[MUSIC - CHAOS X, "DRUNKEN EXPECTATIONS"]

CARL AZUZ: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz, here to deliver your Wednesday

edition of "CNN 10."

We have some award show trivia coming up in a few minutes,

but we're starting with a report on a second summit

between two rival countries.

There's an interesting standoff taking place

between North Korea and the US.

After meeting face-to-face for the first time

last summer, the two countries' leaders

signed an agreement to establish new relations

and work toward peace.

But since then, it's as if the two

sides are saying to each other, OK, you go first.

What do they want?

For North Korea, the answer is security guarantees,

promises from the US that it will not

attack the communist country.

It also wants the US to lift the sanctions, the penalties it

placed on North Korea because of its nuclear

and missile programs.

While North Korea has said its nuclear program is a right,

the United States and the United Nations consider it illegal.

And that's what the US wants, for North Korea

to completely give up its nuclear program

and never try to develop nuclear weapons.

When US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim

Jong Un held their historic meeting on June 12,

they both agreed to give each other what they wanted.

So the first step was taken.

But it's the next one that's been the hangup.

WILL RIPLEY: President Trump is obviously

very optimistic about the diplomatic process

with North Korea.

He even said that there's a lot of progress

being made behind the scenes that hasn't

been reported in the media.

But is that progress the arrangement

of the second summit?

Or is the progress actual compromise

on this issue of the timeline of denuclearization

and the lifting of sanctions?

Because that has been the key sticking

point ever since the summit in Singapore on June 12.

They signed a very vaguely worded agreement

that didn't have any specifics.

Kim Jong Un walked away, perhaps thinking

that the US was ready to lift sanctions and provide

economic relief right away.

President Trump walked away thinking that perhaps North

Koreans were ready to start getting rid of their nukes

right away.

Obviously, that hasn't happened.

Talks have broken down because of the fact that the North

Koreans say they need to build confidence with the US,

and they don't want to give up nuclear weapons

until they are completely sold that this process is

going to work out.

And so the big challenge now is for the US and North Korea

to find a way to come closer together on this issue.

North Korea wants incremental sanctions relief in exchange

for slow steps toward an eventual denuclearization

of the Korean peninsula.

They also call for corresponding measures, which may include

things like a reduction of troop presence,

American troops on the Korean peninsula,

or getting rid of the nuclear umbrella

that protects South Korea.

Those are some big issues that are going to be

quite difficult to overcome.

We know that there are talks happening

in Sweden, lower level talks.

The US special representative for North Korea,

Stephen Biegun, and Choe Son-hui,

the vice foreign minister--

those are some of the issues that they will

be discussing at a lower level.

And then, of course, the bigger picture--

the summit itself-- it'll be happening

towards the end of February.

That's according to the White House and President Trump.

He's not announcing the location yet.

Sources are telling me that the most

likely option of those that have been thrown around is Vietnam.

It's a country that has strong ties with both

the US and North Korea.

It's a quick trip for Kim Jong Un to go to Vietnam.

And Vietnam is a country that fought a war with the United

States, rose from the ashes, and transformed its economy,

an economic model that North Korea could perhaps follow

if they decide to open up their own economy,

something that Kim Jong Un has said he wants to do so.

So the summit is happening, but the big unanswered

question-- will they be able to accomplish something tangible?

Will they be able to walk away with an agreement that actually

leads to action as opposed to what happened in Singapore,

where there was lots of smiles, lots of photos,

but nothing in terms of denuclearization?

Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.

CARL AZUZ: 10-second Trivia--

the name "Oscar" refers to a statuette that's

officially known as what?

Motion Picture Achievement Award,

Knight of Film Achievement, Academy Award of Honor,

or Academy Award of Merit?

[BEEPING]

Though it's better known as an "Oscar,"

the statuette is officially the Academy Award of Merit.

And more than 3,000 of them have been presented since May 16,

1929, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

held its first award ceremony.

The nominees for this year's Academy Awards, the 91st in US

history, were announced on Tuesday.

Observers say there's not a clear front runner for Best

Picture this time around.

Organizers haven't even named a host yet.

And ratings for the televised show

have been dropping in recent years.

But for people in the film industry,

an Oscar is still the pinnacle of success.

- In 1929, studio head Louis Mayer

handed out the first Academy Awards.

There were only 270 guests.

The winners had been announced months before.

And the whole thing only cost $5 to attend.

LOUIS B. MAYER: We have seen the American motion picture become

foremost in all the world.

- Fast forward 90 years.

And today, the Oscars are awarded

in a 3,300-seat theater.

Tens of millions of people watch the results live,

and tickets cost hundreds of dollars.

But the biggest difference?

Today's movie studios spend millions

to convince the Academy that their films deserve to win.

KYLE BUCHANAN: Sometimes the amount of money

that a studio will spend when they're campaigning

for an Oscar is even more money than the budget

of the movie to begin with.

- That's Kyle Buchanan.

He covers all things Oscars for "The New York Times."

KYLE BUCHANAN: If you want to get your movie taken seriously,

you've got to spend.

You've got to make sure that there are ads out there,

that there are events, that people are contextualizing

you as an Oscar contender.

- And why do studios spend that much cash

for 8 and 1/2 pound statuette?

For a smaller studio like A24 or Annapurna,

the answer is pretty obvious.

KYLE BUCHANAN: They're making movies for, you know,

not a big budget a lot of the time.

But in order to be seen when the marketplace is choked

with these big blockbusters and superhero films,

they need that sort of extra headline-making ability

that an awards season can provide.

- But what about a bigger studio like

Warner Brothers or Universal?

As we've seen over the past couple decades,

box office hits aren't often considered Oscar contenders,

and blockbusters don't really need the exposure

that a nomination brings.

Isn't the money enough of a reward?

KYLE BUCHANAN: The people who work on these movies,

by and large, are artists who want

to be appreciated as artists by other artists in town.

So when they are in contention for an Oscar,

it means something deeper.

It satisfies them in a way that money can't only.

- So it's really about talent acquisition

and talent retainment.

KYLE BUCHANAN: Yeah, it's about making sure that people

are happy, you know?

We see it all the time when a star has had success

and then they want to do something more serious.

They want to be understood as an artist with something to say.

JACK: Is that me?

- When Warner Brothers goes all in on an Oscar campaign

for Bradley Cooper or Ben Affleck or Clint Eastwood,

it's not just for bragging rights

or even a box office bump.

No.

The studio spends that cash to show commitment to its stars

and to keep them coming back for future projects.

For example, Hollywood's biggest studio, Disney,

is pushing harder and harder for its top blockbusters

to be an Oscar contention.

- What next?

- But the race isn't just between traditional studios

anymore.

So why does something like Netflix want to win an Oscar?

I mean, it's already the talk of Hollywood.

It's one of the biggest media companies on the planet.

Why does it need the little gold man?

KYLE BUCHANAN: I think Netflix is

eager to disrupt any industry it can get its hands on.

You know, they've already changed the way

that we watch television.

Now they want to do the same for movies.

Just like any studio, they want to be able to get in the Oscar

race so that top tier auteurs will come

to them to make movies instead of the big studios

that are out there.

If they can penetrate this race, there's really

nothing that Netflix can't do.

They want to upend the idea of theatrical distribution

being the end-all, be-all of seeing a movie.

They want to change the way you see a movie.

And if they can get Oscar to validate that,

then they've gotten almost all the way there.

- The Academy is getting younger and more diverse,

and its nominees and winners are shifting, too.

KYLE BUCHANAN: I think it's good and necessary

to recontextualize what we think of as an Oscar contender

because it means that a lot of better movies that have maybe

even historically overlooked by the season

but have certainly not been overlooked by audience members

can actually get into the race.

- Over the decades, the Academy Awards

and become bigger, more expensive,

and maybe a bit more inclusive.

But in the end, Louis B. Mayer started

the awards to flatter stars into working in his movies.

And today's studios will spend more

than ever to do just the same.

KYLE BUCHANAN: When it comes to this town, when it comes

to Hollywood, a lot of people go into the industry--

or even before they get into the industry,

they've stood in front of that mirror.

They've practiced that Oscar speech.

It is still the summit of this industry in so many ways,

and a lot of people want that to really

feel like they've hit the dream that they've always had.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CARL AZUZ: Extremely cold weather hit parts of Canada

and the northern US recently.

The upside?

Ice at Niagara Falls.

Spectacular scenes were captured recently

on the border between Ontario and New York State,

including innumerable chunks of ice floating over the falls.

Parts of Niagara have frozen before.

Whenever temperatures dip below zero Fahrenheit

and stick around for a while, you can expect

to see clods and clouds of ice.

Hard not to Falls for that for a spill.

We hear the view from the island was the "Goat,"

a veritable "horseshoe-in" for photographic excellence.