with talk more about that walter isaacson and our "bloomberg west" editor-at- large, cory johnson. nodding his head. what do you think, cory johnson? >> we see companies make mistakes, try to bury them, and hide the results. it is something common. i think it is important for us as journalists to say google management really screw up, blue billions of dollars of shareholder money, but they also did the right thing. >> i'm not quite sure how much , because one of the most outstanding fact was there were 15,000 patents. it shows how the patent process has gotten out of control, but i'm number one i was talking to steve jobs, he said he would go thermal nuclear on google for ripping off the iphone, and the best defense against apple suing the monitor actual property -- on intellectual property grounds is to have the patents as a shield. >> it is not about the number of patents. you need one for a certain thing, so there are a lot that are close to right, but thus far there has not been a single injunction that has held up with the motorola patents. we had david martin when the deal wa

our guest host is walter isaacson. author of the best-selling book "steve jobs." gs, but i'm surprised we haven't gotten to washington yet. we haven't gotten to what's been happening there. >> brian was talking about how the economy in the united states has been a bit sluggish or nervous or skittish because of the dysfunction in washington. i think an underplayed story is that in the past few weeks, washington's gotten its act together. passing a very sensible spending bill, getting back to a regular order of business, not having these shutdowns and closedowns. that's pretty good. >> that's basically just getting out of the way, though. this was not a grand bargain. >> hey, getting out of the way is a big deal. >> that's enough is what you're saying. >> it wasn't a grand bargain, but it's a bargain that says here's what we're going to spend this year. you know, it kept spending pretty low. but it raised it above the onerous levels of the sequestration. and so i think it's a sensible deal. and now we're not going to have this uncertainty. plus i think it allows gove

>> i saw walter isaacson make this point the other day, the author of the steve jobs biography. what are the questions and applications for shareholders? this is an investor class discussion. the reality is almost everything they are monkeying about has zero near-term positive implications for the stock and many have negative implications because it gets wrapped up in regulatory stuff and they get distracted and health care and decide this foray wasn't worth it. it is laudable but most of this is neutral at best and possibly even negative with respect to investors. >> i might be asking the questions, that's all well and good, but how many in your company are working on something like, i don't know, search? does this concern like you can be ibm research and all of these other things but you also have to be a business. >> right. these are the kind of questions they are increasingly asked in it happened with microsoft when they went into this outside r&d spending. we only give you so much rope before start questioning and after that, as investors, people start getting really grouch

walter isaacson is fourth with his authorized biography of steve jobs, a new york times best seller. business reporter charles duhrig on the why habits can be changed in why we do what we do in life and business. sixth is thinking fast and slow, and exploration why the mind works by daniel economist, pulitzer prize-winning journalist michael moss links the rise of the processed food industry to the ever-growing obesity epidemic in the seventh most checked out books of, sugar, fat, how the food giant's looked as. booktv covered michael moss and you can talk about that online at booktv.org. is followed by comedian tina fay's book bossypants. the ninth most checked out books from the new york public library was dr. alexander's recounting of his medical experience in proof of heaven. ..

. >> we want to thank walter isaacson for spending his morning with us. thank you for joining us. "squawk on the street" starts right now. ♪ i got to have faith i got to have faith because i got to have faith faith, faith ♪ >> wednesday morning, welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla with jim cramer who referenced that song last night. david faber at the new york stock exchange. big morning four the biggest companies in the united states, gm, bank of america, apple and we'll walk you through everything and hear from tim cook in a moment. futures are relatively stable. ten-year eeled reacting to a ppi number that did run a bit hot, first rise in a few months and europe in the green at least for now. our roadmap begins with a cnbc exclusive. with both apple and china mobile ceos, apple share's rising in early trade on the tech giant's new deal with china mobile. >>> bank of america reporting better-than-expected fourth quarter results. >>> and as new ceo mary barr takes the helm, gm expecting pretax profits to rise modestly this year but margins remain flat until 20

the academy of more weird turn in his script based upon the walter isaacson is buy up to the biographytructured as 330 minute naps play and real time in showing the jobs back. the difference ... unveiling. stay tuned as they say. you ready for simple. the super bowl is going high-tech. the super bowl will be played at met life stadium in new jersey. played in cold weather environment. fox sports system network will test out some other related gadgets. this weekend seahawks-9 bears game that includes an infrared camera that will show how player's body temperatures changed. i'm not kidding. another that will show the wind impact on the kicker and quarterback. fox sports will also have more cameras for what they are calling the definitive the ankle. the urologist predicting game de temps, balmy 35 degrees with a chance of snow showers, but because that football weather. tracy: amen head. i will be watching from the couch. all right. battle of the cable guide. trying to buy. why others will get in before the deal is done. ashley: a prescription to save you money. why drug stores may not be

walter isaacson is fourth with his authorized biography of steve jobs, and the york times best sellereporter charles do we wrote about why had it exists and why they can be changed in the fifth most checked out books power of habit, why we do what we do in life and business. 6 is thinking fast and slow, an exploration into how the mind works by daniel konnamin. the rise of the processed food industry to the ever-growing obesity epidemic in salt sugar fact, how the food giant's hooked as. booktv covered michael moss and you can discuss his book online at booktv.org. followed by comedian tina fay's book bossypants. the ninth was checked out books in 2013 was dr. alexander's recounting of his medical experience in proof of heaven, a neurosurgeon's journey into the afterlife. finally number 10, cheryl stray, wild, from lost to found on the pacific crest trail. to see more of these books and other available books go to n l nypl.org. >> joseph cirincione talks about the possibility of nuclear weapons being used today. he says the decline in the number of nuclear weapons since the 1960s leav