Mrs. Nevada-America Pageant Disrupted Over COVID-19 Concerns
KEILAR: With close to 57,000 coronavirus cases and almost a thousand deaths, the governor of Nevada has implemented strict measures to stop the spread. City officials are enforcing mandates that require masks and social distancing guidelines in Las Vegas, which was apparent over the weekend. The Las Vegas Police broke up the Mrs. Nevada-America Pageant for its crowd side. It was the second time in a week that an event at that same hotel was cited for overcrowding. The pageant did take place eventually, but without an audience. And Jackie McKenna is the state director of the pageant. Jackie, thanks so much for coming on to talk about this. Tell us what happened here.</s>JACKIE MCKENNA, STATE DIRECTOR, MRS. NEVADA-AMERICA PAGEANT: Thank you, thank you for having me. We had planned on this event for several months, and it was postponed several times because of the guidelines. And we wanted to make sure that we practiced every guideline. So we went to a private facility, a privately owned hotel that was a convention center as well. I was assured from the very beginning that we having only 200 members in the audience would be way below the compliance because of capacity, because there were room for 1,600 people in the room. We made sure that the tables were set 16 feet apart, no more than six people at a 10-top table, all family members. Everybody had masks, everybody followed the guidelines. And this is very, very important to me. The safety of these women are more important to me than any kind of hoopla, any kind of celebration. But we don't want to take away their hard work, their recognition for everything they've done and all they do in this community, for somebody who is going to change the rules at the very last moment without proper notice.</s>KEILAR: So you know, Jackie, I was reading ahead of time what you were talking about with the seating and the precautions. And my first instinct was to say, you know, maybe she's right here. But I have to tell you, I look at the photos from the pageant, which I think are photos that were taken even after the audience was gone. But you're talking about wanting to preserve the health of these women --</s>MCKENNA: Yes.</s>KEILAR: -- and I see a lot of people without masks within inches. I mean, they are embracing each other. You have the former Mrs. Nevada crowning the new Mrs. Nevada. That's of course a normal part of a pageant, but these are not normal times.</s>MCKENNA: Yes.</s>KEILAR: What do you say to folks who look at those contestants and say that is breaking all kinds of public health recommendations?</s>MCKENNA: Actually, if you do look at those photos, the women crowning the other women have clear visors on. They were produced for them for this very purpose. If in the course of the evening somebody embraces somebody in a joyous moment, in an exciting moment, that is due these ladies. They have practiced everything from hand sanitizers to social distancing. We do not go out rogue and try and create a problem, we wanted to make sure that we were following the guidelines. But apparently, five minutes before the pageant started, the police came in, the city came in and they called me to the lobby and said that they were -- they had a cease and desist order. And I asked to see it, and they wouldn't show it to me. And the general manager of the hotel was there, George (ph) Harris (ph), he was there, the CEO. He looked at it and got on the phone immediately with his attorneys and the owner of the hotel, Don Ahern. And he wanted to know what's going on, what have we done that is different than two days ago, when 800 people were there? And that wasn't broken up. They were given a warning. But 800 people in a 1,600-capacity room versus 200 family and friends, private event? The tickets were not available for sale publicly. These were family and friends who had quarantined, gotten together for the one night of the year to celebrate the wives and mothers who have fought so hard, are doing so much in the community. We have women who are doctors and airline pilots and ministers and dentists and homemakers, people who have given so much to their community throughout the year. We felt as though with every safety precaution being handled, that we could present these women in the light they deserve and award them their night to shine. We had three out of our five judges who were doctors, they all had masks on.</s>KEILAR: Jackie, look -- Jackie, I'm not disagreeing with you that these are folks who are doing good things. I will mention the other group was fined. Look, I know that you and a number of other people look and they feel like they're being treated unfairly, and I think that's totally a discussion worth having because there is sometimes inconsistency --</s>MCKENNA: Sure.</s>KEILAR: -- between different places or what appear to be different --</s>MCKENNA: Right.</s>KEILAR: -- priorities with how cities and states or counties are approaching things. But I guess I just go back to you know, the photos of all of those contestants. I know what you're saying, but they're not actually practicing all safety precautions. I hear you saying that it's due these women, it's the one night, it's a big event for them. The virus --</s>MCKENNA: Sure.</s>KEILAR: -- doesn't care though. The virus doesn't care, Jackie.</s>MCKENNA: I know. The virus doesn't care down the street, where thousands of people are either in casinos gambling, not following any of the mandates, nobody closes them down. You have to kind of wonder --</s>KEILAR: I will -- look, I will say --</s>MCKENNA: -- what's going on.</s>KEILAR: -- I understand you're raising concerns about that. I think they're at 50 percent capacity in the casinos right now, and that's --</s>MCKENNA: Right.</s>KEILAR: -- certainly worth a discussion. But that doesn't make you any safer, having these women closer together even if you are upset or even if you raise concerns, and if someone were to go into say a specific casino and look and see if they felt like they were actually doing things that were bad for people's health. That doesn't make what we're seeing in some of these photos safer though?</s>MCKENNA: Yes. I think those probably two or three photos that you're seeing, the women together was a moment of celebratory times that they felt that they were safe because of the hand sanitizers and having gone through the equipment there, at the Ahern Hotel, that destroys any kind of viruses and germs as you walk through it. It's the only hotel in the country that has it and it's one thing that has never been addressed. It's the only hotel who has it.</s>KEILAR: It doesn't destroy virus that is inside people's bodies. I have to wrap up this interview, Jackie. And, look, I sympathize with you, this thing is wreaking havoc on everyone's lives. I know you put a lot into this event --</s>MCKENNA: Yes.</s>KEILAR: -- but you know, we also have to be really honest about --</s>MCKENNA: I'd like to just celebrate -- I'd like to celebrate the women who won that evening. That's Ashley Tesoro, Dianna Klein, and Paris Regan. They will go on to Mrs. America and they will prevail. Safety first.</s>KEILAR: All right. We will see. OK, Jackie, thanks for the discussion.</s>MCKENNA: You are sure welcome.</s>KEILAR: Thank you for coming on. And next, we will fact-check President Trump's comments from just the last 24 hours and the false claims that he's made on everything from mail-in voting to coronavirus to election interference.