*By Max Godnick*
The newly-crowned Miss USA said she stands with her "sisters" who had the courage to appear on camera and say "me too."
The national reckoning with toxic male behavior was part of this year's Miss USA competition, which included a pre-recorded montage of some contestants sharing their experiences with sexual assault.
"You have to be real and acknowledge what's going on in our world," said Sarah Rose Summers, the newly crowned Miss USA, in an interview with Cheddar on Thursday. "We're not in our own little bubble as Miss USA contestants."
The 23-year-old said she has never experienced any sexual misconduct but was supportive of her fellow contestants who did appear in the video.
Summers received two degrees from Texas Christian University and recently finished her clinical rotations to become a certified child life specialist. She said she and her fellow contestants handle uncomfortable interactions on social media and in person differently since the #MeToo movement took off.
"There's less of 'oh he's just creepy' and more of 'that's not acceptable," said Summers.
President Trump owned The Miss Universe Organization, operator of the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe pageants, from 1996 to 2015. Five former contestants have said they remember Trump visiting their dressing rooms during the 1997 Miss Teen USA competition, according to [a report by BuzzFeed News] (https://www.buzzfeed.com/kendalltaggart/teen-beauty-queens-say-trump-walked-in-on-them-changing?utm_term=.kjX2mPLpG#.byrm5eOLZ).
Summers said she never felt like her privacy was violated while taking part in the pageant.
"I felt very safe and we all have security that are with us all of the time so we cannot be approached by anyone," she said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/miss-usa-on-pageants-in-the-metoo-era).
It has now been two days since Major League Baseball moved to cancel opening day games for the upcoming season. The announcement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred came during the league's ongoing work stoppage, just the ninth in MLB history. Owners voted unanimously on December 2, 2021 to enact a lockout after the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players expired. On March 1, 2022, following over a week of daily negotiations between the two sides, and three months of on and off negotiations, the league officially canceled the first two series of the regular season. Gabe Lacques, MLB reporter and baseball editor for USA Today Sports, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Music-focused NFT platform Pianity raising $6.5 million in a seed funding round. Pianity has developed a marketplace that allows musicians to sell their tracks as limited edition NFTs. Since its launch last year, the company says it has already sold 11,000 NFTs and artists have earned over $1.1 million from NFT sales. Kevin Primicerio, co-founder and CEO of Pianity, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Russia seizes a major Ukraine nuclear power plant, students protest Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, and it's official: nobody really expects Pop-Tarts to have real strawberries. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Friday, March 4, 2022.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that an estimated one million people have fled from Ukraine since Russia invaded. Christopher Boian, senior communications officer at UNHCR, joined Cheddar News to report on the current refugee crisis and what the world might expect if conditions continue to worsen. "We have planning figures that forecast as many as four million people could be forced to flee Ukraine," he said. "But that very much depends on how the conflict underway in that country at the moment unfolds in the days and possibly weeks ahead."
Christian Blauvelt, executive managing editor at IndieWire, joins Cheddar News to discuss the growing number of studios pulling content from Russia over Ukraine invasion.
Caroline Hickman, lecturer at University of Bath and psychosocial researcher on climate change, joins Cheddar News to discuss climate change's impact on mental health.
Alexandre Mongeon, the CEO and co-founder of Vision Marine Technologies, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the latest innovations in the e-boating industry, and how fully electric motors and boats will play a role in the fight against the climate crisis.
A Ukraine city falls, if you have an Iconic Fitbit, you'll want to hear this, and leave Girl Scouts alone! Here is all the news you Need2Know for Thursday, March 3, 2022.
