Barbara Walters to have heart valve surgery

Barbara Walters says she will have surgery later this week to replace a faulty heart valve.

The television legend made the announcement Monday on ABC's "The View." Walters said she's known about her condition for a while and thought the time was right for the surgery because she can take the summer off and "can come roaring back in September."

Walters is 80. She's one of television news' best-known personalities for her interviews. She started the daytime talk show "The View" in the 1990s and it became a durable hit.

Asked by co-host Whoopi Goldberg if she is scared, Walters said: "Look, nobody wants to have this kind of surgery."