As the government shutdown heads into its third day, there are two big questions about President Trump's role in the negotiations and underlying issues: Does Trump understand immigration policy, and is he being manipulated and undercut in his negotiations by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and policy adviser Stephen Miller?

On Sunday, Kelly "fielded most of the calls" about the shutdown from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), The New York Times reports, and "the president was urged for a second day to step back from the fray, and for a second day he vented to aides that he wanted to do more to get involved." Friday's shutdown-averting negotiations between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were "derailed" by Kelly and Miller, "whose stance on immigration, coupled with Kelly's position on defense spending, pushed Trump off any compromise," NBC News reports, citing senior administration officials.

Trump's "heart is right on this issue," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters on Sunday. "I think he's got a good understanding of what will sell, and every time we have a proposal, it is only yanked back by staff members. As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we are going nowhere. He's been an outlier for years."

Mark Krikorian, a notable proponent of curtailing immigration, tells the Times he doesn't subscribe to this "Svengali theory" and says Trump's "inclinations are hawkish on immigration." In Congress, Democrats and Republicans are frustrated and confused at a president "either unwilling or unable to articulate the immigration policy he wanted, much less understand the nuances of what it would involve," the Times reports. The resulting "paralysis" in Washington has complicated shutdown talks and "raised questions not only about Mr. Trump's grasp of the issue that animated his campaign and energizes his core supporters, but his leadership." Peter Weber

At least 66 people were killed and dozens more injured Friday when a fuel pipeline in Mexico exploded after being ruptured by fuel thieves. Some 85 people not included in the current death toll are listed as missing as of Saturday morning.

A crowd of people had gathered to collect the spilling fuel in plastic containers when the fireball occurred. Local authorities said the death toll could continue to rise given the severity of the injuries and the number of people whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Illegal pipeline taps like this one, which occurred near the town of Tlahuelilpan about 60 miles north of Mexico City, are a chronic problem in Mexico; an average of 42 taps were drilled daily in the first 10 months of 2018. "Far from stopping the fight ... against fuel theft, it's going to become stronger," said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday. "We'll continue until we've eradicated these practices." Bonnie Kristian

Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for his fatal shooting of a black teenager named Laquan McDonald in 2014, was sentenced Friday to six years and nine months in prison.

With good behavior, Van Dyke could be out of custody in three years or less, his lawyer said. The special prosecutor who handled the case had requested a sentence of 18 to 20 years, and the sentence Van Dyke received is for the murder charge alone, not the battery. Each of the battery convictions had a mandatory minimum sentence of six years, and the judge could have ordered them to be served sequentially.

On Thursday, three other officers accused of falsifying reports to justify the shooting were acquitted. Bonnie Kristian

For once, President Trump is really happy with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

He responded with a flurry of tweets Friday and Saturday to Friday evening's news that Mueller denied a BuzzFeed News report alleging his investigation had compiled evidence Trump directed Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney, to lie to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower project.

Many of Trump's posts were retweets from friendly voices like his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and commentator Geraldo Rivera:

In his own tweets, Trump called the BuzzFeed report "disgraceful" and blamed it for a "very sad day for journalism."

Trump also tweeted on familiar topics including the Steele Dossier, the stock market, immigration, and his perceived persecution at the hands of the press. Bonnie Kristian

Saturday's third annual Women's March is expected to draw smaller crowds than in previous years thanks to accusations of anti-Semitism among national organizers.

Former Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.) formally withdrew her participation Friday, saying she "cannot associate with the national march's leaders and principles, which refuse to completely repudiate anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry."

Other prominent speakers and sponsors from past years — including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the Democratic National Committee, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and NARAL — have cut ties as well. Most did not issue specific statements explaining their decision.

For those who do participate, events are organized in Washington, D.C., as well as hundreds of other cities nationwide and around the world. Policy focuses this year include the minimum wage, health care, and opposition to President Trump.

Read The Week's Shikha Dalmia here on the controversy and divisions within the march's ranks. Bonnie Kristian

President Trump on Twitter Friday evening announced plans for a Saturday afternoon statement on his proposed border wall construction and the partial government shutdown:

Trump did not offer any further details on the nature of his announcement, nor did the White House press team respond to inquiries on the subject. "I'm not going to get ahead of the president, but I can assure he's going to continue fighting for border security. He's going to continue looking for the solution to end the humanitarian and national security crisis at the border," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

CNN reported Friday night an unnamed senior administration official said the president plans to offer a deal to congressional Democrats and will not at this point make an emergency declaration so he can use military funding for wall construction. Bonnie Kristian

President Trump may not be the only one in legal jeopardy after BuzzFeed News' bombshell report.

In Friday's report, sources told BuzzFeed News that Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower project. But before that, the report says Trump's children "Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen" — something Donald Trump Jr. has denied to Congress.

Cohen — who was reportedly in charge of the Trump Tower project — once said discussions with Russia about the project stopped in January 2016. He took that back in a guilty plea last November, saying he lied to Congress and affirming that discussions actually continued beyond January. That statement contradicted Trump Jr.'s insistence that discussions ended earlier, though as Trump Jr. claimed to the Senate Intelligence Committee in September 2017, he knew "very little" about what was happening with the project anyway.

BuzzFeed News' Friday report explicitly contradicts that statement, meaning Trump Jr. would've lied to Congress just like Cohen has admitted to doing. It also provides a potential explanation for a smattering of contacts Trump Jr. has had with various Russians, as pointed out by Axios. And it all helps solidify an August 2018 report from The Washington Post, which says the president worried Trump Jr. "inadvertently may have wandered into legal ­jeopardy."

Read more about the BuzzFeed News report's consequences for Trump Jr. at Axios. Kathryn Krawczyk