on our broadcast tonight, the impact as the oil now washes up on beaches. the outrage is growing, and tonight new details about what went so wrong in the gulf. privacy fears. does what happen on facebook really stay on facebook? textbook case, a bitter fight in texas. it's one for the history books, and what's at stake there could affect your school. "making a difference" will ferrell hasn't turned serious on us, it's just that he's serious about a certain cause. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, crude oil from that spill has made landfall in ten separate locations across three states in the gulf of

mexico. and the beautiful wetlands of southern louisiana won't be the same for some time to come. 6 million gallons of crude has entered the waters now. many animals are turning up covered in oil, many have died. the latest attempt to stop it may have to wait until next week. jobs and lives in that region are on hold indefinitely. we'll begin here tonight with our chief environmental affairs correspondent ann thompson. >> reporter: as ships gather out at the leak sites to prepare for next week's attempt to plug the well, the good weather is helping skimming operations. here on the coast as more oil washes ashore, it's wearing away what little patience people have left. where there should be tourists on blankets, there's a nasty coat of oil, closing the beaches

on what locals call the cajun riviera. and many cancellations for vacation cabins in grand isle. >> all these are all cancellations because of the oil. so it just goes on and on. >> reporter: today disturbing evidence of an even bigger problem ahead. a dead northern gannett could beered in oil on the beach. louisiana's frustrated governor announced he would faketake mat into his own hands. >> we already have a contract to dredge, we're going to start. >> reporter: it's a race against oil on this oyster boat. does it just seem inevitable? >> it's inevitable. it's coming, it's there. it's right offshore as we speak. >> reporter: a potentially deadly threat to the 12,000 acres mitch farms and the three generation tradition he wants to pass on to his son nathan.

a noisy, dirty job that mitch is furious at bp for endangering. >> i'm angry about the lies. 2,000 barrels a day, now it's 5,000 barrels. it could be 20,000 barrels a day. why don't you just tell us the truth. >> reporter: bp is working from the 5,000 barrel estimate for next week's attempt to stop the oil. called top kill, the company will shoot heavy drilling mud into the well. >> when year doing things at 5,000 feet, it's easier to say than to do. >> reporter: now, as for the chemical dispersant bp is using to break up the oil, bp has told the government it cannot find anything less toxic in the quantities it needs but it continues to search for alternatives. >> ann thompson starting us off from venice, louisiana. thanks. the president of plaquemines parish, the part of southern

louisiana that stretches from new orleans into the gulf and the parish contains some of the most pristine and beautiful wetlands on this planet. he has seen this coming toward his coastline for a month now, he's been kind enough to join us from there in venice, louisiana. i wanted to give you a chance to express your frustration, anger, helplessness to a national audience, because now that this is here coming up into those marshs your parish isn't going to be the same for a long time? >> no, it's not. the places where it's touched shore is dead. within five days the cane will die, and that land will be lost forever, and all the wildlife in it. luckily it's only six or eight spots now. had they given us the okay to go and pump the material and build the beach across the front of the barrier islands that are now submerged underwater, we could have picked it up off the beach.

you'll never clean it up out of the marsh and never bring back the marshs like they are. it's an incredible shame that we could have had that berm pumped out there, caught a lot of this oil, we've been begging for this permit for bp to step up to the plate and approve the $350 million needed to do this. our local government has agreed next week we'll try to hire, dredge, start without the permit. we can't sit by and watch our marshs destroyed. this is incredible that we're sitting here weeks later begging for the permit, and begging for bp to step up to the plate and do the right thing. >> it sounds, billy -- >> hopefully the president will step in. >> -- like you blame the government and bp in equal parts? >> it seems as of monday they have to relook at everything, and they said it would be days

not weeks, well, today's a week. and today is a week the oil's been in the marsh. it's unacceptable, it's unbelievable. you saw the wildlife, the turtles i saw last night gasping for air. one of the most rare turtles out there, a baby came ashore, this is unacceptable. and bp could step up to the plate and help us. the booms are not working. every time the wind kicks up, they end up on the shore line. it's band aids for major surgery, and we're not getting the job done. something's got to be done. we're sitting here with our hands -- sitting on our hands waiting for this oil to come ashore, and it's going to destroy all the marsh of south louisiana if we let it. >> president of plaquemines parish, southern louisiana. thank you very much for being on our broadcast tonight. we have been hearing a lot over this past month about blowout preventers, which in this case, of course, didn't

prevent anything. and other pieces of the puzzle that may have contributed to this enormous environmental catastrophe. tonight, though, we want to connect the dots a little more closely in this case. our senior investigative correspondent lisa myers got a detailed briefing from an independent expert who has studied much of the evidence so far. he has a theory about the big picture, what went wrong here and why. >> reporter: since the night of the accident, berkeley engineering professor bob bee and his team of experts have been gathering evidence and interviewing those involved, giving many of them confidentiality. bee helped lead a similar independent investigation after hurricane katrina, on why the levees collapsed. his voice still is affected by breathing so much mold. he spoke in public about this accident before, but now is sharing his preliminary findings for the first time with nbc news. >> there's no doubt that safety

was compromised. >> was this accident preventable? >> yes. >> bee, who has five decades of experience in the oil industry says there was a series of problems in addition to well-documented issues with the blowout preventer. his outline lists seven steps to failure, including improper design of the well itself. improper design and execution of cementing the well. missed early warning signs, including major kicks of gas. and the fateful decision to remove heavy drilling fluid, called mud from the drill column. the critical decision was the one to remove that heavy mud? >> that's based on everything we know, yes. >> reporter: he also says drilling and well completion operations did not meet industry standardses. the well was considerably behind schedule, and some of what proved to be bad decisions were designed to save time and money at the expense of safety. >> there are time pressures that are extremely intense.

and there are economic pressures that are extremely intense. >> you saw a lot of cutting corners? >> sure. >> reporter: most of the blame for the accident rests with bp and the federal government, which failed to properly oversee the project. >> these are not bad people. they're just doing dumb things. >> reporter: a bp spokesman says the company is surprised bee has reached conclusions based on incomplete information, with so many investigations going on, bp says it will await all the evidence good further comment on the causes of this terrible accident. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. as we look at other news tonight, facebook is in the news. very soon facebook will have 500 million members, that's half a billion people. an organization like aaa has 50 million, a tenth of that. then again, they don't let you

friend people, poke people or post pictures of your awesome vacation or friday night. some people share too much, while others try not to. their privacy may have been violated despite their best efforts or best wishes. our report tonight from tom costello. >> reporter: it was ben edleman who noticed something was fishy. when he clicked on the ad, the company then had access to his facebook page. >> reporter: private information like name, age, date of birth, address, even family photos. facebook hasn't been alone in sharing its users' personal information. but with nearly 500 million users worldwide, facebook is the largest social networking site.

many people insist they can't live without it. >> my information is probably out there for anybody to see. >> reporter: facebook makes changing your privacy settings difficult, with more than a hundred difficult settings you can select. who you want to share your information with, friends or total strangers. facebook users have even created their own page to rail against privacy. users want simple and easy ways to opt out of sharing personal information. >> when facebook has 2.6 million users joining a group complaining about facebook's privacy settings, they know they have a problem. >> reporter: the latest cover stories are all about online insecurity. >> this is the information that identity thieves love to get, and use to steal your identity online with all kinds of bad consequences for the individual. >> reporter: consumer reports has a list of suggestions for social media users.

use complex passwords with symbols and numbers, don't include your full birthday in your profile. avoid posting your child's name and photos. never announce when you're leaving town. and reset your privacy settings. the challenge for all of us is learning how to live online while keeping some things private. tom costello nbc news, washington. >> there's more technical information on how to protect your privacy on facebook. we've posted that for you on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. when our friday night broadcast continues in a moment, changing the way texas school children learn about american history. and what it could mean for kids across america. and later, in our special making a difference series, will ferrell showing he cares about a cause in that way only he has. heel pressure.

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crossroads. the states board of education has voted to change what school children learn about american history. we get a late report tonight from our education correspondent, rehema ellis. >> the voting rights act of 1964. >> reporter: in texas public schools the curriculum is headed for a major rewrite. for weeks there have been rallies and heated discussions about how history, geography and social studies should be taught. >> i feel that i have let down the students in our state. >> reporter: every ten years the powerful state board of education votes on a new curriculum. and this time the strong conservative block is pushing to correct what it sees as a liberal bias. >> i'm pleased to move it to balance. we have not swung it to the right, we swung it to the middle. >> we play not be completely proud of all the things that took place in our history, but history is history. >> reporter: here are some of the proposed changes.

textbooks must include the resurgence of the '80s and '90s, the national rifle association, the moral majority and include the idea that our founding fathers may not have intended a separation of church and state. even some vocabulary would change. imperialism would be replaced by expansionism. and the expression slave trade would be changed to atlantic triangular trade. some see that as a move to deny slavery. >> this is a radical group that wants your kids to learn what they want to tell them, and not what actually happened. >> reporter: the school board sets the standards for the nearly five million texas public school children. traditionally the board's influence has extended far beyond the state, because their books are often sold nationwide at an attractive price. >> the real danger is that these standards will stand regardless

of how many textbooks include these standards and will stand as a very potentially dangerous precedent for other states and other school districts to follow. >> reporter: this evening, the texas state board of education approved the new curriculum. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. when we come back here tonight, the videotape showing an unusual reunion with a long lost friend after years apart. his day starts with his arthritis pain. that's breakfast with two pills. the morning is over. it's time for two more pills. the day marches on, back to sore hands, back to more pills. and when he's finally home... but hang on -- just two aleve can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is steven, who chose aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. the middle of this special moment

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our early morning friends at "the today show" highlighted a videotape getting a lot of attention on the web. it shows an extraordinary reunion between a man and his old friend. damion aspinall raised a young gorilla before returning him to the wild five years ago. on a trip to the west african jungle damion was determined to find quebee. after calling out to him he did find him and his family. this morning he came to our studios to tell matt lauer all about the adventure. you can see the entire story on our website at nightly.msnbc.com. the mystery continued at the white house today. what was that thing that ran right in front of the president while he was talking. and the steps just above the rose garden yesterday.

one white house aide was convinced it was a fieldhouse. the press secretary called it a rat. others said it was a mole, but the experts now tell us it was a vole. a short-tailed small-eyed rodent with small ears. apparently it has a nose for fame and publicity. the vole managed to infiltrate the ring of secret service protection. the president, for the record, never saw a thing. next to pong. i guess you would have to say the mother of all electronic games is pac-man. and pac-man turned 30 today. google honored the occasion with its first ever signature masthead. in case you heard that incredibly annoying theme music at work. it does play through the weekend if there's anyone you need to annoy. when we come back here tonight, a member of our nbc family, will ferrell actually out there making a difference. and at ge, we're using it, right now,

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his comedy bones in this building as part of the cast of "saturday night live." he's since moved on to films and raising a family. while he's terrifically unstable, and he's not serious about much, he does have an important cause. the story from lee cowan. >> reporter: you may have seen this version of will ferrell recently, the youtube video went viral. >> he's having a beer out there. what's wrong with this. >> reporter: he showed up at a texas baseball game, pretending to be a minor league pitcher. in typical will ferrell style, it soon all went sideways. much to the crowd's delight. turns out we were behind the scenes that night. >> very authentic. >> very. yes. matches the dome too. it's good. >> watching will get into character. >> yeah, not a difference in

color at all. >> reporter: he was really here to support his college buddy, craig paul. craig is a cancer survivor. has been since the days he and will were fraternity brothers at usc. when will started doing standup, craig rarely missed a show. >> craig was always there, and so -- which is great, because i thought, i know that laugh out there, and i can keep going on, even if i'm doing terribly right now. so -- >> will watched his buddy deteriorate from the cancer, only to bounce back and start a charity, cancer for college, helping survivors with scholarships. >> i was kind of at that point where i was scared whether i was going to live or not. and i made a promise to god, i said if you get me out of here, i'm going to make a difference. >> reporter: will had just starts at "saturday night live." and was one of craig's very first donors. >> embarrassingly i think i

wrote him a check for $50. $50 or $100. >> reporter: but as will's celebrity rose, so did his commitment. >> he doesn't just lend his name, he spends time with us. if a family has a child that they're putting through treatment, they're not thinking about college, they're thinking about the next day. >> reporter: alexis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, derailing her swimming scholarship to texas a&m. >> it was absolutely devastating. >> it meant it was over? >> yeah. >> reporter: her treatment used up all her family's college savings, until -- >> hi. >> reporter: -- cancer for college stepped in. >> it will roughly pay for half my tuition next year. >> reporter: and a night she will never forget. >> the girl you came to see, there she is. >> right here.

>> there's a very serious and empathetic side to him. i think that's why he has so many good friendships, because he's a genuine person. >> it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game. >> reporter: he's never forgotten just how lucky he is. lee cowan, nbc news, austin, texas. >> the great will ferrell. on our website is information on all this week's celebrities and their causes. we also wanted to let you know monday night we'll cover the recovery in nashville, and how the volunteers of the volunteer state are getting to work rebuilding, making a difference following those historic floods. for now, for us, that's our broadcast for this friday night and for this week, thank you as always for being with us. i'm brian williams, lester hotel be here with you this weekend. we'll see you back here on monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend.

in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night.