Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg opens campaign office in LA during visit

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Michael Bloomberg is late into the presidential race, but the Democratic candidate and former New York City mayor is moving quickly in key states.

On Monday, he opened his new campaign office in downtown Los Angeles.

"I'm running to unite this country and to get things done," Bloomberg told his supporters.

He started his day with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti for coffee and to meet potential voters at Philippe's restaurant in downtown.

When asked about a big issue in California, homelessness, he said he had to deal with it in New York when he was mayor.

"We had something like between (50,000) and 60,000 people in shelters because we have a right to shelter in New York, and we created new shelters and we revamped all the old ones," says Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is using a different strategy. He is not competing in the traditional early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire and is focusing on Super Tuesday.

Bloomberg says California is vital and he plans on building the largest primary operation in California history.

"You actually start voting even before the voters in Iowa do with mail-in and early voting, and you're going to send more delegates to the Democratic convention than any other state, so that means the state has a lot of power in the nominating process," he said.

Bloomberg says the Middle East is now the center of the world's attention and he worries what the Trump administration will do next.

"He stripped out of the State Department the (National Security Agency), the Defense Department, all of the experts who could've given him advice and to go and do this without their knowledge of what the implications are of everything, and their advice, is irresponsible," says Bloomberg.

He has at least one famous endorsement, Judge Judy, who talked about it Monday on The View.

"I've joked with her, and I said 'What about the Supreme Court?'" Bloomberg said when asked if he would name her to the Supreme Court. "She says she doesn't work collaboratively, so she wouldn't do that."

Fourteen states vote on Super Tuesday, which is March 3. Those voters will either make or break his campaign.