makes it w3smart >> reporter: so it makes sense that "human" has famous fans, they're using the app and juggling a bigger entourage than the rest of us. and a famous name behind the scenes, too, ariel zuckerberg, the famous man's sister is involved. for "nightline," in new york. >> that is some family business. thank you for watching abc news. world news now is coming up soon with overnight breaking news. tune in of course to good

morning america tomorrow, and as always, we're on line. good night. america.