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Interview with Ben Carson; Donald Trump's Past Under Scrutiny; Trump Denies Acting As Spokesman, Despite Past Admission; Mother Of Transgender Teen Shares Her Story; Class Helps Design Prosthetic Arm For Kindergartener. Aired 8:30-9a ET.

Aired May 16, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] BEN CARSON, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is that something that is truly relevant in a situation where we have national debts that are destroying the future for our children and our grandchildren?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Right. There are much more important issues.

CARSON: We have ISIS trying to destroy us --

CUOMO: Much more important issues, but if you lied about it --

CARSON: -- tremendous divisiveness --

CUOMO: -- if you lied about it -- see, it's the lying. You're ignoring the lying part. That's why I'm asking about it. I don't care that he was picking up the phone and pretending to be his PR agent. But I'm saying, if he lies about it --

CARSON: I never condone prevarication under any circumstances, so that will be a consistent feature.

CUOMO: Right, if he were a political opponent of yours and this was happening, wouldn't you say, if this man or woman lies about this, this irrelevant thing from so long ago, what will they do going forward? Is that a relevant analysis or is that taking it too far?

CARSON: I think that's something that really pertains very strongly to Hillary Clinton and I hope you're going to apply that same standard to her with Benghazi. I mean, it's very clear that that was a lie. There's no question about that. In this case, there is question.

CUOMO: Why is there question here but not with Hillary Clinton? It's interesting that you change the subject to her. Certainly, scrutiny should be evenly applied, but you're not answering the question, though. If that's what was going on, that's why it matters, right? Is lying about something so small.

CARSON: I've already said that. I never condone lying under any circumstances, no matter who is doing it.

CUOMO: It should just be applied to both sides and certainly that's the test that's presented to us every day. We try to do it as well as we can, and Dr. Carson, I appreciate your help in doing it. It's good to have you back on NEW DAY.

CARSON: OK. My pleasure. Thank you.

CUOMO: Be well, doc. Alisyn -- ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris. So can Dr. Carson's support

help ease concerns about Trump and his past? David Chalian analyzes the political news of the day next with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:18] CAMEROTA: All right, we just heard from Dr. Ben Carson. Let's discuss that, as well as all the political news of the day with CNN political director, David Chalian. Hi, David.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, so Chris just interviewed Dr. Carson. He was coy about the vice presidential search. What did you hear?

CHALIAN: He wasn't coy about his own desire to have the job, though, right? It sounded like it was the most unpleasant idea to him, to serve as vice president or in government at all, which is odd for a former presidential candidate. But, yes, what I heard was a loyal Trump soldier right now. And I got to say, I think that he is probably an effective surrogate for Donald Trump, much more so than he was an effective presidential candidate, obviously, and that's because I think that there's still a big swath of the conservative base that admires Ben Carson and will listen to him as this stamp of approval all the way through. I think he's a key component to helping Donald Trump keep the conservative part of the base consolidated.

CUOMO: Does he need that? And does he need it enough to risk what Ben Carson can also add to the dialogue? Because I feel like the man has tremendous downside for Trump as well.

CHALIAN: I know what you're saying, because he steps in it sometimes and he causes controversy, and there's no doubt, but remember what the undoing was of Ben Carson's presidential campaign -- it was two-fold. One, he readily admits, it came around the time -- his big surge in the polls came around the time of the Paris attacks and he seemed totally unprepared on a foreign policy front, as that was dominating everything, so that was one big thing. And two, questions about his own biography and his own story of how he got to where he was. Those two things are not going to be a factor, assuming he's not named the VP pick here. He's not being vetted in that way. So when you're a surrogate and not the candidate, I think some of the verbal miscues and controversies he can step in probably don't spill over to Donald Trump in quite the same way that they did when he himself was a candidate.

CAMEROTA: Hey, David, what's your take on "The New York Times" piece that delves into Trump's past with women. Trump says it's a hit piece. One of the women who is quoted in it as, Trump wanted her tor put on a bathing suit at a party, he talked all about her looks, they became romantically involved. She believes it was a hit piece. Couple that with "The Washington Post" where it turns out that Donald Trump was masquerading as his own PR person, if you believe the story. Does any of this have traction?

CHALIAN: So two things. One, these stories obviously are a distraction from what any traditional candidate would want to be talking about right now as they're moving to the general election, set up their fall campaign messaging, and it has put Donald Trump on a bit of defense. He needs to respond to this. But, let's take "The New York Times" story about women for example. So now this woman who was the lead of that story and features comes out fully supportive from the Donald Trump perspective of her words taken out of context. It helps now Donald Trump's claim that "The New York Times" wasn't as buttoned up on this as they should have been. The point is, Donald Trump now gets a big validator, having one of the women come out and speak, and his own supporters in his own base, making an attack on "The New York Times" is sort of bread and butter, go back all the way to Richard Nixon. That has been a very successful strategy for a lot of --

CUOMO: Well they also offered it up to him. This woman's ability to come out and say, they twisted my -- this hurts "The Times" and that helps Donald Trump because he's got a lot of, I-hate-the-media people who are looking at him as their candidate, and this being exposed in "The New York Times", this is red meat.

CAMEROTA: And do you think this is the woman saying this independently or the Trump camp (ph) got to her and said, you don't mean that?

[08:39:59] CUOMO: It doesn't matter unless you can prove that. This is a woman on her own terms coming forward and saying it, and the only real blow he takes on the PR story, because those are really the two that you're dealing with right now, the taxes is a real problem, he's going to have to deal with that, is, where is John Miller? If John Miller isn't Donald Trump, then he exists and he should come on this show. Now that's not going to happen, but I don't think it hurts him with his people or the people who are looking at him, and you can like that or not but that's the truth.

CHALIAN: That is true. I'll just say, guys, remember, we're heading into a campaign with two nominees who have higher unfavorables than we've seen in modern presidential campaign history. These are the kinds of stories that are going to feed that perception of these two unlikable nominees and how they deal with them will be a key test for each of them from now through November.

CAMEROTA: Good times. David, thank you very much for being here.

CHALIAN: Sure. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right. Another story that has gripped the attention of the country, you've heard both sides of the transgender bathroom battle in North Carolina. Coming up, you will hear a very personal story. The mother of a transgender teenager joins us live with the effect of the law, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:45:08] CUOMO: Time for five things to know for your NEW DAY. Number one, Donald Trump playing defense after a "New York Times" article detailing questionable behavior toward women dating back decades. Trump dismisses the report as a lame hit piece. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders looking toward tomorrow's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. Clinton also revealing her husband would take on revitalizing the economy as a role if she wins the White House.

ISIS says it is behind a deadly assault on a Baghdad gas plant. At least ten people lost their lives when a car bomber barreled into the main gate and another car bomb detonated inside.

Dozens of water rescues this morning after heavy rain floods parts of Corpus Christi, Texas. A flash flood warning remains in effect for that area and there are other watches stretching as far north as Houston.

And just in, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway making its first investment in Apple. The firm buying 9.8 million shares -- that amounts to a $1.1 billion stake in the company. That's a big bite of Apple. For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest. Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. What is it like to be the parent of a transgender teenager? Next, the mother of a 15-year-old transgender teen in North Carolina will tell us her feelings about the controversial bathroom law. We'll hear from that mom, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:12] CAMEROTA: Lawmakers continue to fight over North Carolina's controversial bathroom law, but it's families of transgender teenagers that are on the front lines of this battle. Joining us now is Hope Tyler. She lives in North Carolina. She is the mother of a transgender teenager. Hope, great to have you on NEW DAY with us this morning.

HOPE TYLER, MOTHER OF A TRANSGENDER TEENAGER: Good morning. Thank you so much for having me.

CAMEROTA: Before we get to the law and the effect that it's had on your family, I just want to tell your personal story because it's really incredible to hear how you've gotten to this point. When your child was 12 years old, your child named Kylie was 12, she became paralyzed, mysteriously paralyzed.

TYLER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: She couldn't walk and she couldn't move. You took her to doctors who couldn't find anything physically wrong with her but they suspected that something psychological was going on, and through therapy and a psychological evaluation, Kylie admitted that she felt that she was trapped in the wrong body and she identified as a boy and she began the transition to become Kye. What was that like for you as a mom? TYLER: It was a wonderful relief because we finally figured out what was going on. Ever since she was little, she was dressing in tom boy clothes, wanted boy toys. At age eight, she was the only girl on her flag football team and did fantastically. And then at 9, 10, and 11, anxiety kicked in horribly, and we'd go to therapists and to the E.R. and they couldn't figure out what was causing the anxiety. We kept talking about -- talking to her, wondering what was going on and what was so traumatic to have her have conversion disorder. Conversion disorder is when your body shuts down physically and you become paralyzed, either in your arms or your legs, and Kylie, at the time, was in a wheelchair for five months and had to go have physical therapy at Wake Med here.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh! And so during this whole traumatic episode, you also had to start researching what transgender means.

TYLER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- and had to get your arms around it. So as a mom, what did you learn?

TYLER: Thank you so much for asking me that question. One thing people don't understand is that girls have XXY chromosomes. Boys have -- I mean, girls have XX chromosomes. Boys have XY chromosomes. The gene that determines your sex, the sex's chromosomes, is called the XRY gene, and when the little piece of that Y gene falls off, that's what causes a transgender boy. When there is no x involved in the chromosomes, that's what causes a transgender girl. Another thing that people need to know is there's a whole series of XXY, YYX -- these are people that have breast with male genetalia. There's also people that have both genitalia. These children need to be recognized because this isn't new to us as parents. This is new to everybody --

CAMEROTA: To society.

(CROSSTALK)

TYLER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Trying to understand this. And so when -- after Kylie became Kye -- then, things were going well and he transitioned and was feeling much better. Then, about three months ago, when the news of this law, HB2, started hitting the press, then what was his reaction?

TYLER: He was so stressed out. We had to hospitalize him, and the reason -- what caused the depression was, he wasn't necessarily worried about himself, because he has been out for a while. He started worrying about his little transgender friends that he mentors to. They weren't completely being understood because transgender boys that haven't had the testosterone yet, they look like -- wait, no. They look like little girls in dresses, but the transgender girls, they look like boys in dresses. And they get teased a lot. And the HB2 law has just put them in the spotlight. That's unfair because there were no issues before this law came about. It's just a wonderful thing to be here, to speak on behalf of these children. Calls into our trans-line suicide hotlines have doubled. It's absolutely frightening. We do not need any children to die.

[08:54:54] One thing that devastated me was when Leelah Alcorn, wonderful Caucasian transgender girl, committed suicide. That's what really made me wanted to talk and be a voice about this, and then after she passed away, Blake Brockington or Blake Brockingham, I forget his last name, excuse me for that -- he's an African-American boy that was from our Queen City here in Charlotte. He was a very strong activist for all of the trans community. He was stressed and committed suicide. So that's the point that I want to get across, and thank you so much for having me. I greatly appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Well Hope, thank you for telling your personal story about Kye. It really, really helps to hear from a mom and how you were able to understand what was going on with your child. Thanks so much. We wish you the best of luck.

TYLER: Thank you. I really appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: The good stuff is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Here is a great, perfect demonstration of the good stuff. Ready? Six-year-old Brayden Armstrong shows us he's got a positive attitude (ph) in go long way. He was born with one arm, OK? He's got tons of positivity. So moving that his teacher, Janelle Caverly (ph), used her class lesson to benefit him. A prosthetic arm costs thousands.