and from the air. it's a desperate race to prevent a nuclear crisis from turning into a catastrophe. we get the latest now from cnn's stan grant in tokyo. and some perspective from cnn contributor jim walsh in boston. let's begin with you, stan, in tokyo. you're following the developments out of the fukushima plant. so give us an update on the efforts to cool down those damaged reactors. >> reporter: we've been following this day in and day out, hour after hour. if i can just put it this way -- running to stand still i think would be the best description. they are throwing everything at it. they've tried sea water. they've now tried to bomb water from the sky. they're using fire trucks, they're using trucks from the army, as well, to pour water in there, 70 tons of water were poured into the reactors today. they're going to have to be back again tomorrow. they can't even be sure that it's making a difference. you know, until they can actually call those reactors and get in and look at the damage and stabilize them and shut them down properly they can't bridng