Celebrity Apprentice"

NBC News Transcripts April 11, 2011 Monday SHOW: Today 7:00 AM EST NBC

Star Jones discusses supporting the American Heart Association and being on "Celebrity Apprentice"

REPORTERS: AL ROKER

LENGTH: 530 words

AL ROKER reporting:

You may know her for her passionate role in this season's "Celebrity Apprentice."

(Clip from "Celebrity Apprentice")

ROKER: Wow, there are--there are words to live by. But Star Jones also has a passion for a healthy heart. She's a spokesperson for the American Heart Association and speaking up at this year's You're the Cure on Capitol Hill today.

Star, good to see you.

Ms. STAR JONES: I'm glad to be here, glad to be here.

ROKER: You know, we'll get to "Celebrity Apprentice" in a moment, but I mean, look, heart disease is something that obviously is near and dear to your heart because last year in March you actually had open-heart surgery; after losing all this weight, then you find out you've got a problem with your heart.

Ms. JONES: I was pretty angry. I asked God why now after dropping 160 pounds did I have this? But I'm talking short of breath...

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Ms. JONES: ...heart palpitations, fatigue, and I'm not talking that you're just too tired to lift fatigue, I'm talking really dragging fatigue.

ROKER: And you couldn't blame this on weight at the...

Ms. JONES: And I could not blame it on weight. As well as just getting light-headed when I would sit-to-stand. Those are the typical symptoms of heart disease in women.

ROKER: Mm-hmm. So you chose the American Heart Association to be your charity on "Celebrity Apprentice" and obviously--for an obvious reason.

Ms. JONES: Yes. You know, people don't realize that it is the number one killer of all Americans, it's the number one killer of blacks and of women and it beats the next four killers combined.

ROKER: Mm-hmm. Ms. JONES: And that means all forms of cancer. So I thought I would use this amazing platform of "Celebrity Apprentice" to bring awareness to this disease.

ROKER: And how's it going so far?

Ms. JONES: Let's just say we are talking it up, baby, we are talking it up.

ROKER: Yeah.

Ms. JONES: I'm excited about National Lobby Day over the next couple of days down in Washington. We are emphasizing the need for funding to eradicate heart disease in this country.

ROKER: Mm-hmm. And, you know, in this climate with the economy the way it is...

Ms. JONES: Mm-hmm.

ROKER: ...ironically you're going down to Congress where we've had all this talk about budget cuts. How important is it for fundraising for the American Heart Association ?

Ms. JONES: It's very, very important. We do get a significant amount of funds from the private sector, but research, basic research, cell-to-cell research, the cure is going to come from NIH. The amount of work that they do on behalf of those of us with heart disease, 82 million Americans, is absolutely necessary for us to get this money. And we also want to emphasize the Fit Kids Act. It's important for us to eradicate obesity with children. If that--we don't do that for the next generation, we will--it will cost us more money for our generation.

ROKER: Well, doing good work, Star Jones. And of course we'll be watching you on "Celebrity Apprentice." All right.

Ms. JONES: Oh, yes indeed.

ROKER: And still to come on TODAY, he's fired. We're going to check in with Star's fellow "Apprentice" contestant Mark McGrath. But first, your local news and weather.

LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2011

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DOCUMENT-TYPE: Interview

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript