saeed abedini facing the death penalty for trying to open upchurches. his family yesterday tried to visit him. we're told he is not there. where is he today? peter doocy on this in washington and does his family have any idea where he is? >> no, bill. pastor saeed even from prison in iran every wednesday and they're allowed to voice i am in jail every other thursday. two days ago there was no call. when she showed up yesterday the guards told them that pastor saeed was not there. they should come back saturday when the main office is open. the pastor's whereabouts are unknown and his wife in idaho is very worried. >> every day is a big deal. every day counts. every day my hope is that we can get the word out and we can get him home, get him back to the u.s. soon, and, it been too long since he has been gone from our family and we're desperately wanting him back. >> reporter: pastor saeed has been in prison since september 26th. tomorrow makes 4:00 months behind bars in iran, bill. bill: we'll talk to his wife next hour too. what are the hopes for a rele

represents the family will join us live inside the fox report, i'll ask him what lies ahead for saeed abedinir freedom at this point. nobody likes fees, and when they ask you, credit or debit, how you answer will determine if there's a little extra money you have to pay. [ indistinct conversations ] [ male announcer ] when you wear dentures you may not know it, but your mouth is under attack. food particles infiltrate and bacteria proliferate. ♪ protect your mouth, with fixodent. the adhesive helps create a food seal defense for a clean mouth and kills bacteria for fresh breath. ♪ fixodent, and forget it. >> i am he'-- i'm harris falkner, the bottom of the hour time for the top of the news. a pastor convicted for being christian, an iranian judge known as the hanging judge, sentenced pastor saeed abedini to eight years in iran's most dangerous prison. this is sudden. he'd only been charged last week. the news a crippling blow to his family, as you might imagine. they've been trying to win his freedom. and joining us is juniordan sekul sekulow. and afraid to say it, is this a death sentence fo

the iranians claim saeed abedini threatened iran's national security by trying to convert islamic to christianity. and he's sentence today one of the most brutal prisons and the pastor's attorney calling it a mockery of justice and the wife who lives in idaho says the family is devastated. a mother vanishes in turkey. she told her houusband she was on the way home, she never got on the plane, and her passport and belongings. and the friend who was supposed to be travelling with the missing woman. and a woman abdicating her throne, the latest from across the pond. >> an american the mother of two disappears in turkey. she traveled alone to instand bull january 7th and she was supposed to come home january 22nd and never boarded the plane and tonight, police and relatives are frantically searching for her. lisa, what do they know about it? the last time they spoke to her what do they know she was going to do. >> they thought she was going to get on the plane last tuesday, greta. the last time she had communication was monday, the day before of her husband could not find her on the flig

since september has now been sentenced by a man who iranians call the hanging judge. 30-year-old saeed abedini a threat to their national security and he denies the charges and saying his only crime is christian. and his attorney talked to me. >> the pastor is in a new ward of the prison, this is one of the toughest prisons in the world and especially inside of iran. people don't survive there. >> harris: the state department condemning what it calls iran's continued violation of universal right and freedom of religion and calling on iran to respect abedini's rights and release him immediately. more on foxnews.com your other source for news, now back to huckabee. >> if you'd like to contact us, e-mail us at huck mail@foxnews.com. >> outgoing secretary of state hillary clinton finally testified on capitol hill about the attacks that killed four americans in benghazi, libya, last september 11th. clinton responded angrily when senator johnson questioned her on whether the public was m led on cause of the attacks. >> the fact is we had four dead americans, was it because of protests or guys out fo

saeed abedini, sentenced to eight years in iran's most brutal jail. after getting the news his wife, living in boise, idaho, says quote, with today's developments i'm devastated for my husband and my family. we must now pursue every effort, turn every rock and not stop until he is safely on american soil. amy kellogg on the story. is the u.s. state department getting involved, amy? >> reporter: the u.s. state department is, bill. they say they're actively engaged in this case and in close contact with the family. it is such a sensitive situation right now they are not going to divulge exactly what they are doing. all of this complicated by the fact that the u.s. and iran do not have diplomatic relations. what is very puzzling to christian groups following this case it is not clear were abedini was arrested over the summer and sentenced now? he had converted to islam back in 2000. he had apparently involved in the network of house churches but he had sort of agreement with the iranian authorities that if he didn't evangelize he would be able to travel

one thing that became very clear in the trial yesterday, the actual charge against pastor saeed abediniurity because he started house churches. that is actually the charge that they had this man in jail for in iran right now, and they've acknowledged that. the problem is we are dealing with the rev news airy guard, so we are having to get all of the resources that we can muster around the globe to put pressure on the iranian regime to let him out. bill: what is your motivation here? you've watched some of these stories play out. how do they usually end, jay? >> well, you know, hundreds of them end and we don't know how they ended, which means either the people literally disappear, or they died, die in prison or if he are killed. a story fox news covered so well around the globe with all your networks, he was out, his lawyer ended up in jail for a season, is not in jail right now. but he was able to get out of jail. this particular case is unique because not only is this man iranian by nationality, haoes a u.s. citizen, and we've get to get the kind of statement we want. the white house

at the very least secretary clinton should publicly call for the unequivocal release of saeed abedinier opinion, obviously she wants her husband back. she feels that her country can do more to help. joined by christian whitten, a former state department senior advisor. welcome. good to have you here this morning. >> great to be here, martha, thanks. martha: what you think? what is your take how involved the state department has been? you heard jay carney. he said they're closely involved in this situation. abedini's wife says that is not the case. >> right. what mrs. abedini is saying rings much truer to me. the white house did mention it but only yesterday. this has been going on for some months. he was just sentenced recently but essentially an american citizen prisoner of conscience inside iran for some time and hillary clinton has not mentioned this at all. it is probably being handled by a relatively low-ranking official in consular affairs this fit as pattern. it fit as pattern with not only the obama administration and mrs. clinton. she started her tenure going to china refusin

citizen saeed abedini arrested three months ago on charges relating to his religious beliefs.is a christian now, conversion. we call upon iranian authorities to release him immediately. this is something we've been watching for several weeks as it develops because the word from tehran this week, his case will be handed to a judge who has a very tough reputation inside of tehran. we're watching that story. we'll see whether or not the white house statement can move anything. martha: some brand new numbers that show a major drop in cancer deaths in the united states. the american cancer society releasing the new statistics. rick leventhal is live here with more on this. rick, what are we seeing? how remarkable is this? >> reporter: pretty remarkable according to the head of the american cancer society who cause it, reason to cheer. steady progress in battling the disease and declines in some common forms. according to the latest national data, overall canser death rates dropped from 2002,000 nine. meaning more than a million lives have been spared including more than 150,000 in

saeed is safely on american soil. they ha following his sentencing today a spokesperson for the national security council says, we are deeply disappointed saed abedinin sentenced to 8 years on a charge related to his religious beliefs. we call on the iranian authorities to rereelease mr. mr. abedini. his supporters say he had been beaten and tortured and there are serious questions about his medical condition. in washington shannon breem, fox news. >>> ice and snow hitting the midwest hard maybe bea for a dangerous winter storm road in the windy city covered in ice making for a number of crashes, pat patti hah patti ann. >> in iowa cops respond to go dozens of calls for help. the storm is not over yet. update from maria molina. >> unfortunately the storm is packing a punch with ice. current temperatures, this is why we are seeing the ice. when it's cold you get snow when it's warm you get rain around 32 degrees or a little warmer that's when you start to see ice possibly accumulating across places leashing new york city and raleigh. that's what we are seeing now. we have winter weather advisories and freezing rain advisories because that's what we a