ken griffin runs one of the largest head funds in the world. ken, thanks very much for joining us. big topic today, one you spoke about in your keynote address here, this afternoon, was volatility. everyone here is trying to figure out volatilities. the volumes are terrible. what's going on? what explains this? >> there's a couple questions there. number one, volatility is low because of the interventionist policies of central banks across the world. if you look at the size of the ecb, the bank of japan, we're at an all-time high. and this continued intervention by central banks is reducing volatility in fixed income markets, in currency market, and in equity markets. within the equity markets, the rise of the hedge funds, again, who are engaged in a variety of strategies that dampen volatility, is reducing your intraday moves across the entire equity landscape. so this one-two punch has resulted in a lower volatility observed day in and day out. in terms of liquidity, it's important to adjust for the fact that stocks aren't splitting in price anymore. so if you go back 10, 15 year

>> i agree with ken griffin. we have chaos in washington. business community has been operating under a notion that we are going to get tax reform. we didn't get it in 100 days, 200 days, who knows when we are going to get it or what it's going to look like? there is a time coming when them a short he -- when the republican majority gets threatened by failure to deliver a tax bill. that will drive them to do some type of tax bill. what the rates will be, i don't know. about the 10 years, country6, the borrowed $10 trillion and the interest on that in the u.s. budget was unchanged. that's a wonderful thing, borrow and spend $10 trillion and no additional interest cost. that's over. joe: do you think we are actually going to get tax reform rates somewhere. >> some rates somewhere will be cut. do away withbably carried interest. everybody knows what a game that is. that major tax reform? i don't think so. and that's a shame, because that's a reform that could really help the country, especially people who make $100,000 a year or less. ,ica is t

on the other hand, ken griffin is still under 50. he made his fortune in hedge funds and he is an example of a lot of these new donors. they turn around in their 40s and have $5 billion. i've got some extra spare change around. he's made a number of pretty significant gifts and there's a lot more where that came from. that's the thing about these people is they often hear about some who've made multimillion dollar gets to his dictations here. he's just begun his giving. there will be years and years, decades of that coming. >> it's interesting you mention that because there is another thread when you talk about chicago in the book about traditionally chicago having been known as being shaped by mayors. one of the major themes of your book is government shrinking has much less capacity. i think you mentioned it is not unforeseeable that at some point reasonably soon there'll be more private charitable giving in the nondefense discretionary part of the budget. you have this trend of government train came in private giving going up. so

our own bob pisani sat down with citadel's ken griffin earlier today. among the topics they discussed is where mr. griffin sees the stock market heading. >> i think this business cycle has further to go. i think the stock market is going to go with that. but what's worrisome is the firepower that we have to address the next downturn somewhat constrained. that should worry all of us. the growth of regulation has stopped. that trend over the last eight years has ended. and that's really good for american businesses and for american entrepreneurs. they've already changed the course of regulatory burdens in america. no ifs, no ands, no buts. big win for the administration right out of the gate. >> all right, so he's giving us a lot to think about and talk about it, among other things. let's get to our "closing bell" exchange today with the dow up 37 points right now. oliver portia from brewedman brothers is with us at post 9 sitting next to jonathan corpina from polina equity partners and jack joins us today from chicago, he's with ucx. good to see you all.

all that plus a rare and exclusive interview with hedge fund titan ken griffin of citadel.ake on the markets and the president and what's keeping him up at night. "power lunch" starts right now.

who do you think would win in a not down drag out fights, kathy griffin for ken jennings? in. kennedy: i want you to think about it. >> they are in the same insular bubble of trump hate. it's perfect manifestation, the severed head and taking on the 11-year-old. anything goes and anyone else who agrees differently including her publicist who thinks this is some sort of a good idea. >> i don't think they even asked her publicist because they believe the publicist would agree with them that this is a good idea so that everybody hates donald trump. it would be totally fine to behead him and make fun of his 11-year-old child the developer did that with the obama girl, kids are off-limits. they did and as the life they are living. leave them alone. kennedy: if you are 18 or 19 years old it's kind of a different story. >> even then. their parents made the decisions for them. barron trump didn't do anything and by the way the think this is comedy. kathy griffin qualified her decision in her apology for the beheading photo by saying i'm a comedian and i think this is funny. kennedy

. >>> and citadel's ken griffin will join us. oil is down 2 bucks on the inventory numbers.t. but there's no business track record. well, have you seen her work? no. is it good? good? at cognizant, we're helping today's leading banks make better lending decisions with new sources of data- so, multiply that by her followers, speaking engagements, work experience... credit history. that more accurately assess a business' chances of success. this is a good investment. she's a good investment. get ready, because we're helping leading companies lead with digital. ♪ it's not just a car, it's your daily treat. ♪ go ahead, spoil yourself. the es and es hybrid. experience amazing. looking from a fresh perspective can make all the difference. it can provide what we call an unlock: a realization that often reveals a better path forward. at wells fargo, it's our expertise in finding this kind of insight that has lead us to become one of the largest investment and wealth management firms in the country. discover how we can help find your unlock. >>> here's a riddle. the economy is growin

you later today on cnbc don't miss a cnbc exclusive interview with billionaire hedge fund manager ken griffinch at 1:30 p.m. i'll see you there. >>> welcome back to "squawk box." breaking news just in the past couple of minutes. president trump tweeting a short time ago i will be nominating christopher a. werewray, a man impeccable credentials to be the new director of the fbi. he was on the enron task force if you remember. >> led the doj's investigation into enron. >> he was nominated by president bush back in 2003 to be at cystant attorney general in charge of the criminal division of the department of justice, too. we will talk more about this when we come back. in the meantime, though, maybe it was the warning of jpmorgan ceo jamie dimon about the dangers of writing too many subprime auto loans or maybe it was the memory of what happened during the financial crisis in 2009. either way lenders appear to be realizing too much subprime lending may not be good. phil lebeau has the details of a new report showing a big drop in subprime auto loans. phil? >> becky, this is a big change from 12

griffin. look at what ken jennings tweeted yesterday... that's really sick. that's ugly, twisted. imagine if this were ever done to the obamas. and then there's people like eoephen colbert. at the beginning of may, he viciously attacked the president in a monologue. you may remember this. >> john dickerson has way too much dignity to trade insults with the president of the united states, to his face. but i, sir, am no john dickerson. mr. trump, your presidency? i love your presidency. i call it "disgrace the nation." you attract more skinheads than free rogaine. you have more people marching against you than cancer. >> sean: do i think colbert should have said any of that? of course not. i've criticized him for crossing lines in the past but i also push back against the calls to silence his voice at the time. look at this. t i will not support these boycotts,, monica. the fire colbert hashtags -- they can say what they want, if you don't like it, change the channel or watch something else. or turn the tv off. next is bill maher. here's one of the many offensive things he has said

griffin controversyk. which is inspiring more gross behavior. kennings is mocking reports that president trump's 11-year-old son saw a photo grade he treated. donald trump, jr., he shot back tweeting "it takes a real man to take on an 11-year-old." jim carrey is standing by kathy griffin saying "where the last line of defense and comedians are the last voice of truth." you know what? i agree with jim carrey on that. i think the jokes are gross but i think it's also wonderful that we live in a country where you can make fun of and criticize your leader that way and not go to jail like you would in north korea. >> michael: i am a humorist and a north korea guy and i agree in theory. what was the truth behind this picture? i made all sorts of jokes about subjects i can't even mention at 5:00. the darker the joke, the more it has to land. there was no punchline there. the idea that an 11-year-old wouldn't be upset seeing his father's blood he had, that's crazy. >> kat: i don't even get what the joke was. >> eboni: it wasn't a joke. i love comedians. be

griffin is firing back against the first family. she claims the trumps are trying to ruin her career! veronica de la cruz is here with that. veronica. >> reporter: well, ken, the comedian says she has been receiving death threats and says the president is trying to break her. all because of this photo showing griffin holding a bloody head resembling our president, donald trump. >> regarding the image that i participated in, the apology absolutely stands. i feel horrible. >> reporter: kathy griffin says she is sorry for the controversial video showing her holding a fake bloody head of donald trump. but she also says what's happened in response is unprecedented. >> a sitting president of the united states and his grown children and the first lady are personally, i feel, personally trying to ruin my life forever! >> reporter: griffin claims she received death threats since posting the video to twitter. her attorney says the secret service has also contacted her. they argue the image was a play on comments president trump made on the campaign trail. >> quote, she had blood coming out of her eyes. she had blood coming out of her wherever. kathy did not forget

ainsley: jeopardy contestant ken jennings under fire for taking one tweet a little too far mocking 11-year-old barron trump for his reaction to kathy griffinan: carley shimkus is here with the backlash to all things trending. who is ken jennings? we forgot about him. >> yeah. we sure did. first of all, a tmz reported yesterday that barron trump was at home in new york city with his mom. he saw this kathy griffin photo on tv and he got very upset. he thought it was real. ken jennings who is the longest running jeopardy contestant winner responded to that report with this tweet. look at this. he says barron trump saw a very long necktie on expired deli meat in a dumpster he thought it was his dad and his little heart is breaking. i don't know if i understand the joke if you call it that not funny. pete: contestant, not a comedian. >> big brother, donald trump jr. responded. he says it takes a real man to pick on an 11-year-old. how yet another low from the left but they will rationalize this away with excuse. others on social media coming it his expense. javier says leave kids out of it. not the real class act. jennings, the tweet reveals yo