Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee speaks with Eliot about the shape of the economy, including Friday's news that the economy created only 54,000 new jobs in May.

Goolsbee said we shouldn't make too much out of one month's jobs report and that "stiff headwinds..slowed the growth rate," which slowed job creation, citing higher gas prices and the tsunami in Japan.

CLICK HERE to read Eliot's response to Goolsbee's assessment of the May employment figures.

David Gergen, senior political analyst for CNN, speaks with Eliot about today's tepid jobs numbers, and President Obama's Friday speech in Ohio.

Gergen says the president should have been much clearer about what his plans are to improve jobs and housing numbers and how Mitt Romney may benefit from Obama's "mistake."

Gergen has served as an adviser to four U.S. presidents. He is a professor of public service and the director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Jeffrey Toobin, CNN senior analyst, predicts a "difficult road" to prove the case against 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee and two-time presidential candidate John Edwards. FULL POST

Conservative activist Ralph Reed tells Eliot Spitzer on CNN's "In The Arena" that he hopes the religious faith of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman is not a major issue in 2012. FULL POST

The Number of the Day is 54,000.

Maybe I should just say that the Crummy Number of the Day is 54,000. That’s the number of jobs that the U.S.economy created in May. That’s a downer and a downturn from the 232,000 jobs added to payrolls in April.

As I keep repeating, most economists say the economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population gains.

Oh, and the unemployment rate worsened to 9.1% from 9% in April.

This recovery is losing steam and now there are more than 13 million unemployed workers in the country. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG:  When we last heard from Brent Scott , the American teacher living in Japan who had spent some nights sleeping in his car after the quake, tsunami and nuclear plant accident dislocated him from Fukushima City (which is about 60 km inland from the reactors). [CLICK HERE to read his OFF-SET interview from March 2011] 

Thursday, he posted on Facebook that his son’s attire for school – a uniform enhanced with cap, gloves, and surgical mask – had made the local news. So we thought it time for an update.

When did you move back to your home?

A day or two after the nuclear reactor blew, I left for a city further west called Aizuwakamatsu, and stayed for two days. My son, his mother, grandmother and half-sister relocated to a different residence in the same town. On March 19 (my birthday) my son and I left for Koriyama for a night. The next morning, March 20th, we took a bus to Tokyo, and left for Okinawa. We stayed in Okinawa till April 3rd. We returned primarily because my son was to have his junior high entrance ceremony and his school began on April 7th. 

I was diagnosed with PTSD several weeks ago. Actually, I diagnosed myself on the intake form (I have a MA in clinical psychology so I well aware of the symptoms). The doctor agreed. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Janine Vaccarello, chief operating officer of The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, DC.

A U.S. Marshals online auction of the personal effects of Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, ended Thursday, raising a total of $232,246. Those proceeds will be used to compensate Kaczynski’s victims. According to the US Marshals, the most expensive lot, selling for $40,676 and had 21 bidders, consisted of approximately 20 personal journals, which describe in diary fashion Kaczynski’s thoughts and feelings about himself, society and living in the wilderness. They also include admissions to specific bombings and other crimes.

Other sale prices were $22,003 for the typewriter on which Kaczynski typed his manifesto, $20,053 for the handwritten copy of his manifesto, $20,025 for the hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses that were depicted in the infamous FBI "wanted" sketch, and $17,780 for his handwritten autobiography.

You and the museum were also auction winners. What did you bring back?

I was bidding on many items, but we won 3 items: HAND BOWED WOOD SAW; HANSON MODEL 1509 SCALE; BLACK AND WHITE PASSPORT PHOTOS. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s six OFF-SET questions is Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, where he directs research and consulting. Moody's Analytics, a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation, is a leading provider of economic research, data and analytical tools.

His recent research has focused on the determinants of mortgage foreclosure and personal bankruptcy, analyzed the economic impact of various tax and government spending policies, and assessed the appropriate policy response to bubbles in asset markets. He is author of “Financial Shock,” an exposé of the financial crisis. His forthcoming book, “Paying the Price,” provides a roadmap for meeting the nation's daunting fiscal challenges.

Dr. Zandi received his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, where he did his research with Gerard Adams and Nobel laureate Lawrence Klein, and received his B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Friday morning, the Department of labor released May’s employment report and the news isn’t great. The economy gained a mere 54,000 jobs in the month, a significant slowdown from 232,000 jobs added to payrolls in April. What‘s happening?

The sharp slowing in job growth this spring is largely due to the impact of the surge in gasoline and food prices, fallout from the Japanese catastrophe on U.S. manufacturers, and the resumption of house price declines resulting from the ongoing foreclosure crisis. The impact of these factors on jobs is being magnified by the very fragile collective psyche. Everyone has been through a lot in recent years and it doesn’t take much to push us over the proverbial edge. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Wajid Ali Syed, award-winning television and documentary reporter/producer who has worked for Voice of America, the BBC, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, Geo, and Aaj.

He has written for a variety of Pakistani newspapers. Based in Washington, DC, he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and the League of India.

Syed Saleem Shahzad, who worked for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and the Italian news agency Adnkronos International, disappeared from Islamabad on Sunday. His body was found Tuesday in a canal with what police said were torture marks. Are there any leads as to who might have killed him?

The definite word is not out yet but in different reports it has been speculated that Shahzad was picked up by the intelligence agency, the ISI, because of an article he had written about the strike on the naval base in Karachi, PNS Mehran, and its possible connection with al-Qaeda.

According to reports so far, which are based on Shahzad's personal accounts, in October of last year he was summoned to the headquarters of the ISI to discuss the contents of an article he had written that alleged Pakistan had quietly released Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Baradar, Mullah Omar's deputy. Shahzad told the South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, Ali Dayan, about the meeting with the ISI.  According to the HRW, he interpreted the meeting to be a veiled threat from a top official. Shahzad also shared his meeting notes "in case something happens to me or my family in the future." FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Jackie Gingrich Cushman,  columnist for the Creators Syndicate that focuses on current events and political issues from a mom's perspective.  

Her book “5 Principles for a Successful Life: From our Family to Yours,” was co-authored with her father, Newt Gingrich. Cushman serves on The Georgia Advisory Council for the Trust for Public Land and on the board of Genesis: A New Life. She is founder and chairman of the board of the Learning Makes a Difference Foundation. She is also the author of “The Essential American: 25 Documents and Speeches that Every American Should Own.”

On June 3 and 4,  Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition will sponsor a conference and strategy briefing in Washington DC. Scheduled speakers include John Boehnor, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty,  Marco Rubio, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum,  Paul Ryan, Jon Huntsman, Donald Trump, Eric Cantor, Dannon Danon, Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset—and others.

First of all, what will you be doing—and listening for—at this year’s conference?

I am excited about attending the Faith and Freedom Conference and Strategy Briefing. I am looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and meeting a lot of new friends. It is exciting that between Memorial Day and the Anniversary of D-Day that I get to gather in our nation's capital with thousands of like-minded individuals working toward making our country's future brighter.

I will be participating in an afternoon breakout session titled "Combating the Liberal Media Bias." FULL POST