In a series of actions taken today – featuring a live broadcast on Twitter — California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter outlining his requests for assistance from the federal government in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic including a request to President Donald Trump asking him to order the immediate deployment of the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship to the Port of Los Angeles through Sept. 1, 2020, to help decompress the state’s health care system which experts fear will be completely overwhelmed.