Flooding rains slamming Southern California forced families to evacuate their Los Angeles-area homes over Christmas in a deadly winter storm system that's set to disrupt holiday travel into Friday.
The big picture: Nearly 32 million people were under flood watches Thursday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency in multiple SoCal counties as atmospheric rivers triggered intense rain and winds to already saturated soil this week.
President Trump discussed with kids Wednesday Santa Claus' Christmas Eve journey being followed through the North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) tracking program during calls that were peppered with joviality and banter.
The big picture: First lady Melania Trump also took part in the calls from their home in Palm Beach, Florida, which helped kick off the NORAD Santa-tracking tradition that's now in its 70th year. Less traditional were some of the president's comments to the children during the calls.
