00:00:29.040Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Sherphillis McCormick resigning from the House moments before facing punishment from the Ethics Committee.
00:00:37.160A California man pleads guilty in a deadly wrongway car crash into a group of sheriff's recruits in a deal that keeps him out of prison.
00:00:45.640And if there's any connections that lead to nefarious conduct or conspiracy, this FBI will make the appropriate arrest.
00:00:51.940And the Fed's now investigating the growing list of missing and dead scientists linked to some of America's most consequential national security secrets.
00:01:01.280All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
00:06:30.380Well, it's an unjust indictment, and it seems like these intimidation tactics have been pervasive.
00:06:34.960We spent all week seeing different members getting censured,
00:06:37.860all in hopes of intimidating and kind of distracting from the Epstein files.0.66
00:06:42.040And I look forward to my day in court so I can prove myself and actually state the truth.
00:06:46.120But if this is what Congress is becoming, where they're always trying to intimidate you,
00:06:49.100scare tactics, especially attacking minorities, black and brown people, then we're going to have
00:06:53.700to keep fighting for the district. She becomes the third lawmaker to resign in the past week
00:06:58.980after Congressman Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, and Tony Gonzalez, a Republican, stepped down
00:07:04.220under the threat of expulsion over separate sexual misconduct allegations.
00:07:10.220Coming up, a California man pleading guilty in a deadly wrong way crash that plowed into a group
00:07:16.180of sheriff's recruits now set to avoid prison time and federal agencies launching a coordinated
00:07:21.900review into a series of deaths and disappearances involving scientists tied to sensitive nuclear and
00:07:28.160space programs. Here's a question for you. How many brokers does it take to ensure your business?
00:07:38.160If you're like most business owners, the answer is too many. Multiple policies, multiple
00:07:44.100applications and no clear view of how it all fits together. And when questions come up, it's not easy
00:07:49.420to get the clarity you need at all. No one's there for you. But SuperSure changes that. A one-stop
00:07:55.960shop for all of your business insurance, backed by a team that works with you year-round, not just at
00:08:02.820renewal. You are not a burden to them. They will take care of you. They want you to be happy. And
00:08:08.940if you've ever stared at a policy wondering what it actually covers, Supersure has a fine print
00:08:14.540fax tool that translates the legal jargon into plain English so you know what's covered and
00:08:20.200what's not. It's not some shell game that they seem to be enjoying playing at your expense.
00:08:25.240Right now, you can go to Supersure.com and get a full report on your current policies
00:08:30.000with no obligation. Find out if you're overinsured, underinsured, or somewhere in between.
00:08:34.540Go to supersure.com. One super agency, one powerful platform, all your policies in one
00:08:41.320place. Imagine it. Go to supersure.com slash Megan today. That's supersure.com slash Megan
00:08:46.500paid for by Supersure Insurance Agency, LLC, a licensed insurance agency.
00:08:53.040A California man pleading guilty Monday in connection with a deadly November 2022
00:08:57.940wrong way crash that struck a group of LA County Sheriff's recruits and is expected to receive
00:09:03.340no jail time. Then-22-year-old Nicholas Gutierrez falling asleep at the wheel while driving to work
00:09:09.720early in the morning. Prosecutors say his car crossed into oncoming traffic, plowing head-on
00:09:15.400into a group of 76 recruits on a training run. 27-year-old Alejandro Martinez dying months later
00:09:22.180from his injuries, and more than two dozen recruits injured in the crash, 10 sustaining
00:09:26.860serious injuries. At the time, Gutierrez booked on suspicions of attempted murder of a police
00:09:32.460officer. During that process, he was brought to a hospital for medical examination, a toxicology
00:09:38.300screen coming back clean, according to Gutierrez's attorney. Later in the day, officers were leasing
00:09:43.740Gutierrez without bail, citing interviews with co-workers and neighbors who said they did not
00:09:49.040believe the crash was intentional. Days later, he spoke to NBC4 about the accident. What would you
00:09:54.780want to say to the families or those recruits that you saw out there that day? I didn't intentionally
00:10:02.020do it. I wish it never happened. I feel bad it happened. Gutierrez's attorney saying her client
00:10:09.100has multiple family members in California law enforcement, including his father, a retired
00:10:13.700corrections officer, and quote, harbors absolutely no animosity toward law enforcement. Gutierrez
00:10:19.260agreeing to plead guilty on one count of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and
00:10:24.700nine felony counts of reckless driving in exchange for a suspended eight-year sentence and five years
00:10:30.500of probation. He is barred from driving for five years. L.A. County District Attorney Nathan
00:10:35.740Hockman releasing a statement, quote, today's plea and sentence cannot undo the devastation
00:10:41.000of that day, nor will it bring back the life that was lost. But it does mark a step toward
00:10:45.980justice and a measure of closure for the victims and their families whose lives have been forever
00:10:50.500changed. The sentencing is set for May 8th. Victims and families will be allowed to address
00:10:55.560the court. We spoke with the MK True Crime Show host, Phil Holloway, who says this outcome is
00:11:01.100indefensible. This is completely unacceptable in my view. It's unacceptable that Nicholas Gutierrez
00:11:07.400walks free completely after his criminal negligence killed LASD recruit Alejandro Martinez. And it
00:11:15.920devastated all the other lives too, by the way, and the families of those others that were injured.
00:11:20.180An eight-year suspended sentence is not one that speaks to justice, and to be frank, our law enforcement officers throughout the nation, including the future law enforcement officers that might consider recruit training, deserve better than this type of sentencing.
00:11:37.540We asked Holloway whether prosecutors are putting too much weight on the lack of intent here.
00:11:42.400If the prosecutor is hanging his or her hat on the fact that this was not intentional, then that's absolutely ridiculous because if it were intentional, it would, of course, be a murder charge.
00:11:56.520But criminal negligence, by definition, is a case that does not involve criminal intent, but it is inappropriate to sentence someone to straight probation when their criminal negligence causes the death of another person.
00:12:12.400Holloway says this result is not typical.
00:12:15.460In my professional career, both as a prosecutor and as defense counsel,
00:12:19.460I've been involved in many cases involving car crashes that are based on criminal negligence.
00:12:26.160And almost uniformly, there's some type of prison sentence involved if there's serious injury,
00:12:32.780and of course, absolutely, if there's a death involved.
00:12:37.020The FBI, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense now jointly investigating
00:12:41.620a troubling series of cases involving top scientists who have died or gone missing in
00:12:46.340recent years. At least 11 of these individuals have died or disappeared since 2022. Most of
00:12:52.400them connected to nuclear research, national laboratories, or advanced space and propulsion
00:12:57.760work. Some authorities cautioning the cases are not necessarily linked, pointing to a range of
00:13:03.080known circumstances, including suicide or violent crime. One former energy department official
00:13:08.140telling CBS, quote, people do just die. Strokes, herd disease, suicide, mugging, it happens.
00:13:14.420However, several cases have drawn closer scrutiny due to overlapping details involving individuals
00:13:19.560tied to nuclear or advanced weapons research, many of them based in New Mexico, and in multiple
00:13:25.840instances last seen leaving their homes on foot with little more than a handgun. 48-year-old
00:13:31.460Steven Garcia, a contractor working at a facility producing components for nuclear weapons,
00:13:36.320vanishing in August of last year after leaving his Albuquerque home on foot.
00:13:41.180Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casillas both connected to Los Alamos National Laboratory,
00:13:46.680a nuclear research facility, also disappearing last year under similar circumstances,
00:13:51.940each last seen walking away from their homes.
00:13:54.980And earlier this year, retired Air Force Major General William Neal McCaslin,
00:13:59.400a former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory, disappearing from his Albuquerque home,
00:14:04.120reportedly also leaving with only a handgun.
00:14:07.860These cases and more are drawing increasing public concern
00:14:10.600over the last several months, with President Trump weighing in last week.
00:14:15.240Well, I hope it's random, but we're going to know in the next week and a half.
00:14:19.420I just left a meeting on that subject, so pretty serious stuff.
00:14:23.080But we're going to be not, hopefully, I don't know, coincidence,
00:14:27.200whatever you want to call it, but some of them were very important people,
00:14:31.360and we're going to look at it over the next short time.
00:14:34.120The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration confirming to CBS News it is aware of the reports and is reviewing cases involving personnel across its labs and facilities.
00:14:45.100FBI Director Kash Patel Sunday on Fox detailing the investigation.
00:14:49.620The FBI is going to be spearheading the effort collectively with our partners at the Department of Energy and the Department of War.
00:14:56.220These missing and killed scientists and former professional members of the Department of Energy vary in wide range.
00:15:05.240And we're working, most importantly, with our state and local partners who have the jurisdiction on each of these cases,
00:15:10.220whether they be a homicide or a missing persons case, they have the evidence.
00:15:14.220What we're going to do is collectively pull it all into one place,
00:15:17.200and then we're going to look for connections, like you said, on whether there are connections to classified access,
00:15:21.860access to classified information and or foreign actors.
00:15:24.420and then we will produce that information to the White House and the world because it's of such
00:15:29.100great public importance. And if there's any connections that lead to nefarious conduct
00:15:33.020or conspiracy, this FBI will make the appropriate arrest. In a parallel effort, House Oversight
00:15:38.680Chairman James Comer launching his own inquiry. Here, the chairman Monday on Fox News elaborating
00:15:44.360on his efforts. One dead or missing scientist, that's a mystery. Two might be a coincidence,
00:15:50.980but 11? How do you take that? Well, it does appear that there's a high possibility that
00:15:57.660something sinister is taking place here. This has been going on, obviously, for the last three
00:16:04.460years. So what I found in three and a half years as chairman of the House Oversight Committee is
00:16:10.280sometimes government agencies don't do a good job of sharing information on situations like this.
00:16:15.440So we've asked all those agencies, the Department of Energy, NASA, the Department of War, to all share information with us so that we can see if we can put it together and find any missing links to try to solve what's going on here.
00:16:29.940Because it's very unlikely that this is a coincidence.
00:16:32.760So Congress is very concerned about this.
00:16:35.320Our committee is making this one of our priorities now because we view this as a national security threat.