former fbi agent robert levinson has been held hostage longer than any other american and his family is hoping tonight that the recent thaw in u.s. relations will bring him home soon. here's abc's brian ross. >> please help me get home. >> reporter: as of today, no american has been held hostage longer than former fbi agent robert levinson. for him it is day 2,455 since he disappeared in iran. the once clean cut 65-year-old floor man last seen alive in this video releases two years ago in a prison suit with a long beard and wild gray hair. >> 33 years of service to the united states deserves something. >> reporter: there were signs of some progress today with an unusually delicate statement form the white house, "respectfully" asking, not demanding, that iran help secure levinson's safe return. >> it's a code word in islamic republic circles. it's a country that tends to be particularly sensitive about how it is approached and how you ask questions of it. >> reporter: levinson was reported missing during a trip he took in 2007 to iran's kish island as a private investigator after he

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>> my husband is robert levinson. he went on a business trip to kish island, which is part of iran, and it was supposed to be a 24-hour trip, and he never left there. unfortunately that was march 9th, 2007, and we have never heard anything about him whereabouts since then. his passport has not been seen. we have not received any recent information about him, although i do believe he is safe and will come home to us soon. >> dan? the puck tour that we're seeing of your father we believe, what are the circumstances of this photo? what is the best guess as to why he's in iran, what can you tell us? >> i'm assuming you're showing the orange jumpsuit photos e-mailed to us. >> yes. >> in april, 2011, and we were, e-mailed those photos, there are five of them and he's holding messages which we're still trying to understand the actual meaning behind the messages. he looks very different from when we last saw him. he was visibly thinner, he has an unkempt beard, long hair and it does worry us but at the same time we were happy

cf1 with iran will help to bring their loae former fbi agent robert levinson has been held hostage in iran longer than any other american. with more from this puzzling case, here's our chief investigative correspondent brian ross. >> please help me get home. >> reporter: no american has been held hostage longer than former fbi agent robert levinson. the once clean cut, 65-year-old florida man last seen alive in this video released two years ago appearing dishevelled in a gray prison suit. >> 33 years of service to the united states deserves something. >> reporter: there were signs of some progress with an unusually delicate statement from the white house respectfully asking, not demanding, that iran help secure levinson's safe return. >> it's the code word as a country that tends to be sensitive of how it is approached and how you ask questions of it. >> reporter: levinson was reported missing during a trip he took in 2007 to the kish island as a private investigator after he retired from the fbi. iran has denied holding him, but u.s. investigators don't believe that. the levinson fam

levinson disappeared kish island in 2007. the u.s. believes levinson was abducted and detained in iran. his case has come up in negotiations over iran's nuclear program. now to italy, italian prosecutor demanding appeals court find amanda knox guilty of murdering her british roommate. the british prosecutor recommend ago 26 year sentence. that's after two days of closing arguments in the knox retrial. in 2009, knox and former boyfriend were convicted of murder. two years later a second trial overturned the verdict and freed them from prison. knox did not return to italy for the third trail. now, to philadelphia, a convenience store clerk losing his job after fighting off a robber, brandon burrwell says a man came into the store, demanded money and came at him with a piece of metal. when burwell saw the weapon he fought back. instead of getting rewarded for stopping the robber. he was fired for violating store policy. workers are supposed to give up the money during the a robbery. now to australia. a tiger attack. cameras capt

robert levinson's wife calls him the longest held american hostage. his family says on tuesday, he surpassed journalist terry anderson held for 2,254 days. on new day, levinson's wife talked about when he went missing. >> he went on a business trip to kish island, part of iran. and it was supposed to be a 24-hour trip. and he never left there. unfortunately, that was march 9th, 2007 and we have never heard anything about his whereabouts since then. his passport has not been seen. we have not received any recent information about him although i do believe he is safe and will come home to us soon. >> the white house has asked iran to help free him. the u.s. respectfully asked iran to help secure his return. now to asia, a challenge in the skies over the east china sea as the u.s. flies two bombers through china's newly declared air defense zone. the u.s. and japan criticized the move saying they won't recognize china's claim shown here on the map. this latest declaration comes during a territorial dispute with japan over a set of small islands in the ea

it's been 2,455 days since robert levinson went missing in iran making him one of the longest americans held in history. a retired fbi agent was last seen during a private business trip to an iranian territory on march 9, 2007. the fbi believes he's alive and being held somewhere in southwest asia. the white house has confirmed today that the president raised lev levinson's case with the iranian president rouhani and requested his help in finding levinson and releasing him. today the white house release add statement saying as we approach the upcoming holiday season we reiterate trying to locate mr. levinson and bringing him home safely to family, friends, and his loved ones. >>> time for the your business entrepreneurs of the week. david, john, and maria own stores on main street in nyack, new york, gearing up for small business saturday with gift card discounts, a wish list program, and an art walk. for more on getting customers to shop small, watch "your business" sunday morning at 7:30. ♪ ♪ you get your coffee here. you get your hair cut here. you find that certain thing you wer

. >> no penalty. 200 point question, cap choufrd in 2007, retired fbi agent robert levinson became one of the most held captives in history this woke. he was kidnapped almost seven years ago in what country. raul. >> somalia. >> incorrect. >> the answer is, time, iran was the correct answer there. 200 point question, quote, trickled down theories were criticized in ra 224-page document released on tuesday by what world figure? >> time, the answer is the pope. 200 points in a new biopick opening in theers this the weekend. this former star of in the can wire." >> l. joy pulls into the lead with that. she has 300 points. >> that brings us to the round where champions are made. this is the ph.d. level. 100 seconds on the clock. senators dick durbin and al dur ken teamed up to reduce the costs of this college necessity. encorrect. of this college necessity to this skyrocket in price in the last decade. >> can i answer again? >> textbook. >> the resolution officially designateing the fourth thursday in november as a federal holiday was signed into law by what president? >> time, frank len r

. >>> former fbi agent robert levinson was kidnapped back in 2007. since then his family have heard nothing about his condition and only have this picture that confirms he is still being held. on the heels of iran's nuclear agreement, levinson's family is pushed to get him released. we talked with his son and wife on "new day." >> he was last seen on the island. that's the only information that we have about his travels. as itds earlier, his passport has never been seen anywhere else. but six and a half years have passed and we don't know why he is now. >> when you ask the government for help, what do they tell you? >> they are working as hard as they can to get him home. unfortunately, he dispapd in the country of iran. and it is very hard to get anything done there. we need the officials in iran to help us and make sure that bob is safe and get him home to us. >> and that's where the frustration comes in. certainly, dan for you, where right now we're negotiating with iran and discussing what should be on the table in tells of establishing trust. th

robert levinson we believe is held by them, former military heal held by them. don't you also have to think about where you use it in leverage of such a delicate discussion? >> i think it is highly relevant to the spin we're hearing, that this new president in iran is a "so-called moderate" because he uses twitter and is trying to communicate with the media. when you transfer an american pastor to a hellhole of a prison on the anniversary of their death to america day, that is meant to be a thumb in the eye, just the same, iran's supreme leader this week said that israel should cease to exist, that its leaders are subhuman. these are not moderate positions. these are extreme positions and i think it's a mistake for our state department to negotiate with them without understanding that they remain radical, they remain convinced that israel is the little satan, the united states is the great satan and their attempt to acquire nuclear weapons capability is extraordinarily dangerous and we have to do everything we can to prevent it. >> another situation the afghan g