Unique opening ceremony kicks off Paris Olympics | The Excerpt

On Saturday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: The Paris Olympics are officially here after an opening ceremony to remember along the River Seine on Friday. Check out the upcoming events . The Obamas endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. Tennessean Business Reporter Hadley Hitson talks about the intersection of politics and cryptocurrency as former President Donald Trump is set to speak at Bitcoin2024. The co-founder and alleged leader of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, along with the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman have been arrested . USA TODAY Consumer Reporter Betty Lin-Fisher discusses how and why many Americans are working side hustles .

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. 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.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Saturday, July 27, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, the Paris Olympics are here, plus the Obamas endorse Kamala Harris, and we talk about the intersection of cryptocurrency and politics.

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In a first of its kind opening ceremony, the 2024 Paris Olympics officially began yesterday on the River Seine. This was the first time the ceremony has not been held inside a stadium. Instead, the city's iconic landmarks provided a stunning backdrop for the parade of 206 nations with the athletes traveling on boats through Paris. NBA superstar LeBron James and tennis champion Coco Gauff led the American delegation into the games and a vote by their fellow Team USA athletes. And the night was marked by powerful performances, including from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion.

Battling a rare neurological condition that causes muscle spasms and affects her vocal cord, she performed a powerful ballad from the Eiffel Tower after the Olympic cauldron was officially lit. Hours before the opening ceremony, France's National Train Service said it was targeted by several malicious acts that caused disruptions to its high speed lines. Officials said arson attacks damage their facilities. Authorities said up to 800,000 passengers were disrupted by the incident. Today, we'll see a slew of Olympic events, including a big day in gymnastics and swimming. You can check out a schedule with a link in today's show notes and be sure to follow along throughout the Olympics with USA TODAY Sports.

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Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party's nominee for President. In a video released to Kamala Harris' YouTube channel, the three can be heard talking by speakerphone.

President Obama:

Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.

Taylor Wilson:

Harris had racked up a series of endorsements since President Joe Biden withdrew from his reelection bid after his debacle of a debate performance. But former President Barack Obama was the last prominent Democrat who had not weighed in, after Biden dropped out, Harris quickly secured enough Democratic National Committee delegates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee, and the party's establishment has thrown its support behind her. Though Obama held off while the party organized its new nomination process, he earlier this week praised Biden for stepping aside. The Obamas made history 16 years ago when Barack Obama became the first person of color to be elected president of the U.S. If elected, Harris, who is Black and Asian Indian would be the first woman to win the White House.

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Nashville is playing host to a massive gathering of leaders in tech and cryptocurrency this week as part of Bitcoin 2024. And as the conference kicked off this week, it's become clear crypto is political. I spoke with Tennessee and business reporter Hadley Hitson for more. Hadley, thank you for hopping on The Excerpt today.

Hadley Hitson:

Hey, there. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

What are some of the main focus points really at this year's conference?

Hadley Hitson:

So leading up to the conference, there's been a lot of buzz around the idea of the U.S. creating a Bitcoin strategic reserve, which would theoretically operate in the same way as our strategic petroleum reserve does. So some people have said that proposal could come from Trump or any of the senators who are going to be present at the conference like Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. Several panelists have already been talking about a strategic reserve and the implications that could come from that. So ideas around federal regulations and endorsements of crypto, support for crypto are really central to the conversations that are happening.

Taylor Wilson:

Hadley, you wrote that the lineup of speakers has really something of a partisan edge leaning Republican. Who are some of the speakers we're talking about? You mentioned a couple of them, and why does Bitcoin seem to really align with GOP platforms?

Hadley Hitson:

Yes. So some of the main speakers that we have at the conference are going to be former President Donald Trump, RFK, Jr. several Tennessee Senators, former Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a number of other politicians as well. A lot of them are part of the GOP or Libertarian independent. So we talked with several crypto leaders about why that is and where they're seeing those views align. And it really seems to boil down to two reasons, which are values and regulations. The whole idea around cryptocurrency is creating new forms of digital money separate from the U.S. dollar and having the freedom to do that.

And so a lot of the people that are creating these forms of digital currencies see the GOP as being more supportive of their ability to do that because in the last four years they've described what one person said was an unfriendly environment between themselves, these cryptocurrency leaders and the Securities and Exchange Commission. So they're looking for that to change. And earlier this year, President Joe Biden vetoed legislation that these crypto leaders said would have improved their abilities to work with traditional banks. So that obviously played a role in impacting their political views as well.

Taylor Wilson:

As you mentioned, Hadley, former President Donald Trump is headlining the event Saturday. What can we expect from his speech and how has he previously addressed cryptocurrency?

Hadley Hitson:

This is a question that people have been talking about a lot, and they've said that no one really knows what to expect from Trump's speech on Saturday. He has previously spoken out against cryptocurrencies. Back in 2019, 2020, he said that they're highly volatile and, quote, "based on thin air." But earlier this year in March, he publicly spoke advocating for the U.S. to embrace digital currencies, and by the fact that he is participating in this massive Bitcoin conference alone shows more support than the opposite. So we'll just all be waiting to hear what his official stance is.

Taylor Wilson:

Vice President Kamala Harris is notably not attending this week. Why is that?

Hadley Hitson:

So we haven't heard anything directly from the vice president or her team about Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Conference. But conference organizers were posting on social media earlier this week that they were in talks with her team to get her to the conference and give her time to speak. And the conference organizer said that she declined their invitation.

Taylor Wilson:

Just how big an influence do you see cryptocurrency having on the rest of this election cycle and really politics stateside going forward?

Hadley Hitson:

It's hard to say specifically, but the fact that we're seeing a trend in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency becoming more mainstream is not insignificant. And one crypto leader I spoke with said Bitcoin is no longer a niche interest group. So that speaks to the idea that it's moving more into this mainstream political issue of how is the U.S. going to be addressing it? And it is going to be something that's talked about moving through this election cycle.

Taylor Wilson:

Interesting insight. Hadley Hitson covers business for the Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Thank you, Hadley.

Hadley Hitson:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Ismael El Mayo, Zambada Garcia, the co-founder and alleged leader of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel along with the son of Joaquin El Chapo Guzmán were arrested Thursday by federal authorities in Texas according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Two officials told Reuters that Zambada Garcia and Joaquin Guzmán López were detained after landing in a private plane. FBI director Christopher Wray, said in a statement that the agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested the two alleged cartel leaders who he said have eluded law enforcement for decades. Both men are facing multiple charges for leading the cartel's criminal operations. Zambada, who evaded capture for years had continued to run the Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico after El Chapo was extradited to the United States in 2017 and was sentenced to life in a maximum security prison. The two co-founded the cartel and for decades grew a worldwide network that traffics fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and heroin.

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One in three U.S. adults has a side hustle. I spoke with USA TODAY Consumer Reporter Betty Lin-Fisher to find out why and how folks are earning extra money. Betty, thanks for joining me on The Excerpt today.

Betty Lin-Fisher:

Sure, no problem. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Betty, let's just start with this. What did we learn from the survey about the prevalence of U.S. adults working a side hustle?

Betty Lin-Fisher:

So this is according to a new bank rate survey, 36% or one out of three U.S. adults right now are working a side hustle. And side hustle is defined as anything other than your full-time job, and that also side hustlers are earning more than they did last year with the average side hustler making $891 a month up from 810 last year.

Taylor Wilson:

So Betty, which parts of the population really are doing these types of jobs the most?

Betty Lin-Fisher:

So it seems to be all ages according to the survey, but the younger generation seem to have the higher numbers. So the Gen Zers are 48%, millennials, 44%, Gen Xers 33%, and baby boomers 23%. And then interestingly, parents of children under 18 are more likely to have a side hustle and that was 45% than adults without children, which was 36%. And then those with adult children are 28% according to the survey.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So why are so many people forced to work these extra jobs?

Betty Lin-Fisher:

So I talked to two different people for this story. I talked to Ted Rossman, who is a financial expert with Bankrate and then Bryce Colburn with USA TODAY Blueprint, and there's actually a variety of reasons. So some people were saying in the survey that it's because of high inflation, rising costs, cost of living, the economy, needing to make ends meet, and other people are saying they're doing it for fun. I'm going to give you some more numbers from the study. 37% of people this year said it was for discretionary expenses, so vacations, eating out. Day-to-day expenses was 36%, saving was 31% and debt payoff was 20%. But then as Bryce Colburn was saying, his reporters found that 50% of people were saying they were doing it for fun and not for the money.

Taylor Wilson:

So we think the times before the pandemic and the times after in a lot of these conversations. I'm curious, did the COVID pandemic play a role really in this shift to the gig economy?

Betty Lin-Fisher:

It seems that it has. So Ted Rossman with Bankrate was saying that in 2019, which was the first time they did this survey, 19% of people said they had a side hustle and now it's 36%. And more than half the respondents said that they just started it in the last two years. And Bryce Colburn was saying that COVID and remote work has obviously probably made this easier on people because they can have a full-time job remotely and still do a side hustle.

Taylor Wilson:

So we've mentioned side hustles, gig economy. What are the jobs we're actually talking about here? What are some of the most popular types of side hustles out there?

Betty Lin-Fisher:

Sure. Some of the most popular ones seem to be things like dog walking, house sitting, rideshare driving, freelance writing and design or anything having to do with e-commerce like eBay, Etsy, web design and merchandising. Colburn with Blueprint also said that there may be some ones that may not make sense because the time involved does not really equate a good side hustle salary. And it's actually similarly that ridesharing, that sometimes a rideshare job you might be trying to find a surge and you're not making as much as you think you might, online survey taking and mystery shopping because you've got to write a really long report after you go do that shop.

Taylor Wilson:

So for folks listening to this, Betty, thinking, "You know what? I could maybe use a side hustle of my own," what is some advice experts give on choosing a side hustle and also avoiding some of the traps that are out there?

Betty Lin-Fisher:

Sure. So Rossman with Bankrate was saying do your research. Check out what these different jobs are. What you should really avoid is be careful about any that want a really large upfront investment. It may be an outright scam or it may be a multi-level opportunity where you're putting in a lot of money, you could make money, but you're taking a chance because you're buying a lot of inventory. They want you to weigh your choices about that and that they're saying do a side hustle that is a passion of yours and that maybe you can turn that side hustle into a full-time job.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Great insight and perspective. Listeners can find a link to the full story in today's show notes. Betty Lin-Fisher is a national consumer reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you, Betty.

Betty Lin-Fisher:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

A staggering one in three victims of human trafficking globally is a child. How can we prevent this type of exploitation and what's being done to end human trafficking both in the U.S. and globally? Tune in tomorrow after 5:00 AM Eastern Time to hear Emma Ecker, an expert fighting to end trafficking share the challenges she and others are facing. She'll speak with my co-host, Dana Taylor.

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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Unique opening ceremony kicks off Paris Olympics | The Excerpt