I looked for it on YouTube - no luck.
Frankly, it means nothing even if he did praise him.
In business and politics people say good things about those they have no respect for all the time. Watch C Span - senators who hate each other’s guts will still refer to each other as “my very close friend and esteemed colleague, the honerable so and so.”
I think history will judge Jeff Sessions kindly, and some day when everything is known about what he did or didn’t do, the Sessions-haters on FR are going to look foolish and mean spirited.
I only read an NPR (untrustworthy) piece so I don’t know what Sessions actually said. But you are right, respect for the law goes with respect for fellow humans, even the worst criminal. But respect for the law and all law-abiding Americans means prosecutng the guilty but doihg it properly.