Good morning, NBC News readers.
"Green Book" won best picture at the 91st Academy Awards last night, but Spike Lee might have won best moment when he finally got his first Oscar.
We have all your Oscars coverage and a look ahead to President Donald Trump's second summit with North Korea's leader later this week.
Here's what we're watching today.
Oscar night's biggest winner: Diversity
The feel-good road-trip drama "Green Book" drove through a cloud of controversy to score the Oscars' top prize.
The film's big win came as a shock at the end of a brisk, host-free night filled with historic milestones for diversity and representation.
Lee, the revered 33-year industry veteran, won his first competitive Oscar — best adapted screenplay — for his fiery docudrama "BlacKkKlansman."
Rami Malek took best actor for "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Olivia Colman landed the best actress award for "The Favourite."
Alfonso Cuarón won his second best director Oscar for "Roma," the Netflix-produced movie also was honored as best foreign-language film.
Here's the full list of nominees and winners. Check out some of the winners who made history.
In case you missed any of it, we have more on the night's big surprises, winners and speeches.
And more images of the top moments.
With Trump rolling the dice on North Korea summit, experts are concerned about his gamble
Trump heads to Vietnam today for his second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
Trump has said an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is his goal. But so far there is no public evidence that aim is shared by Kim.
The White House is setting low expectations for the leaders' meeting, while senior U.S. officials and North Korea experts are expressing concerns that Trump will give away more than he gets in return.
“One of the worst possible outcomes is he makes some crazy deal pledging to withdraw U.S. troops for a vague promise of denuclearization,” one former senior U.S. official told NBC News.
Fewer Americans looking for careers at the State Department
The number of Americans seeking a career in the U.S. diplomatic corps has declined in the first two years of the Trump administration, reaching the lowest level since 2008, according to State Department numbers obtained exclusively by NBC News.
Although President Donald Trump's unpredictable, go-it-alone foreign policy has caused apprehension among some prospective applicants, and led some senior diplomats to resign, the cause of the drop remains unclear.
But the survey numbers "ought to be a wake-up call for people at the State Department," said Max Stier, the president of Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington. [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo has his work cut out for him."
'Everything about this is political': What's next for Mueller probe?
For over a decade, Paul Manafort "repeatedly and brazenly violated the law," according to a redacted sentencing memo released this weekend by special counsel Robert Mueller's office.
The document could be one of the last major filings in the two-year Russia investigation. Mueller is reportedly moving into the final stages of the case, but there's little certainty as to how the next steps might play out.
A panel of legal experts and experienced lawmakers broke down the myriad of possible outcomes for Mueller's investigation on Sunday's "Meet the Press," discussing the effect the long investigation has had on the hyper-partisanship in government.
"Everything about this is political. The way to end that is for the truth to be out there," Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said.
No joke: A comedian leads the presidential race in a country in Putin's sights
Volodymyr Zelensky has no experience as a politician, although he plays one on TV.
But with five weeks to go until voters head to the ballot box in Ukraine's presidential election, a recent poll suggests the actor is the front-runner.
The political novice's popularity with voters has left pundits scratching their heads — and some critics fearing he's bitten off more than he can chew.
Plus
- 'No abuse should ever be covered up': Pope Francis strongly condemned clerical sexual abuse during a speech, but offered no new policies to stop it.
- That's cool. China's Huawei unveiled a new 5G phone with a folding screen.
- One upside to climate change? British winemakers say it gave them the "harvest of the century" last year.
Quote of the day
"The 2020 election is around the corner. Let's all mobilize. Let's be on the right side of history. Let's do the right thing!"
— Filmmaker Spike Lee references the title of his 1989 race-relations drama during his acceptance speech.
One fun thing
Now we know who took home the golden statuettes, but who rocked the red carpet? Check out all the gorgeous looks from the Oscars.
Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.
And thanks to my colleague Alex Smith for taking the reins last week while I got to share in the joys of snow with my daughters during their school winter break.
If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — drop me an email at: petra@nbcuni.com
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Thanks, Petra
