tonight on "nightline." ready to blow in more than a month into this oil spill catastrophe and still no end in sight. as outrage grows, we tour the devastation with the head of bp. an abc news exclusive. plus, sex appeal. tabloid darlings. why is the world obsessed with the car dakardashians. we try to keep up. nothing is offlimits. and bad boy's betrayal. a sneak peek into tomorrow about interview with jesse james. only on "nightline."

good evening. we begin tonight with what is now a full-blown environmental catastrophe in the gulf. the oil leak is now coating a huge chunk of louisiana's coastline and threatening the wild life. as officials search for any way to stop the leak, scrutiny is on the company that owned the well, bp. jeffrey kofman with an exclusive sper you have with tony haywood. >> reporter: for a month, they hoped the oil would stay offshore. the oil is here. with more than 65 miles of louisiana coastline now covered in a copper-colored goo, cleanup

crews cannot stay ahead of it. there's now a sense of frustration, of urgency. >> let's be clear. every day this oil sits and waits for cleanup is one more day that our marsh dice. >> reporter: this video shows the oil permeating the water from 5 to 50 feet. just a few months ago, the state bird was removed from the endanger list. now sit very much in danger. until recently, katrina was a common curse word here. now they use bp. >> it stands for beyond patience. what we need to tell bp is exclueses don't count anymore. >> reporter: at the certainty of it all, bp ceo tony hayward.

today, abc was given exclusive access. >> we're going to fight it subsea, on the surface, on the shore. >> reporter: sounds like you're referring to church yn ill who i know you like to quote. >> i believe we're fighting a battle. i thing it's the appropriate approach. absolutely. we're going to fight it in the subsea, on the surface and on the shore. and we will prevail, ultimately. >> reporter: after relanded in grand isle, we drove with him to see the oil up close. one of the things i find so difficult to understand. your company made a profit of $6.4 million in the first three months of this year, wasn't there somebody sitting around saying, gee, you know, we have a lot of money in hand and we're doing this risky drilling. shouldn't we have a contingency

plan? >> we believed we had a contingency plan. a fail safe piece of equipment. and we believe we had the wherewithal to deal with it. it's clear that, with the benefit of hindsight, there are things we need to do going forward. . >> reporter: knowing that 11 men died. men jumped nine and ten stories into a burning sea. and now that your company has unleashed what may be the worst, if not one of the worst, ecological disasters in american history -- >> i feel great sorrow for all of this. i'm sorry about the people that lost their lives. i'm sorry about the impact it's having on the gulf coast on the -- on the -- communities and society. and i'm sorry about the environmental impact.

we're going to do everything in our power to restore this part of the world to normal as soon as we possibly can. one of the challenges is we have all these resources and geing them to the place they need to be as fast as we can. >> reporter: that's your oil. >> i know. i'm gutted. i'm absolutely devastated. something i never wanted to see. something we fought hard not to have happen. the reason i'm here is to see if we can find beater way of preventing the oil from getting to the shore. how do we deploy the resources more effectively. >> reporter: you have said in recent weeks and days that the gulf is a big ocean and can handle this. you believe the environmental damage is going to be modest. when row see this, do you still feel that way? >> i said that in week or so ago when we were keeping the oil off the shore.

the defenses have clearly been breached. this is a major issue we have to deal. >> reporter: is issue another word for catastrophe? >> i don't know if we can call it a catastrophe. i can say we're going to do everything in our power to prevent it from being a catastrophe. it's clearly a marathon. we're here for the marathon. >> reporter: five weeks after the explosion, it's clear that the marathon that has just begun. i'm jeffrey kofman for "nightline." when we come back, from a number one show to lucrative endorsement deals, they're one of hollywood's it brands. does the sex appeal go too far? we keep up with the kardashians. hi, i'm ellen. here's what can do with 4g from sprint. i'm using my 4g mobile broadband card to download the multimedia client presentation

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and we turn now the hollywood and family that's become the first family of reality television, the kardashians. a big, loving, funny family who don't take themselves too seriously. maybe that's a good thing. there's been a sex tape, a "playboy" spread and no shortage of talk about plastic surgery. their business plan is working. their mainstream appeal is indisputabl indisputable.

take the brady bunch, let it bake in the white hot light of celebrity actual which you are and fast forward 40 years and you might just get "keeping up with the kardashians." >> please don't cry. >> reporter: where anything might happen and often does. it's all if the family. and all, they say, totally real. >> we do film like usually 18 hours day. six to seven days week. >> without a break. without a day off. for three or four months zblp who do you play on the show? >> i'm definitely mom-ager. >> i have my photo shoot today. >> we already confirmed the audition. >> they've had their is a minutes. my job is to turn it into 30. >> reporter: kris is joined by kourtney, kim, and khloe. we fell into what seemed like a

scene from the show. >> the only reason i'm late is because you took so long to get started. >> i made breakfast for her. >> kim ate my breakfast, thank you. >> i was hungry. >> welcome to my world. >> reporter: their antics have made them tabloid sensations. a word to the wise do not underestimate them. they're savvy businesswomen. they is turned and marketing gold. as relearned at mr. chow with the girls, their brother, and khloe's husband, lamar odom, as kris said they get ten possibilities a day.

>> kardashian credit cards. >> reporter: there are dozens more. including kim's perfume. >> experience glamour are kim kardashian. >> reporter: and a book yet to be written. not every pitch gets a thumb's up. >> we're one less because we said no in the vibrator. >> what? i thought about it. he was like, no, no no. we can't. oh, okay, yeah, we can't. in my head, i was thinking, totally. >> reporter: a $1 million vibrator offer might not come as a surprise. the reality series began after a sex tape of kim was sold against her wishes. it under the into a media commodity. without kim, would there have been a keeping up with the

kardashians. >> i don't think so. >> reporter: did you know with the manager hat on that you had an opportunity? >> we had been talking about doing a reality show for about two and half years. i thought, oh, boy, we were just going to do this whole thing. it messes things up. i had no idea that something like that would bring -- attention, yes, but not in the right way. >> i completely get what you're saying where maybe that's what people were gravitate lg toward, as far as how they were familiar with me. but think that no one on this planet would ever want to deal with something like that and having to face a father, a mother, sisters, brother, we dealt with it together as family, and then we moved on. >> we definitely made some lemonade out of lemons. >> reporter: it wasn't long until kim was volunteerly taking her clothes off.

>> think it would be an awesome experience for you. on top of all of that, it's a ton of money. >> i was flabbergasted that you encouraged her to pose for "playboy." a loft people would have said, the last thing this girl needs to do is take her clothes off. she should be wearing turtle next and go to church. >> she does that. >> you take my point. what were you thinking, mrs. generaler? >> i thought it was a good idea. so many iconic women did "playboy." marilyn monroe, other respected women. >> you were pushing her, let's be honest. >> she wanted to do it, too. i didn't force her. >> i was on the fence about it, do i want to be viewed this way or show women, hey, i'm curvy. i'm not like the stick skinny

bodiles on the magazines. i thought it would be empowering. >> both women they do not regret the play buoy decision. kris says she regrets broadcasting her younger daughters, kendal and kiley, pretending to be girls gone wild and paying on a stripper pole. >> how did you learn to do that? >> it was the big craze that oprah had on her show. all the girls were going on. >> reporter: they were 9 and 11. >> it was a new exercise thing. >> reporter: it's cringe-worthy, you know it. >> it definitely wasn't the best thing. i don't think kylie was thinking, i'm being a stripper. but other parrots, lamar said to me the other night he saw one episode of ours and it was that

one. he thought we were -- >> crazy. >> like awful. >> reporter: worse than crazy, kris. irresponsible. you look that and think, what parent would permit this to happen and number two would put it on national television. >> it would be totally irresponsible irresponsible. the way it happened was the way it was edited. >> reporter: but you're executive producer. you let it out there. >> in my first season. it was probably one of those things i would have edited. >> reporter: it seems as if there is nothing too private or embarrassing to reveal. do you think you have turned over too much of yourself to the public? >> not at all. >> i still have my bathroom. >> reporter: not only do they not regret it. they think it's been good for them. >> you see everything. we make mistakes.

what i praise us on is we learn from our mistakes. we get to watch ourselves and hopefully never make the mistakes again. >> reporter: not enough to satisfy the critics. when we come back, the family takes on their detractors. me neither. it's new beneful incredibites. uh-huh! it's just the way you like it-- made with wholesome grains, real beef, even carrots and peas. you love the smaller-size, easy-to-chew kibbles, and i love the carbohydrates for energy and protein for muscles. whoa! wait for me! ha-ha. you only think you're getting spoiled. [ woman announcing ] new beneful incredibites. another healthful, flavorful beneful. at the same time, voilà, book your flight and hotel you could save up to 450 bucks. and that could come in pretty handy. where you book matters. expedia.

it has been said that behind every great man is a better woman. but what about in the kardashian home? place dominated by women with big personalities? there you will find an olympic legend.

what does bruce jern thing of all the fuss? i asked him. amidst the mayhem of "keeping with the kardashians" there seems to be a lone male voice of reason. >> we're pushing 20 year here. >> reporter: while the kardashian women rushed off to an event, we stayed behind to talk with the man who describes himself as the house husband. here we are in the garage. >> i love the garage. i have my toys. >> reporter: excluding him from family decisions is a favorite on the show. >> does bruce know? >> no. >> we're in swim suits, not lingerie. >> reporter: there were many times where i was screaming at my television set, bruce, man up!

>> people tell me that all the time. i get that all the time. come on, bruce, stand up. >> i'm worried about bruce's reaction to the dog so i thing we should hide her. >> i'm a little afraid of kris. i'm a little afraid of her. >> reporter: if you cross the line can kris, what does life look like? >> it's not good. >> reporter: others are not shy about taking on the women. the girls met with sharp criticism from tim gunn. >> make it work. >> reporter: i'm shoe you know what kim gunn said. >> i think he nose that if he says -- >> reporter: he says the style may have sexiness to it, but i find it largely vulgar. the look has a cheapness and tawdriness to it. >> that's his opinion. let the prand speak for itself.

we have sold out. this is second season, we have sold out again. we give them what they're looking for. if he's calling that line vulgar, he's calling our fans vulgar. >> reporter: the tabloid are obsessed. the latest buzz is whether or not the women, so famous for their looks, have had plastic surgery. let's go down the couch on the plastic surgery front. breast implants zblip have. it's to funny. i could care less. >> reporter: kim. >> trust me. if i take this bra off, you'll tell me i need to get them done. i'm in the against plastic surgery. i tried botox. >> reporter: never you nose the. >> no. >> reporter: no butt implants. >> no butt implanlts, no butt injections. i'll let you feel it.

>> reporter: this is an offer millions of people will not want to turn down. but i will say no. >> yoer suck her in. >> reporter: for now, the women seem to be putting up with the skrutny. as long as they can continue in the family business. the fame business. and bruce jenner says, more power to them. >> reporter: people would say you won the decathlon, became famous for a world record. and a whole lot of people would say your family in there, had become kind of famous for being famous. for being pretty. what do you say? >> i say i love them to death and just go for it. and yes, yeah, they're famous for being famous. when it gets right down to it, these girls are businesswomen.

very smart. and they have taken this celebrity game and done extremely well with it. >> everything that i have, i have paid for myself, i have gotten myself, and i appreciate it so much more. like the drive that we all have, we all -- at one point, i genuinely feel like i will own the entire globe. >> reporter: where does that drive come from? all the girls say, their father, robert kardashian who gained fame as one of o.j. simpson's lawyers. he died of chancer in 200. >> we grew up in the life of privilege. we were taught when we're 18, we're going to be cut off. if we want to continue the live this lifestyle, you -- >> better figure it out really fast. >> my father taught us well and instald good work ethic in us. we didn't have the cell phones,

credit cards. >> reporter: what would he think obvious all of this? would he like you exposing your lives as much as you have? >> he would be so proud of pups the whole internentrepreneur si. he would be so happy. >> the show is beginning to film their sixth season. in june, the spin-off in miami will launch the second season. when we come back, a sneak peek at the interview with jesse james. first, jimmy kimmel. >> thanks, tonight, ali, the new bachelor rhett is here.