STARTING POINT PLAYLIST FOR 5/30/12

Kanye West's "All of the Lights" kicked off our Starting Point playlist this morning, a pick from panelist Margaret Hoover. The 2011 Top 20 hit features vocals from a wide variety of artists ranging from Elton John to Fergie.

Margaret also picked Joe Cocker's 1969 cover of "Feelin' Alright" and Lifehouse's 2007 hit "First Time."

Ron Brownstein of the National Journal was a panelist today and brought two rock gems with him. First up was "Pride and Joy" by the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan, followed by "Keep the Car Running," Arcade Fire's critically acclaimed 2007 hit.

Will Cain picked a soft-rock classic for his first playlist pick this morning: Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." The 1989 hit was Petty's first release without his frequent band The Heartbreakers. Will also picked James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." The 1966 single was a Top 10 hit for the Godfather of Soul.

Of course, Will also went a little country, picking "Time Marches On," the mid-nineties hit by Tracy Lawrence.

SP host Soledad O'Brien picked a couple of songs herself for today's playlist. Soledad picked "Shine" by Ledisi and Chaka Khan's classic "Tell Me Something Good." The song, a Top 5 hit in 1974, was written by Stevie Wonder.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg allegedly skipped a tip for a waiter while honeymooning in Italy.

This morning, "Starting Point" is live at 7am Eastern. Soledad O'Brien will talk with our panelists, TheBlaze.com columnist Will Cain, American Individualism author Margaret Hoover and "National Journal" editorial director and CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. Our panel will be talking about the following top stories:

* Romney hits 'magic number' for GOP nomination but Donald Trump's fiery 'birther' defense steals thunder

* After Syria massacre, what can the world do?

* David Letterman talks with Regis Philbin on a special edition of "Piers Morgan Tonight"

Share your comments in the section below. If you're not by a TV, you can watch us here at CNN.com/Live. Let's get started.

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[UPDATED  7:20 Eastern] Ivan Watson, live in Istanbul, Turkey, says that Turkey announced it is expelling Syrian diplomats from the Syrian embassy in Ankara.

[UPDATED 7:28 Eastern] Chairman of the Intelligence Committee and former FBI agent Rep. Mike Rogers says he's not sure if arming the Syrian opposition is the answer  "mainly because we're just not exactly sure who the bad guys are and who the good guys are right now in Syria, so you don't know who you're giving weapons to."

[UPDATED 8:06 Eastern] Award winning journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad says of jihadists in Yemen, "This is the new age of Al-Qaeda." Adbul-Ahad says that the city of Jaar "has now become a de facto independent state that's run by Al-Qaeda."

[UPDATED 8:33 Eastern] Fellow of The Century Foundation and member of The Council on Foreign Relations Michael Wahid Hanna says that the current strategy in Syria is sub optimal but "it's the only one that exists at the moment." Hanna says that the international community can possibly push a "managed transition" in Syria.

[UPDATED 8:52 Eastern] Democratic strategist Christine Pelosi says that it is important to focus on the real issues-jobs, the economy and the empowerment of working families. "As far as this "birtherism" is concerned," she says "Donald Trump is only saying loudly what a lot of Republicans have been dog whispering for months."

U.S. investigators are trying to get to the bottom of what is a pretty intricate plan to try to take out American diplomats and their families by Iran. According to "The Washington Post," the plot involves snipers with silencer-equipped rifles and a car bomb.

Among the targets of the alleged plot: U.S. embassy staff and family members in Azerbaijan. That's Iran's neighbor to the north.

CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend talks with Soledad and the panel this morning about the report. She's also a member of the external advisory boards for the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security as well. She explains that Iran has discussed these types of plots in the past.

"Iran does not want a full-on military conflict with the United States," Townsend explains. "What they prefer are these small-scale one-off attacks. We saw it, frankly, the most egregious up to this report was the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador here. And so, we do see the Iranians using these sorts of tactics, these methods as provocation without going so far as to launch a military attack."

Townsend goes on to explain that these plots could have serious consequences for Iran.

"This debate really first came up where there was the announcement of the plot against the Saudi ambassador, an attack on a diplomat on U.S. soil," Townsend says. "This is just an extension, frankly, of that debate that started then. So any attack against an American official, whether it's in the U.S. or someplace around the world really does constitute an act of war. When all that really means is, what then? Which tools does the United States choose to use to retaliate against it? Does it use military force? Probably not, because it would be a single attack. But it could."

Stony Brook University's Nicholas Fisher on safety concerns for radioactive bluefin tuna found near California.

The World Science Festival takes place in New York City this year from May 30th to June 3rd. The festival's goal is to bring together the world’s top scientists and artists to make science more exciting and accessible to the public.

Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and his wife Tracy Day, a former tv producer, co-founded the festival five years ago "to shift the place of science in culture," he tells Soledad on "Starting Point."

"It is now at the outskirts. We want to shift it to the cultural center. We want it to be seen the way we look at music, and art, and film, and dance and theater; as something that is indispensable to a full and rich life," he says.

The festival is made up of 50 events that depict science as an adventure, bringing to life the kind of material "that can make your heart pound." This year, John Lithgow narrates the story of "Icharus at the Edge of Time." The event is about a boy that goes to the edge of a black hole. Through an intricate orchestral score by Philip Glass and an animated film, kids and adults learn about the general theory of relativity.

The first four festivals attracted over half a million visitors, and millions more have viewed the programs online. The excitement surrounding the event lines up with Greene's expectations. "We get emails and responses from people that come to the festival that say, 'you have given science back to me,'" Greene says. "When I was in school the teacher made it so boring that I didn't want to have anything to do with it. Now 20, 30 years later, adults are saying 'wow this is what science is!'"

Find out more: World Science Festival homepage

Well, today could be the day that Mitt Romney officially clinches the GOP presidential nomination as Texas voters will head to the polls to choose their candidate in that state's primary.

Governor Romney has 1,066 delegates, which means he's just 78 delegates shy of 1,144 needed to win. Texas has 155 delegates up for grabs. The governor is spending the day outside the lone star state.

Though he's campaigning in both Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada, he has speeches planned focusing on the economy and jobs, and also a cameo from Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich in the state of Nevada.

Andrea Saul, press secretary for the Romney campaign, talks with Soledad this morning on her candidate's track record of job creation.

"What we can see is Governor Romney has 25 years of experience as a businessman and entrepreneur creating jobs," Saul says. "The only thing President Obama has managed is his own narrative. Governor Romney has the experience, he's learned from his successes and failures. And he created more jobs at Bain Capital or helped create more jobs at Bain Capital than President Obama has in the entire nation as president."

When pressed to list specific examples of failures or mistakes that Mitt Romney has learned from, Saul says she doesn't have specifics.

"Not every business is successful," Saul says. "He had successes, he had failures. I don’t have any specific examples to pass on, but there’re going to be ups and downs...and anybody in the private sector understands that."

Back in 1945, Chicago tavern owner Billy Sianis was kicked out of a Cubs World Series game after fans complained that his goat smelled. Sianis, who was outraged, declared "them Cubs, they aren't gonna win no more."

And by chance, or by curse, the Cubs haven't won since. Since 1945, the Cubs haven't played in a single World Series game, let alone win one.

Now, five guys and a goat are working to overturn that curse. They just finished a 1,300-mile trek across the country – all in an effort to get the Cubs to win a World Series, and to raise money for cancer.

The "Crack the Curse" hikers - Matt Gregory, PJ Fisher, Blake Ferrell, Philip Aldrich, Kyle Townsend and goat "Wrigley" - talk with Soledad this morning on how they hope to break the Chicago Cubs curse and on all the money they raised in their effort.

STARTING POINT PLAYLIST FOR 5/29/12

Today's Starting Point playlist kicked off with a pick from panelist "HuffPost Live" host Alicia Menendez: "Feels So Good" by Mase. The song was  a top five hit in 1997, and was produced by hip hop mogul Diddy, then known as Sean "Puffy" Combs. Alicia also picked Seal's first single "Krazy,"  the first of his many soulful hits.

CNN Contributor Margaret Hoover was also on our panel this morning, and brought along a couple of rap classics. Up first was The Gourds' cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice," followed by the smash hit "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. "I love Jay-Z," Hoover said. "His New York anthem makes all New Yorkers (and all wannabe New Yorkers) proud."

Will Cain's playlist pick today was "Swingin'" by John Anderson. Will remembers listening to the song with a friend as kids and laughing to the "funny song."

Starting Point anchor Soledad O'Brien contributed a song today as well: the Stevie Wonder classic "Superstition." Believe it or not, the number one hit will be forty years old this October.

Also heard on today's show were Steve Go0dman's "Go Cubs Go" and Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science."

This morning, "Starting Point" is live at 7am Eastern. Christine Romans sits in for Soledad O'Brien as host today, joining panelists, TheBlaze.com columnist Will Cain, host of "HuffPost Live" Alicia Menendez and CNN contributor Margaret Hoover. Our panel will be talking about the following top stories:

* Eight dead as 5.8 earthquake shakes northern Italy

* Radioactive material found in tuna

* Five guys and a goat walk 2,000 miles to raise money for cancer research and reverse the Chicago Cubs' curse.

Share your comments in the section below. If you're not by a TV, you can watch us here at CNN.com/Live. Let's get started.

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[UPDATED 7:30am Eastern] Mitt Romney campaign's press secretary Andrea Saul says if Romney were commander in chief, he would work with allies to arm the opposition in Syria to stem the tide of violence.