>> all right, rebecca jarvis live in new york for us. rebecca, thank you. >>> and overseas tonight, russian opposition leader alexei navalny, who survived being poisoned, has been sentenced to more than two years in prison. tonight, the u.s. calling for his immediate and unconditional release. here's our senior foreign correspondent ian pannell tonight. >> reporter: tonight, russia's top opposition leader sentenced to more than 2 1/2 years in prison. alexei navalny, joking at times, but defiant throughout, drawing a heart on his cage to his wife yulia before being led away. he was sentenced today for breaching probation on an embezzlement case dismissed as unlawful by the european court of human rights. the reason he failed to meet probation officers in person as he was supposed to, because he was fighting for his life in a german hospital after being poisoned, but the court dismissed that. navalny fell ill in a flight from siberia to moscow last august. he was rushed to germany under high security, where it was found he'd been poisoned

here is abc news reporter rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: end of an era, jeff bezos, founder of amazon,pd he's stepping down. the man who started amazon in 1994 building it from an online book store into a global giant worth more than $1.6 trillion. >> trying to find a product that actually matched the internet technology. that was really the key. because right now the web is still a fairly immature platform. >>> changing the way we shop, stream and get our deliveries. announcing he'll leave his role as ceo later this year. the idea for amazon has made bezos one of the wealthiest people on the planet, worth an estimated $196.4 billion. so what will this change due to amazon's stock and what's next for one of the world's richest people? it's all coming up at 7:00 a.m. with your "gma first look," i'm rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >>> apple is testing a way you can unlock your phone with face id while having your mask on. this new feature will require you to have an apple watch. all you'll need to do is have an unlocked watch and look at your iphone like usual. the update is expected

in december, she talked with my colleague, rebecca jarvis. >> how have you been managing all of this?t been very difficult since the pandemic began in march. thank god i have a team, people i work with, my manager, my supervisor. they are very resourceful. >> reporter: even before the pandemic, finances were tight for angel and her three children, ages 10, 7, and 6. she never wants them to be homeless like she was as a child, after her mother died. >> and i want my kids to have stability. >> reporter: child care has been one of her biggest problems to solve. in the spring her children were in a free day care for essential workers, a lifeline funded for a time by philanthropies. >> child care is not a family issue, it's a business issue. child care is a piece of critical infrastructure, like roads and bridges that help working parents get to work. it's especially important that we get single moms backnt workforce, because you can't work an in-person job if you don't have child care. >> reporter: her children finally entered an in-person learning pod at their school. but it had to close

but before you do, abc news chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis has?hanges that you really should know about. >> reporter: the 2020 tax season is upon us and there are some big changes you should know about this year starting with those stimulus checks. first of all, they are not taxable income. however, about 12 million americans didn't receive the benefits that they were eligible for. remember, these are the checks that went out last year for up to $1,200 and $600 and about 12 million americans didn't receive them. so if you made up to $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a married couple you can file for the rebate recovery credit on the taxes for 2020. that will allow you to southeast benefits you were eligible for if you didn't get that check in the mail. unemployment benefits. those are taxable. so you do have to file those on your income taxes. but another thing to consider is that in this last year there was a significant amount of fraud, we're told, on unemployment benefits, which means if you get a 1099g form in the mail that doesn't look

our chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis joins us now.ing up people who may not have considered buying a stock. here we are in the midst of blizzard, what were two people discussing gamestop. this morning, market mania after a group of small investors rallied around a few cast-off stocks like gamestop soaring 400% last week some now cashing in. >> i think of it as like something fun to do and profitable at the same time. >> reporter: including 10-year-old jadyn carr, two years ago his mom bought his ten shares of gamestop. now, he sold them for more than $3,000, making quite a name for himself in the process. >> i looked at myself today, i just saw a whole list of my name on different news networks and channels. >> yeah, he was like, google me mom. >> reporter: while jadyn is moving on from gamestop, many others are actively trading it still, a group of you stock market new comers swapping tips on social media, causing surging demand for trading apps like robinhood. robinhood posting its highest daily average of users last week at 2.5 mil

our rebecca jarvis joins us now with more on this and what it means for a lot of folks including a lot of shoppers listening to this. good morning to you, rebecca. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. there is a lot of interest in this one. he saw the future. he set out to build it and that's what he did. jeff bezos who built amazon from the ground up changing everything from the way we shop to get our groceries to getting deliveries says he is stepping down as ceo of amazon. this morning, a major shake-up at one of the most powerful companies in the world. jeff bezos founder of amazon announcing he's stepping down. writing in a letter to employees, as much as i still tap-dance into the office, i am excited about this transition. the man who started amazon in 1994, building it from an online book store into a global giant worth more than $1.6 trillion changing the way we shop, stream and get our deliveries announcing he'll leave his role as ceo later this year. bezos writing that 27 years ago when amazon was only an idea and it had no name, the question i was asked most frequently at the ti

rebecca jarvis joins us with more on how it works. s an audio only exploration of conversations with vips, sometimes you can participate directly, other times you can be a fly on the wall and already people have joined. everyone from drake to elon musk, to barbara corcoran. >> if you have not heard about clubhouse yet, you are absolutely missing out. >> what is clubhouse and should you be on it? spoiler, yes, you should. >> reporter: clubhouse, the exclusive invite only social networking app that is suddenly popping up everywhere. >> these little boxes that you see right here with a title and people within it are what's called brooms. >> reporter: in each of those rooms users can be a fly on the wall, listening in on conversations and interviews on loads of topics like a virtual dinner party on your phone. >> people are doing any and everything on clubhouse. they're pitching businesses, they're dating, there are stand-up comedy rooms on the platform. you have that option to raise your hand and join the conversation. >> reporter: it's b

it's unlike other social media platforms because it is exclusive invite only, but as rebecca v rebecca jarviss not the only thing that makes it stand out. >> if you have not heard about clubhouse yet, you are absolutely missing out. what is clubhouse and should you be on it? >> spoiler, yes, you should. >> clubhouse, it's the exclusive invite-only social networking app that sudden sli poppily pop everywhere. >> these boxes with the title and people within it are rooms. >> reporter: in each room users can be a fly on the wall, listening in on conversations and interviews on loads of topics like a virtual dinner party on your phone. >> people are doing any and everything on clubhouse. they are pitching businesses, they are dating, there is stand-up comedy rooms on the platform. you have that options to raise your hand and join the conversation. >> reporter: it's become a viral sensation? the stay-at-home pandemic era. clubhouse hit over 2 million weekly users within the last month. oprah and serena williams have been seen on the app. and recently, elon musk joining the club tweeting, on clubhou

journalist dominique jackson spoke to abc's rebecca jarvis how she managed to become debt free in the a pandemic. the 27-year-old says she was determined to take control. >> in 2018 i was laid off of my job and had no money and was living in a new city. when i got laid off it hit me like, girl, we got to get these finances together. i had a gal to have like, you know, six months to a year of an emergency savings. i moved in with my mom and really learned to in practice living [ inaudible ]. i picked up website design, social media management, doing freelance articles. >> jackson says she used a finance tool called undebt it, it gave her a personalized plan. "gma" will have a full report and tips at 7:00. >>> a santa rosa man is heading to hollywood because he made an impression on "american idol" wearing viking attire and carrying thor's hammer. >> who are you. >> my name is anthony guzman. >> would you consider yourself a viking? ol. re of a modern viking. >> skol. >> skol! >> what is that? >> so guzman explains that means cheers in scandinavian languages. online he's known as the vi

rebecca jarvis joins us with more. good morning, rebecca. >> reporter: good morning, michael.the man she met on a dating app promised her the world. >> he told me that he fell madly in love with me and so, of course, i fell hook line and sinker. >> reporter: but later she says he started asking for money for his daughter's surgery asking her to open an account for him and send gift cards. >> and he said one of his children needed emergency surgery and that the co-pay on it was $500. could i send $500? so i did that and then it led to another $500 and then it led to a thousand dollars. >> reporter: according to this federal trade commission report, scammers took in record amounts of cash last year in romance scams. the median loss for consumers, $2,500. >> the $300 million reported lost on romance scams is a record number. that is absolutely unprecedented. >> reporter: the ftc reporting scammers are creating fake profiles and taking advantage of the pandemic and economic crisis. >> we have had people report hundreds of people report these scammers were sending them fraudulently

rebecca jarvis joins us with her strategies. good morning, rebecca. >> reporter: hey, michael. no matter who you are, but you're about to meet a woman who paid it all down in the midst of a pandemic, and even after a job loss. here's how. 27-year-old dominique jackson has reason to celebrate. in less than three years, she was able to pay off all of her student loan debt, $30,000. >> i was living in a new city. when i got laid off it hit me like, we got to get these finances together. >> reporter: with one third of adults aged 30 or younger having student loan debt, she was determined to take control. >> i had my paycheck on autopilot to my savings account. >> reporter: then she pulled in the reins on her spending. >> i had to deal with my mom, and i learned practicing and, like, decreasing all of my expenses, while also increasing my income. >> reporter: she took on side jobs putting as much money as she could towards paying off that debt. >> i picked up website design, social media management, freelance articles. >> reporter: she discovered the finance tool, undebt it, a finan

rebecca jarvis here to break it all down.m last year, anywhere from $1,200 to $600 on the second round are not taxable income, and about 12 million americans who were eligible didn't actually receive them, and there's a way to get it on your 2020 taxes if you didn't receive them. you can file for what's known as the recovery rebate credit. this is for anyone making up to $75,000. married couples filing up to $150,000, and that will make you eligible for those $1,200 or $600 checks that went out last year. unemployment benefits. they are taxable income so you do have to file that as taxable income on your taxes, but if you received a form 1099-g that doesn't look right to you, you should know that there was a large amount of fraud we're told on some of the unemployment benefits, and that means that if you received a 1099-g form, george, that doesn't look right to you, that may be fraud and you want to report it immediately to your government. ask them, your local government and state government, ask for a form so you can file