The incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Attorney General nominee William Barr has confidence in special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) and will let Mueller finish his Russia investigation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says Barr has a "very, very high opinion" of Mueller.

The South Carolina Republican was among the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who met with Barr on Wednesday as Barr made the rounds on Capitol Hill before his confirmation hearing next week.

President Donald Trump pushed out Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year and nominated Barr to replace him.

Trump's critics have warned that Barr may try to curtail Mueller's investigation, given that the president has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt."

And Barr wrote an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department last year critiquing Mueller's investigation

Graham also commented on President Trump's speech Tuesday night from the Oval office.

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem," said Graham.

"I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal."

Washington DC - 9 January 2019

1. Cutaway of Attorney General nominee William Barr walking down the hall and into Sen. Lindsey Graham's office

++SILENT++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I think the main thing people want to know is what's his view of the Mueller investigation. And I can assure you based on what I've heard, that he has a high opinion of Mr. Mueller, believes that Mr. Mueller is doing a professional job, will do a professional job. Be fair to the president of the country as a whole and has no reason for Mr. Mueller to stop doing his job and is commited to allowing Mr. Mueller to finish."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"As to President I ask him, he said some pretty tough things. Mr. Barr said he's the one on the receiving end of this, he is sort of the accused and from the president's point of view, I think he believes it is a witch hunt and doesn't believe he did anything wrong and I can remember the Clinton days, when Ken Starr was part of a right-wing conspiracy. That is just sort of the way these things go."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He had absolutely no indication he was going to tell Bob Mueller what to do, or how to do it. He is confident that Mr. Mueller will pursue the facts and the law."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"The memo, that was his opinion about the slippery slope of obstruction of justice charges against a president who wants to terminate a political appointee. He has got to believe that is a dangerous precedent to set and his memo was shared

with other people, he wanted their input. And we will share with the committee all the folks that Mr. Barr talked to and shared the memo with and we will give you an explanation to the committee as why he wrote it."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He has a high opinion of Rod, they talked. Mr. Rosenstein mentioned him when they first met, I think that two years would probably be enough. He has some ideas of a deputy. I told him to pick somebody you are comfortable with and the president can approve and I trust his judgment to find a worthy successor to Mr. Rosenstein."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem on both sides, those who are coming here, the abuse that women go through, the children to get to the country, what happens when the criminal illegal immigrants are allowed to come back time and time again. And I thought it was a pretty persuasive case that we need to secure our border and we need to realize illegal immigration is a human tragedy at multiple levels."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"To my Democratic colleagues I don't believe you're going to get much traction that the president is manufacturing a crisis because all of you, including me have voted for billions of dollars to secure the border very much like the president is proposing."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"Toward the end of the week, there'll be some ideas emerging from the Senate that would have some bipartisan buy-in. But here's what the Democrats are going to ask, this is a good question - will the president sign it? And I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal on the wall."

10). Cutaway of Graham and Barr in his office ++SILENT++

The incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Attorney General nominee William Barr has confidence in special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) and will let Mueller finish his Russia investigation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says Barr has a "very, very high opinion" of Mueller.

The South Carolina Republican was among the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who met with Barr on Wednesday as Barr made the rounds on Capitol Hill before his confirmation hearing next week.

President Donald Trump pushed out Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year and nominated Barr to replace him.

Trump's critics have warned that Barr may try to curtail Mueller's investigation, given that the president has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt."

And Barr wrote an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department last year critiquing Mueller's investigation

Graham also commented on President Trump's speech Tuesday night from the Oval office.

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem," said Graham.

"I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal."

Washington DC - 9 January 2019

1. Cutaway of Attorney General nominee William Barr walking down the hall and into Sen. Lindsey Graham's office

++SILENT++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I think the main thing people want to know is what's his view of the Mueller investigation. And I can assure you based on what I've heard, that he has a high opinion of Mr. Mueller, believes that Mr. Mueller is doing a professional job, will do a professional job. Be fair to the president of the country as a whole and has no reason for Mr. Mueller to stop doing his job and is commited to allowing Mr. Mueller to finish."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"As to President I ask him, he said some pretty tough things. Mr. Barr said he's the one on the receiving end of this, he is sort of the accused and from the president's point of view, I think he believes it is a witch hunt and doesn't believe he did anything wrong and I can remember the Clinton days, when Ken Starr was part of a right-wing conspiracy. That is just sort of the way these things go."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He had absolutely no indication he was going to tell Bob Mueller what to do, or how to do it. He is confident that Mr. Mueller will pursue the facts and the law."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"The memo, that was his opinion about the slippery slope of obstruction of justice charges against a president who wants to terminate a political appointee. He has got to believe that is a dangerous precedent to set and his memo was shared

with other people, he wanted their input. And we will share with the committee all the folks that Mr. Barr talked to and shared the memo with and we will give you an explanation to the committee as why he wrote it."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He has a high opinion of Rod, they talked. Mr. Rosenstein mentioned him when they first met, I think that two years would probably be enough. He has some ideas of a deputy. I told him to pick somebody you are comfortable with and the president can approve and I trust his judgment to find a worthy successor to Mr. Rosenstein."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem on both sides, those who are coming here, the abuse that women go through, the children to get to the country, what happens when the criminal illegal immigrants are allowed to come back time and time again. And I thought it was a pretty persuasive case that we need to secure our border and we need to realize illegal immigration is a human tragedy at multiple levels."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"To my Democratic colleagues I don't believe you're going to get much traction that the president is manufacturing a crisis because all of you, including me have voted for billions of dollars to secure the border very much like the president is proposing."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"Toward the end of the week, there'll be some ideas emerging from the Senate that would have some bipartisan buy-in. But here's what the Democrats are going to ask, this is a good question - will the president sign it? And I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal on the wall."

10). Cutaway of Graham and Barr in his office ++SILENT++

President Donald Trump is rejecting a proposed bipartisan immigration bill.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the legislation brought forth by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is "unacceptable" to Trump.

Sanders adds that the legislation should be "declared dead on arrival" and does not meet White House requirements on border security.

The failure to reach an immigration deal earlier this month was the driving force behind the recent, brief federal government shutdown.

The White House had indicated that it would not re-open negotiations on immigration until the shutdown ended.

Sanders also talked about the special counsel's Russia investigation, headed by Robert Mueller.

Washington DC - 23 January 2018

1. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders walks in to press briefing room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"I'd like to leave no doubt, no doubt where the White House stands on the Flake, Graham and Durbin agreement on immigration reform. In a bipartisan meeting here at the White House two weeks ago, we outlined a path forward on four issues, serious border security an end to chain migration, the cancellation of the outdated and unsafe visa lottery and a permanent solution to DACA. Unfortunately, the Flake, Graham, Durbin agreement does not meet these benchmarks. In fact, it would not secure our border encourage more illegal immigration, increase chain migration and retain the visa lottery system."

3. Cutaway

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"In short, it's totally unacceptable to the president and should be declared dead on arrival. The president has been extraordinarily consistent on the immigration and what his priorities are. His views are shared by the vast majority of the American people and have bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives."

5. Cutaway

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"We certainly think that there are a lot of things that we agree on and I think if we focus on what we agree on, a lot more than what we disagree on, we can have a lot of progress and hopefully get to something that helps everybody and solves a big problem."

7. Cutaway

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"Look, I think the president has stated what he would like to see happen and at this point the president is willing to sign something to find a permanent solution for DACA and he has placed the responsibility, which the Constitution has placed and he has reminded Congress that it is their job to actually get that legislation passed and send it to him. Again, he's going to play a big role in the process, but it's on Congress to get that legislation through the two bodies and hit the president's desk."

9. Cutaway

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"But you can't fix the problem if you just tinker with the immigration in a small way. We want to make sure that we're not having this problem and this conversation and this fight in two years and three years and four years. We want to address making a permanent solution to DACA, but at the same time closing the loopholes so we don't have to continue having this battle, but we also want to put some things in place with border security, because if you don't you're not actually solving the problem, you're just extending it and making us have to deal with it in a later time."

11. Cutaway

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"As we've said it probably just about every day this year since we've been here, that we're going to be fully cooperative with the special counsel and we're going to continue to do that throughout the process. But we're also not going to comment on who may or may not or could be interviewed at any point but we're going to continue to be fully cooperative with the process."

13. Cutaway

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"We want to see this come to a complete and full conclusion. I think we all know what everybody in this room would do if the president did that and I don't think that's helpful to the process. The president wants to see this end and he wants to see them finally come to the same conclusion that I think most everyone in America has, that there is nothing to this. They've spent the better part, most of you've spent the better part of a year looking, digging, obsessing over trying to find something and I have yet to find anything."

15. Sanders leaves briefing room

President Donald Trump is rejecting a proposed bipartisan immigration bill.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the legislation brought forth by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is "unacceptable" to Trump.

Sanders adds that the legislation should be "declared dead on arrival" and does not meet White House requirements on border security.

The failure to reach an immigration deal earlier this month was the driving force behind the recent, brief federal government shutdown.

The White House had indicated that it would not re-open negotiations on immigration until the shutdown ended.

Sanders also talked about  the special counsel's Russia investigation, headed by Robert Mueller.

Washington DC - 23 January 2018

1. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders walks in to press briefing room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"I'd like to leave no doubt, no doubt where the White House stands on the Flake, Graham and Durbin agreement on immigration reform. In a bipartisan meeting here at the White House two weeks ago, we outlined a path forward on four issues, serious border security an end to chain migration, the cancellation of the outdated and unsafe visa lottery and a permanent solution to DACA. Unfortunately, the Flake, Graham, Durbin agreement does not meet these benchmarks. In fact, it would not secure our border encourage more illegal immigration, increase chain migration and retain the visa lottery system."

3. Cutaway

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"In short, it's totally unacceptable to the president and should be declared dead on arrival. The president has been extraordinarily consistent on the immigration and what his priorities are. His views are shared by the vast majority of the American people and have bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives."

5. Cutaway

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"We certainly think that there are a lot of things that we agree on and I think if we focus on what we agree on, a lot more than what we disagree on, we can have a lot of progress and hopefully get to something that helps everybody and solves a big problem."

7. Cutaway

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"Look, I think the president has stated what he would like to see happen and at this point the president is willing to sign something to find a permanent solution for DACA and he has placed the responsibility, which the Constitution has placed and he has reminded Congress that it is their job to actually get that legislation passed and send it to him. Again, he's going to play a big role in the process, but it's on Congress to get that legislation through the two bodies and hit the president's desk."

9. Cutaway

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"But you can't fix the problem if you just tinker with the immigration in a small way. We want to make sure that we're not having this problem and this conversation and this fight in two years and three years and four years. We want to address making a permanent solution to DACA, but at the same time closing the loopholes so we don't have to continue having this battle, but we also want to put some things in place with border security, because if you don't you're not actually solving the problem, you're just extending it and making us have to deal with it in a later time."

11. Cutaway

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"As we've said it probably just about every day this year since we've been here, that we're going to be fully cooperative with the special counsel and we're going to continue to do that throughout the process. But we're also not going to comment on who may or may not or could be interviewed at any point but we're going to continue to be fully cooperative with the process."

13. Cutaway

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:

"We want to see this come to a complete and full conclusion. I think we all know what everybody in this room would do if the president did that and I don't think that's helpful to the process. The president wants to see this end and he wants to see them finally come to the same conclusion that I think most everyone in America has, that there is nothing to this. They've spent the better part, most of you've spent the better part of a year looking, digging, obsessing over trying to find something and I have yet to find anything."

15. Sanders leaves briefing room