The Tokyo Olympic Games end this weekend, plus Fauci's latest COVID advice: 5 Things podcast

On today's 5 Things podcast: It's been a tough Summer Games in Tokyo, but full of fun upsets. Plus, Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks out about the latest vaccine fight, cruises enact new virus restrictions, an accuser of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has filed a criminal complaint and some states will let you shop tax-free this weekend.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And this is Five Things You Need to Know Saturday, the 7th of August, 2021. Today, the final weekend of the Tokyo Olympics begins plus Fauci on vaccine mandates and more.

Taylor Wilson:

Here are some of the top headlines.

1. President Joe Biden is extending the pause on federal student loan payments again. This time the extension moves to January 31st of next year. The pandemic related payment freeze had been set to expire at the end of September.

2. The Taliban killed the head of Afghanistan's government media center on Friday. The killing comes during major Taliban advances in the country.

3. And U.S. senators will meet again this weekend as they move closer to voting on a one trillion dollar infrastructure package.

Taylor Wilson:

It's the final weekend of the summer Olympics in Tokyo. It's been a bizarre, fun and memorable couple of weeks in Japan after the games controversially went ahead in the middle of a pandemic and rising cases in the country. Athletes competed in front of mostly empty stands. And almost 100 virus cases were tied to the Olympics before the opening ceremony even kicked off. The games themselves were also delayed an entire year. But there was plenty of good to remember as well. Four new sports debuted. There were more mixed gender events and more LGBTQ+ representation, especially for the transgender community. And the sports themselves have not disappointed. Sunday will close things out with a few finals and then the closing ceremony. But first USA Today Sports Mackenzie Salmon looks back at Friday and ahead to Saturday's action.

Mackenzie Salmon:

American beach volleyball player, April Ross, finally has her complete Olympic medal set. The A-Team of April Ross and Alix Klineman made quick work of their Australian competitors and won in straight sets to become the first American women at the beach to win gold since Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings in 2012. Volleyball didn't just dominate on the beach. The women of Team USA indoor volleyball won their semifinal with a straight sets victory over Serbia, and now head to the gold medal match. The U.S. women's basketball team rolled against Serbia as they extended their Olympic winning streak to 54 games. They'll play for gold on Sunday. Keyshawn Davis will have a chance to end the 17 year old gold medal drought lingering over the U.S. men's boxing team. Davis won his lightweight semi final by unanimous decision, five to nothing. That'll do for Friday. Let's take a look at what's in store for Saturday.

Mackenzie Salmon:

There are a lot of gold medals on the line for the U.S. as the Olympics near the close. On the track, American Vashti Cunningham will compete in the high jump final. And the women's 4x400 relay team have their final. Six-time Olympic gold medalist, Allyson Felix is expected to join Saturday's relay. The U.S. baseball team will face Japan in the gold medal game. On the court, the United States men's basketball team will play France for gold. The U.S. women's water polo team faces Spain to defend their gold medal.

Taylor Wilson:

For a list of times and where to watch, head to olympics.usatoday.com. And a reminder, many events are happening early Saturday morning, U.S. time, while Sunday's last events will take place Saturday night into Sunday morning U.S. time. On Sunday, the games wrap up with the closing ceremony at 7:00 AM eastern time with a re-air Sunday night on NBC. Little is known about what to expect at the closing ceremony, except for a theme: Worlds We Share.

Taylor Wilson:

Vaccine mandates. Employers in the public and private sectors are increasingly requiring their employees get vaccinated. And that won't stop anytime soon. Infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci told USA Today on Friday that as soon as the FDA issues a full approval for a COVID-19 vaccine, there will be a flood of vaccine mandates at businesses and schools around the country. And Fauci emphasized that the pandemic has shifted to one overwhelmingly affecting the unvaccinated. Fauci said, "When you walk into a hospital, what you're going to see is a lot of young people, some of whom are seriously ill." And he said he hopes people's so-called better angels prevail over lies they see about the vaccine on social media. Fauci also clarified that vaccines prevent COVID-19 from further mutating into something potentially even more dangerous than the Delta variant.

Dr. Anthony Fauci:

The virus cannot mutate unless it is replicating. And if you allow the virus to freely replicate chronically in society, it will mutate. I believe if a combination of better angels of the people prevailing, despite the sea of lies that we're living in, that people say, "Okay, I'm not going to take any of this. I'm seeing everybody around me get sick and dying, let me just go ahead and get vaccinated." If we can get the overwhelming proportion of the people vaccinated, as a nation, we will do very, very well. Just the same way as we're all protected from measles because the level of protection and measles is very, very good in this country. It's 90 some odd percent. There's tens of thousands and tens of thousands and more of measles in other parts of the world. But we don't worry about measles.

Taylor Wilson:

Fauci also talked about protecting children. Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible to get vaccinated. And some health departments around the country are seeing the Delta variant spread quickly between kids. It still mostly does not make them severely ill, but they can get sick. Tennessee's health commissioner said children are quickly showing symptoms after possible exposure. That potentially shows a faster incubation time than previous versions of the virus. Fauci though said kids do need to get back to school with some precautions.

Dr. Anthony Fauci:

Anybody who is anywhere near a child in what should be the protected environment of a school, if they are eligible to be vaccinated, they should be vaccinated. Since that will not happen, that you will not get 100% of those people vaccinated, that's when you get into the CDC guidelines that as difficult is it may seem, that whether you're vaccinated or not, the most important thing is to get the children in person back to school because we have 18 months of experience, not only in the United States, but in other countries, that the detrimental effect, both mental health, physical and social development, intellectual learning of children is really devastating.

Taylor Wilson:

50% of Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. And 58.4%, or at least partially vaccinated.

Taylor Wilson:

Cruises are back sailing in many parts of the world. But cruise lines on U.S. trips are increasing measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Princess Cruises said Thursday that it would be adding a mask requirement to board in addition to its testing measures. And at least 95% of staff and passengers must show proof of vaccination to board. The mask rule will apply to most public indoor spaces on the ships. Carnival Cruise Line also announced a new mask policy along with Holland America Line and other companies. Most lines are also requiring negative tests to board for both vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers. The move comes after new CDC guidance on masking and after several outbreaks on ships. USA Today travel reporter, Morgan Hines, was on a Royal Caribbean ship with positive cases.

Morgan Hines:

The cruise line confirmed to me that six people were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19. Four of those people were vaccinated and two were unvaccinated minors. Their close contacts were notified and quarantined as were they. I never had to quarantine and neither did most of the other passengers onboard. I never felt unsafe. I was appreciative of the protocol that was in place. There were social distancing markers on the floor in many areas. There was hand sanitizer readily available, hand washing stations in the dining areas. If you had asked me a year ago if I would have felt okay getting on a cruise ship, I wouldn't have wanted to get on board a ship. And if you had said to me, would you feel okay in a situation in which there was COVID on board? The answer would have been absolutely not.

Morgan Hines:

Obviously things have changed over the last year or year and a half since we learned about COVID and protocol as evolved and vaccines have come out. But I was still nervous before I boarded. And I was surprised to find that when I found myself in the situation in which COVID was onboard a ship that I was on, I felt almost safer than I would have at home. Not all protocol is the same on every ship. And so having that vaccination requirement made a difference to me.

Taylor Wilson:

For more on the changing landscape of travel during coronavirus, head to usatoday.com/travel.

Taylor Wilson:

A woman who accused New York governor Andrew Cuomo of groping her breasts has filed a criminal complaint. The complaint is the first known instance where a woman has made an official report with a law enforcement agency over alleged misconduct by Cuomo and Cuomo could be arrested. The complaint comes after an independent investigation overseen by the State Attorney General's office found that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers. And the state assembly will meet this week to discuss possible impeachment. Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.

Taylor Wilson:

Well, you might be able to shop tax-free this weekend. The catch, you need to live in one of these states. They are Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Those states started the sales tax holiday on Friday running through the weekend. They joined Florida whose 10 day tax holiday started July 31st and Arkansas whose holiday begins Saturday, while Maryland's tax-free week begins Sunday. The move comes as part of back-to-school shopping season, but also applies even if you're not a student or don't have kids. Connecticut and Massachusetts will offer tax breaks later in August. And Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia already held tax holidays this summer. But some states already have no sales tax and others only have sales tax on certain items.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to Five Things. You can find us wherever you get your audio, including Apple Podcasts. Thanks as always to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their great work on the show. And Claire's back with the Sunday edition right here on this feed. Five Things is part of the USA Today Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Tokyo Olympic Games end this weekend. Here's what you need to know.