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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Dan Meyers

Aired September 21, 2003 - 11:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the sex scandals rocking the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. A senior cadet just last week was formally charged for allegedly running an Internet porn site from his dorm. Now, in what could be another black eye for the school, a panel investigating sexual assaults at the academy will release its final report tomorrow.
Joining us live to discuss this is Dan Meyers with "The Denver Post." Hello to you, Dan, nice to see you.

DAN MEYERS, REPORTER, "THE DENVER POST": Good morning.

COLLINS: We know this started late last fall and has been going on for quite some time. Remind us a little bit, if you would, how it came to the media. How these reports surfaced.

MEYERS: Various female cadets started complaining, and they felt they weren't getting justice within the air force academy. They contacted the media. They also contacted various members of Congress, including Senator Wayne Allard from Colorado and the story burbled up from there.

COLLINS: How is it different from any other college-type institutions for these types of reporting. Is it that much different as far as the numbers that we're seeing?

MEYERS: The numbers are not that different. I mean, I have to say that rape, sexual assaults are obviously very underreported crimes, so it is really difficult to know exactly what's going on, but the issue in this case is not so much that there were sexual assaults, but what happened to women after they reported them and the fact that women felt discouraged, fearful, if they reported them. And this was a widespread part of the culture of the academy.

COLLINS: And has that part of it been proven? We've heard quite a bit about that.

MEYERS: Yes, the Air Force itself did an investigation. It was the first of four investigations. And the Air Force itself did an investigation in which they described a climate of fear among female cadets. They did not -- they said in that investigation that there was not a consistent policy of harassing women, that is, the academy was not on board with this, but at the same time the report came out and said that people were afraid to report crimes at one of the elite training institutions of the U.S. military. COLLINS: In fact, one of those reports, 3200 pages long, I remember when that came out when we were reporting it here. One thing I think may be worth talking about just for a moment, one of the percentages, 18 percent of women cadets say they were targets of sexual assault. Do you think it is worth discussing that that was defined as quite a margin of different definitions here, from -- anything from unwanted touching all the way to rape. Does that skew those numbers at all?

MEYERS: Well, you take the category of sexual assault as a large block, 7 percent of the women in the survey that you're referring to said they were the target of rape or attempted rape. Those numbers, again, are not widely different from what you might see nationally or at a college campus. The 18 percent, you know, if you do it in round numbers, one out of five women the target of some unwanted, untoward behavior by male cadet, it is not a good thing at an institution that values honor above all other things.

COLLINS: Let's get to the Fowler Commission that's coming out tomorrow. Tell us what we'll see IN here.

MEYERS: It is called the Fowler Commission, as you mentioned. Former U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler from Florida is heading up a commission forced by Congress, the Pentagon appointed this commission. There were fears initially that this would be a whitewash and they wouldn't get into it, but the early indications are that this commission at least will in some areas come out swinging, identifying problem areas at the academy.

COLLINS: Brigadier General Rosa and Brigadier General Johnny White certainly have a lot to discuss and try to improve upon. Some of those improvements have already been made. We will keep our eye on this story as I know you will, as well.

Dan Meyers of "The Denver Post," thanks so much.

MEYERS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 21, 2003 - 11:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the sex scandals rocking the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. A senior cadet just last week was formally charged for allegedly running an Internet porn site from his dorm. Now, in what could be another black eye for the school, a panel investigating sexual assaults at the academy will release its final report tomorrow.
Joining us live to discuss this is Dan Meyers with "The Denver Post." Hello to you, Dan, nice to see you.

DAN MEYERS, REPORTER, "THE DENVER POST": Good morning.

COLLINS: We know this started late last fall and has been going on for quite some time. Remind us a little bit, if you would, how it came to the media. How these reports surfaced.

MEYERS: Various female cadets started complaining, and they felt they weren't getting justice within the air force academy. They contacted the media. They also contacted various members of Congress, including Senator Wayne Allard from Colorado and the story burbled up from there.

COLLINS: How is it different from any other college-type institutions for these types of reporting. Is it that much different as far as the numbers that we're seeing?

MEYERS: The numbers are not that different. I mean, I have to say that rape, sexual assaults are obviously very underreported crimes, so it is really difficult to know exactly what's going on, but the issue in this case is not so much that there were sexual assaults, but what happened to women after they reported them and the fact that women felt discouraged, fearful, if they reported them. And this was a widespread part of the culture of the academy.

COLLINS: And has that part of it been proven? We've heard quite a bit about that.

MEYERS: Yes, the Air Force itself did an investigation. It was the first of four investigations. And the Air Force itself did an investigation in which they described a climate of fear among female cadets. They did not -- they said in that investigation that there was not a consistent policy of harassing women, that is, the academy was not on board with this, but at the same time the report came out and said that people were afraid to report crimes at one of the elite training institutions of the U.S. military. COLLINS: In fact, one of those reports, 3200 pages long, I remember when that came out when we were reporting it here. One thing I think may be worth talking about just for a moment, one of the percentages, 18 percent of women cadets say they were targets of sexual assault. Do you think it is worth discussing that that was defined as quite a margin of different definitions here, from -- anything from unwanted touching all the way to rape. Does that skew those numbers at all?

MEYERS: Well, you take the category of sexual assault as a large block, 7 percent of the women in the survey that you're referring to said they were the target of rape or attempted rape. Those numbers, again, are not widely different from what you might see nationally or at a college campus. The 18 percent, you know, if you do it in round numbers, one out of five women the target of some unwanted, untoward behavior by male cadet, it is not a good thing at an institution that values honor above all other things.

COLLINS: Let's get to the Fowler Commission that's coming out tomorrow. Tell us what we'll see IN here.

MEYERS: It is called the Fowler Commission, as you mentioned. Former U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler from Florida is heading up a commission forced by Congress, the Pentagon appointed this commission. There were fears initially that this would be a whitewash and they wouldn't get into it, but the early indications are that this commission at least will in some areas come out swinging, identifying problem areas at the academy.

COLLINS: Brigadier General Rosa and Brigadier General Johnny White certainly have a lot to discuss and try to improve upon. Some of those improvements have already been made. We will keep our eye on this story as I know you will, as well.

Dan Meyers of "The Denver Post," thanks so much.

MEYERS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com