investigators are trying to pinpoint what triggered the flames. president obama announcing an historic trip to cuba. he will become the first sitting president to do so in 70 years. first, those major delays on the commuter rail and mbta. a ripple effect. todd is live where it all started. problems are still lingering at this hour? todd: that is correct. amtrak is still working to figure out what the problem is and repair the issue. at this hour, virtually every train coming or going from south asian is delayed -- south station is delayed. >> normally, it arrives at 7:42. what time is it now? todd: 8:34. >> yes, right. and they want to increase the fares. todd: outrage after get another slow commute. station today. passengers on other trains had to switch to disembark at other stations and take the subway or bus to get to south station. >> it took about an hour for a 20 minut trip. todd: some commuters walked between back bay and south station. >> they said they were not coming this way and the orange line was jampacked. todd: the signal issue impacts not just commuters. and track service was delayed -- amtrak service was delayed, as well. >> it is very frustrating. it is nothing in comparison to last winter, but it is inconvenient. todd: the owner of the commuter rail said they have no idea when the problem will be restored. >> folks need to be aware that if they need to be somewhere, they need to pick up a child or something urgent, they need to make sure they have a plan b. todd: no word from amtrak on what caused the issue or when it will be repaired. as you just heard , if you are traveling this afternoon, you need to have a plan b. erika: thank you. new this noon, a revere police officer is hospitalized after crashing his cruiser into this poll in chelsea. it happened just before 9:00 while the officer was pursuing another vehicle, which got away. the officer suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. a major road in new hampshire this crash. the driver of the to avoid a dog and slammed right into this marlborough home. power lines went down, cutting electricity to 400 homes. no one was hurt. in this massive house fire overnight. flames breaking out in this garage. investigators don' t know what went wrong. sera: in the light of day, you can see the damage that was done by this intense fire. the home is a total loss. the victim, identified as 64-year-old robert drew, was a longtime resident. >> it was horrible. sera: flames engulfed the large two and a half story home. >> the whole house was engulfed. it was just awful because it kept going and going and going. sera: the next-door neighbor kept -- called 911. >> i heard some popping sounds and i smelled some smoke. i went to the dining window and the house was on fire. sera: the das office says one of the homeowners was killed. robert dr ude in the entryway of the home. >> they were nice people, very good people, family-oriented, community-oriented people. they helped wherever they could. sera: the fire marshal' s office estimates the damage at $800,000. the cause is under investigation, but no foul play is suspected. erika: we turn to the weather. a live look over boston. it is bright and beautiful. cooler than yesterday. it is going to be windy. it might not feel so warm? cindy: it has felt like spring the past couple of days. the temperatures the past couple of hours have barely changed at all. yesterday, 46 degrees. s today. you mentioned it is going to warm up this weekend and it is. it is going to get back near 50 degrees. on the other side of that front, the air is pouring down from ottawa. that is the air mass that has been working on in. the winds are gusting over 20 miles per hour in a lot of spots. the wind chill is still running in the teens. it feels like 24 in boston. mid-30' s on the cape right now. we are holding in the 20' s out through worcester county. temperatures don' t go up through the afternoon. they are going to start to fall as we get into this evening. very cold by tomorrow evening. erika: thanks a much. right now, safety restrictions are in place in boston harbor after tuesday' s talk about syncing. boat sinking. the coast guard wants to inspect the north channel. state senator brian joyce is under investigation by the fbi and irs following allegations of the misuse of campaign cash. fbi agents combed through his law office in canton last night, collecting bags of evidence. last month, he agreed to pay $5,000 for using campaign money to throw a graduation party for his son. they are also investigating free dry-cleaning he received over the course of a decade. the state republican party is calling on joyce, a democrat, to resign. >> the issues raised here were troubling to begin with. the voters need to make the call with respect to whether someone is allowed to continue to serve or not on election day. erika: his district includes he has been cooperating with the investigation and believes he has done nothing wrong, according to his attorney. a new investigation is underway protecting children. series of high-profile deaths in recent years. the scope of the audit is still being determined. the goal is to provide better practices. the agency last found that they were not checking foster homes against the sex offender registry. the body of 36-year-old colleen russell was found at the cliffside commons apartments. investigators are not saying how she died, but that it was a homicide. no arrests have been made. one of two men charged with stealing bones from this graveyard in worcester is being held on $100,000 bail after pleading not guilty. police arrested felix delgado, drug investigation in bridgeport, connecticut. they say they found skeletal remains after doug otto and another suspect were accused of stealing them -- delgado and another suspect were accused of stealing them from a cemetery. donald trump has fallen behind ted cruz in the gop presidential race for the first time. hillary clinton still has a double-digit lead over bernie sanders in south carolina, but in nevada, it is a virtual dead heat. elizabeth: pope francis returning to rome from france -- a trip to the us-mexico border. he had this to say about donald a person who can think about building walls instead of building bridges is not christian. i' presbyterian, to be exact. adequate about his christian beliefs on the campaign trail, going to war with ted cruz, who announced the endorsement of 300 south carolina pastors today. while ted cruz and donald trump are battling over first and second, a challenger is emerging in marco rubio. >> marco rubio! elizabeth: the extremely popular governor of south carolina gives him her endorsement. >> we are so happy and grateful. >> i think nikki haley is a big deal. she is drafting for marco rubio. he was in a very close third. he could easily pass ted cruz. elizabeth: jeb bush was conciliatory in his remarks, but it was a big blow. >> i think the jeb bush folks are beginning to make a plan for a neck said. erika: president obama is planning an historic trip to cuba. what he hopes the controversial trip will help accomplish. the fbi locked in a bitter legal battle with apple over a the impact the case could have on everyone with a smart phone. cindy: colder out there today, but it won' t last. the warmth on the way for the weekend and our next significant storm front. erika: more trouble for toyota. millions of vehicles being recalled for potentially t they're one of that triggered the financial meltdown -- goldman sachs. just settled with authorities for their part in the crisis that put seven million out of work and millions how does wall street get away with it? millions in campaign contributions and speaking fees. our economy works for wall street because it's riggedt by wall street. and that's the problem. as long as washington is bought and paid for, we can't build an economy that works for people. sanders: i'm bernie sanders, erika: a historic trip for president. he confirmed he will travel to cuba for a few days next month in a series of tweets. he will become the first sitting president to visit the communist nation in 70 years. he is working to end 50 years of normalize relations and would embargo. president obama is getting aisle. connor disagrees with fellow republicans, urging the president to fill the high court' s president said it is his constitutional duty to name a replacement for justice antonin scalia, who died last week. now to that extraordinary legal fight brewing between the fbi and apple. some experts say that apple is setting up a battle with implications for every smartphone user. here is elizabeth hur. elizabeth: the white house wants apple to do what a california judge ordered -- hack into the iphone used by the terror suspect in the san bernardino massacre and help investigators >> they are not asking apple to new backdoor. something that would have an andimpact on this one device. >> i think being a good corporate citizen is important. elizabeth: while some republican hopefuls are siding with the boat obama administration, these >> >> any number of people are trying to gain access to it. elizabeth: apple is standing firm, vowing to appeal. are chilling, adding that the software is something we simply consider too dangerous to create , arguing that if we find a way to break into that phone, they will be able to break into any phone. >> apple has made clear it is going to fight and whoever loses that battle is going to appeal. this manned up in the supreme court. elizabeth: legal experts say this is a landmark case and microsoft and google are also weighing in, saying they are with apple on this one and believes there should be no government backdoors into your devices. abc news, new york. erika: a california hospital taking unusual action to get its computer system up and running. it paid $17,000 in ransom to hostage. hollywood presbyterian said it was in its best interest and the most efficient way to end the problem which started two weeks ago. the fbi is now investigating. a warning for toyota drivers. the automaker is recalling 3 million suvs because of seat belt issues. the problem is with belts in second row window seats that could get cut in a crash. the recall impacts 2005-2014 rav4' s. it also impacts 2012-2014 electric rav4' s. the dealer will fix the problem for free. an unusual invasion in australia. tumbleweed overtaking roads, homes, and yards. it is summertime down under and dry conditions have led to a bumper crop. in some cases, they have piled as high as rooftops. officials in some places are refusing to help with cleanup because of the fire risk. oh well. can you believe we are halfway through the month of february? it has been kind of a wacky month. remember how it started? we started so warm, in the 50' s and the 60' s. when you average out the coldest weeks last week, it will come out to about average. it is all about the averages. the past couple of days were noticeably colder. look at the temperature -- still stuck holding up that freezing mark where we have been the past 12 hours. we have not changed too much. we have had this north northwesterly wind blowing. it has been gusting over 20 miles per hour. this wind is certainly making it feel colder than it is out there. temperatures are still stuck in the upper 20' s through the bedford, you are just below freezing at 31. it is 30 degrees in beverly. worcester, 27. orange, 28. to the south, not doing much better. the warm spot is down in totten at 36. 35, hyannis. sunshine has been with us, but i want you to notice what is happening offshore. see how the clouds are generally moving north to south. we have slow draining right out of canada. high pressure is nosing in, but the flow of air continues to drain on down. that is why it has been so difficult to warm on a. this is the air mass then moves into night. temperatures are going to hold fairly steady and then drop off as we head into the evening hours. with the wind blowing, you need to be dressed for the wind chill' s dropping through the teens this evening. notice a little bit of an increase in cloud cover this evening. there may be a few flurries that get going. there may be snow showers and flurries on the mid and outer cape. not expecting any accumulation out of this. those will get on out of here overnight and the temperatures are dropping under clear skies, diminishing when, we are down into the teens tomorrow morning. we are in the lower 20' s on cape cod. it is a cold start tomorrow with high pressure on top of us. it is also a sunny start on your friday. the brighter skies are through lunchtime. clouds start to move on and from the west. despite the increasing clouds, a shift in the winds from the south, it is going to be closer to 40 degrees on friday. the clouds are eventually going to reach a little period of some light rain or snow on friday night. you can see that moving along here. it is associated with a warm front. the study are snow was going to there could be a minor coating of snow. once the warm front goes by on saturday morning, southerly winds are going to push the afternoon. cannot rule out a spot shower, but mostly cloudy skies, breezy, milder on saturday afternoon. sunday is around 50 degrees. our next significant storm threat comes in on wednesday of next week -- a storm is going to up out of the south. the question is how close it comes to the coastline. if it is farther offshore, it will be a colder solution, but if it hugs the coast moore, a tracks further inland, there involved. either way, it looks like a messy storm tore the middle of next week, but we have a pretty decent weekend. erika: let' s hear it the world a president has to sometimes you can't even imagine. that's the job. and she's the one who's proven she can get it done. ...securing a massive reduction in nuclear weapons... ...standing up against the abuse of women... ...protecting social security... ...expanding benefits for the national guard... ...and winning health care for 8 million children... the presidency is the toughest job in the world and she's the one who'll make a real difference for you. i'm hillary clinton and i homecoming? 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[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> this is an editorial by wcvb channel 5' s president and general manager. >> in his state of the commonwealth, governor charlie baker spoke directly about -- >> to the taxpayer who may never ride the t, but who right a $1 billion check every year, you deserve to know if yuri -- your resources are delivering a >> we have unscheduled -- uncovered a scheduling nightmares, allowing travelers to handpick their work schedules. those with the least seniority have schedules that conflict with mandatory rest intervals. drivers are paid to stay home and rest while others are paid to cover for them. the total cost -- in 2015 alone , the t pay drivers $400,000 to stay home and spent another quarter million in overtime for substitute drivers to pick up the shifts. this antiquated system contributes to the problem. the t' s chief administrator says switching to an electronic scheduling system would eliminate the waste. jim o' brien, head of the union of the carmen, says it is an issue of safety, but is willing to bargain. he would consent to a trial period if management would consider a four-day work week. sleep time should not be up for negotiation. it is in day interest of management and the union to fix the problem right now. we should all demand a reliable, affordable, transparent, and efficient service and vision by governor baker. while cutting this particular form of waste is a drop in the bucket, optics do matter and may make writing that $1 billion check slightly less infuriating >> this show has a long history re continuing that tradition all week, raising money for shriners hospitals for children, so stick around because it' s time to play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] hello, everybody. i' m chris harrison. welcome to the show. all this week we' re working with shriners hospitals for children, a truly fantastic charity that has transformed the lives of more than a million kids with its innovative pediatric care, and they do it all regardless ability to pay. this week, every time a contestant reaches that $50,000 threshold, we' ll be writing shriners hospitals for children a check for $10,000.