KING: After months of hints and speculation, Attorney General Jerry Brown has officially joined the race to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California. He launched the campaign with a three minute, 17-second video on his Web site. He joins us here in L.A.

Why?

JERRY BROWN, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Why?

KING: Two terms you served.

Why do you need this?

BROWN: Yes. Well, I don't need it. But the state's in deep trouble and the next governor needs the preparation, the know-how and the knowledge to fix this state. And that's what I can offer. And that's why I'm doing it.

KING: Is this state in a failed state?

BROWN: It's not a -- it's failing, but it has not failed completely, by any means.

Our wealth creation last year was over $1.5 trillion. So we -- we've got a lot of resources. We've got the creativity. But we've got to stop that bickering -- that poisonous partisanship in Sacramento. I think they need someone in there with the skills and the knowledge and, maybe more importantly, insider's knowledge, but an outsider's mind. And that's exactly what I can bring to this job.

KING: How do you assess General -- Governor Schwarzenegger?

BROWN: I think the governor has been a bold thinker. He's led the country in terms of climate change and dealing with global warming. He's put a lot of stuff out on the budget.

But he's run into the buzz saw of partisan -- partisan -- partisan bickering up there. And there was a time when the Republicans used to work with Democrats. And I don't know all the things that contributed to it, but I really believe that if the governor would just focus on knocking heads together and listening to both sides, I think we'd get a lot done.

KING: Do you want his support?

BROWN: Sure. I'd like -- I'd like everybody who I could get. I think the governor has learned a lot. One thing, you can't be governor without taking a lot of, you know, slings and arrows, but out of that, learning a heck of a lot about how our state works.

KING: Will you live in the mansion?

You didn't the last time.

BROWN: I didn't. I rented a little apartment and paid it with my own paycheck but...

KING: You think you'd do the same?

BROWN: Well, I have a house in Oakland now and I'm married. So I've got a wonderful wife so I've got to...

KING: Oh, that's right. You were single.

BROWN: I've got to check with her this time.

KING: All right. The GOP candidate will either be former eBay CEO Meg Whitman or state insurance commissioner, Steve Poizner.

Do you have a preference who you'd rather face?

BROWN: No. I think the Republicans ought to pick their own candidate then I'll run against either one. KING: Wouldn't Whitman be formidable with all that money?

BROWN: Well, anybody who wants to spend $150 million buying the airwaves is going to be formidable. I would never underestimate this.

But at the end of the day, Californians are going to say is this real?

How is this going to affect me?

And let's compare it with the other candidate. So I think people have a lot of common sense. And over a campaign of seven or eight months, they'll discern the truth and get to the essence.

KING: Could you end the bickering?

Could you make the parties come together, as once happened in California?

BROWN: I think we can -- I think we can push people together. I've -- I've done this. I've listened. I think the governor can't run all around the country, can't visit foreign countries. I think we have to sit down, starting not next year, but right after the election, and get in the Republican leaders and all the members of the legislature.

The way the budget works now is they have four leaders from -- two from each party. And they do it.

That doesn't work. You've got to get all 120 legislatures in the room, day after day and month after month, keep the focus on solving that budget deficit.

KING: Do you have a primary opponent?

BROWN: Not yet, but, you know, there's a week to go, so hopefully not.

KING: All right. We just did a terrible story about a young girl, 17 years old, and the accused, a predator, who gets out of prison.

Will you have a stand on that?

There are, we're told, 38 states where you have to serve 25 years minimum if you're convicted.

BROWN: We have -- depending upon what the offense is -- and there is a range of offen -- sexual offenses, from the most serious to -- to lower -- lesser offenses. But I can tell you this. If we had a more indeterminate sentence where it was five to life for most of these crimes, then a good, insightful parole board could keep people locked up for life.

When they are let out, we now have a law that requires a geopositioning satellite -- a GPS. They should be kept track of. And we need the parole manpower focused on these dangerous people and not generally applied across the board, which really wastes the limited talent we have.

KING: You're an attorney general.

Are we forceful enough in that area?

BROWN: I think we're not as focused as we need to be. So I mean you have to take the high risk that people have shown a propensity to do something very odd and keep on -- keep them in jail, if they ever get out, keep on them. And there are others that are -- that are under some of the same laws, but they're not as dangerous.

And I think you've got to focus on -- on what you feel to be. And we have evidence-based instruments to -- to separate the most serious from the less serious. And that's the way we've got to go.

KING: Are you going to ask the president to campaign for you?

BROWN: I would ask him. Sure. I do think I'm -- well, I want to say this. I'd like the president, certainly, to campaign for me. But I'm running an independent campaign. I think what we need is not more partisanship, but a governor who's going to listen to both parties, take the best and get the job done.

KING: Are you separating yourself from (INAUDIBLE)?

BROWN: No, I'm not separate -- well, I'm separating myself from politics as usual. And I want people to know, whether it's the legislature, the Congress or the president, yes, I welcome all the support I can get.

But at the end of the day, we need an independent minded governor who will not stand on party dogma, but will listen honestly to the other side.

KING: What's it going to cost, Jerry?

BROWN: Well, that's a good -- the -- my -- one opponent says they're going to spend $150 million, another $50 million. I've raised $13 million. We have a long way to go and I hope that people -- I think we've got to activate the grassroots. We'll have far less, but we'll be focused. It will be an authentic campaign. And people will have enough information to make a choice. And that's all I can ask.

KING: Thanks for coming by.

We'll see a lot of you.

BROWN: I look forward to it.

KING: Jerry Brown, the attorney general of California, has thrown his hat into the ring.