burt flickinger here as well. >> we have to go back to that bill -- big deal that was announced yesterday. comcast and time warner. tens of millions of dollars. >> and washington, where -- tens of billions of dollars worth. >> and in washington, arguing about the value of this deal for the american consumer. i think of ed markey of massachusetts who has been leading the way on this. how ed markeyish is washington this morning? >> something i have been paying attention to since the deal was announced, there are pros and terms of companies that know how to navigate washington, and then the elites, and that is what comcast is. i have about 35 firms on retainer to lobby both agencies and capitol hill. won a million dollars on lobbying. hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign donations -- $20 million in lobbying. hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations. judiciary committee -- comcast is plugged with all of them. they can put a ton of pressure on regulators. >> $20 million for lobbying for brian robe

burt flickinger joins us from the strategic insight group." >>> good morning and welcome to "squawk box." retailers report that earnings central today krug target's first results since that december data breach. the feds want information from troubled bitcoin exchange mt. gox which i realized rimes with "squawk box" and pimco's bill gross calls tuesday's "wall street journal" article overblown. we know, though, where there's smoke there's the go to be a little fire it seems. it's tuesday, february 25th, 2014. "squawk box" begins right now. >> good morning everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. kevin o'leary will be our guest host today and ceo of first data frank bisignano and 8:00 a.m. paul ryan will be our special guest and a big morning for data and erarnings. economists expect about 401,000 homes were sold in the month down about 3% from december and more names from the retail sector are checking into earnings central in the next hour we'll hear from target and hopefu