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John Kirby: We want to reduce reliance on foreign energy producers

NSC coordinator for Strategic Communications on President Biden's support for Hurricane Ian relief, OPEC cutting oil production and Ukraine's resistance on 'Your World.'

This is a rush transcript of "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on October 5, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Let`s go to John Kirby right now, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, with his read on today`s fast-moving developments.

John, Admiral, always good to see you.

JOHN KIRBY, NSC COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: Let me ask you first about the president`s commitment to provide whatever help it takes and however long it takes to Florida, but these could be record numbers and record FEMA expenses.

Are we ready for that?

KIRBY: Yes, in a word. We are, Neil.

And it was important for the president to get down there to see for himself the extent of the damage. You heard his reaction. Obviously, it made an impact on him and I`m sure only cemented further his commitment to doing all we can to help the people of Florida for as long as it takes.

I mean, he`s already doubled now the time of a disaster declaration and allow for Florida 100 percent reimbursement now up to 60 days for debris removal. And you heard him yourself in that clip. I mean, we`re going to -- we`re going to stay there. We`re not -- we`re not going anywhere.

CAVUTO: You know, there have been a number in Florida, as you know, John, who have been saying all this money we have been giving to Ukraine -- Congressman -- Republican Congressman Kirby, for example, from the Sarasota area -- and it`s coming at the expense of Florida.

What did you think of that?

KIRBY: Yes, look, I hear the concern, but the truth is, it`s just not the case.

We have provided a lot of security assistance to Ukraine, in fact, just yesterday, another $650 million -- or $625 million, and you`re going to see more in coming days. That is not going to detract in any way from the kind of support, federally speaking, that the government is going to continue to provide to the people of Florida as they begin to recover.

We can do both at the same time. We`re big enough for that. We`re powerful enough for that. And the president, you heard his commitment clear today, that we`re going to stay at it.

CAVUTO: If I can switch gears, John, we learned from OPEC and OPEC Plus countries that they plan to cut production by upwards of two million barrels a day.

KIRBY: Yes.

CAVUTO: This had been something that the president did not want to see. Do you think they deliberately stuck it to him?

KIRBY: It`s -- I will let them speak to their motivations.

But I think, as you saw from our statement, clearly, the president was disappointed by this decision at a time, Neil, when supply really matters, particularly because of the war that Putin is waging in Ukraine. Any cut to that supply actually just works to the benefit of Russia, who continues to try to run up the table on prices here to get more revenue to finance his war-making machine inside Ukraine.

So, very disappointing. I will let them speak to their deliberate intentions and what they were focused on. But, clearly, it`s not the direction that we wanted them to go.

CAVUTO: But it`s pretty clear they were more interested in satisfying Vladimir Putin than helping Joe Biden. What did you make of that?

KIRBY: Any -- any decrease to the global market supply right now serves to Putin`s benefit.

CAVUTO: But it also means that we`re reliant on their supply, and not all of our supply or tapping more of our supply. And critics of the administration have been saying, that`s the problem. It`s not OPEC. It`s us not pursuing our own energy needs.

KIRBY: Well, I won`t get ahead of the -- yes, and I won`t get ahead of the president`s decisions going forward.

I would just make a couple of points here, Neil. I mean, as you know, record level production here in the United States. Right now, we`re on track for a record year in terms of domestic oil production. The president did release 180 million barrels outside of the Strategic Reserves. We got another 10, I think, coming this month, before -- before that extension will end.

CAVUTO: But aren`t you running out of oil in that reserve? I mean, aren`t you concerned that, with the 10 million additional barrels, we`re running to low levels here? You can only tap so much.

(CROSSTALK)

KIRBY: We`re going to be working and looking at replenishment options and working with Congress on additional authorities.

We have also increased the number of leases available to oil companies to drill here in the United States. They`re not taking full advantage of that. But, to your other point...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: But leases and permits are different matters, right?

I mean, the opportunity for them to pursue more, that is limited. And that is a multiyear process to get that stuff addressed, and that there is a feeling that as soon as...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, I want to just get this out there, that the administration is not eager to pursue this, that if we can get it from somewhere else, so be it, because the pushes on climate change, clean energy, I get that, but that you`re not all in on everything, and that`s what`s producing this, what do you say?

KIRBY: Well, but that -- no, but that`s where I was trying to get to with it, Neil, is that we want to reduce our reliance on foreign producers of fossil fuel.

That`s -- the president has been very clear about that.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: But we`re relying on them more. They just cut two million barrels a day. And we`re upset about it, as we should be. But that`s a clear case of relying on them.

KIRBY: We`re on a record production here of oil production here domestically, Neil.

I won`t get ahead of the president in any of the decisions that he might make going forward. But we do want to release our -- sorry -- reduce our dependence on foreign sources -- sources of fossil fuel.

We also see the future as clean energy. And if you look at the Inflation Reduction Act, there`s a lot of money being put into advancing that sector. And even a lot of the energy companies will tell you that that`s their future as well. We need to get to a clean energy environment. And that`s going to take some time.

We know that it`s a transition. It`s going to take some time. But that`s really where the president wants to go.

CAVUTO: All right, I don`t want to go back and forth, oil production levels and all that. They were actually higher the year before we had COVID. And, obviously, COVID changed everything.

But, leaving that aside, this 10 million additional barrels you hope to get from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after taking 180 million, when all is said and done, I believe, by the end of this month, John...

KIRBY: That`s right.

CAVUTO: ... that`s meant for super emergencies. That`s like for acts of war or worse. The discomfort and clear discomfort of high gas prices is a legitimate concern, to your point.

But are you worried that, when it comes time to building this up, we`re going to be in a world of hurt? That thing will be almost empty.

KIRBY: The decision to tap into the Reserves was not one that the president took lightly.

He understands the purpose of the reserve and why it`s important to have that. And we`re going to work on replenishing the oil that we have been putting into the global market. As you know, it is a global market. That oil gets put on the market. And the market -- puts it on a global market, and the market sets the price.

What he`s also trying to do is do everything he can domestically here to keep the price of gasoline at the pump going down. And it`s down about $1.20 since the high point over the summer. We`re going to continue to work on ways and working with Congress on authorities to keep -- to keep that price down as much as we can.

CAVUTO: All right, so when you look at the economy right now -- and you`re quite right. We are well off our highs, but still, of course, well off the lows when the president assumed office.

And now there is this concern building that the timing of gas price increases couldn`t be worse, I mean, of course, five weeks before the midterms, but, more importantly, the economy globally and the disruption, what`s going on half-a-world away in Europe with pipelines there.

Do you think that this gets much, much worse, that, if Europe is all but shut down and unable to get oil back on it on main -- on stream, that the alternative is only going to be higher prices, much higher prices?

KIRBY: Well, obviously, we don`t want to see that happen.

And we`re watching the market dynamics as closely as we can, Neil. We know that winter`s coming. That`s why we have doubled our commitments to the export of natural gas to Europe than what the president pledged to in March. We`re looking at other suppliers to help our European allies and partners out, because Putin is the one weaponizing this energy.

But these are -- obviously, these are different markets. We`re talking natural gas and oil are completely different. They work on different dynamics. But clearly, what the president wants to see is that supply and demand are in some sort of equitable arrangement here, that there`s a balance.

And that`s why today`s decision was so disappointing to the president, because it upsets that balance that we were starting to get better at. So, again, we`re watch -- we`re going to watch this closely. The short answer to your question is, of course, we`re concerned about it, which is why we`re going to continue to explore options, both domestically and internationally, with our partners.

CAVUTO: All right, on the Nord Stream and the sabotage that Germany says is sabotage, that France argues is sabotage, that Britain argues is sabotage, are you of the view that Vladimir Putin has sabotaged Nord Stream, and twin pipelines, at that?

KIRBY: We are certainly of the view that this was an act of sabotage.

We have not gone as far as attribution at this point. There are still people looking into this. We`re going to respect that process. Separate and distinct...

CAVUTO: Well, we know that Russian merchant ships were in the area when these first signs appeared of leaking gas and the rest. It would seem to connect Russia to that. Do you have any evidence otherwise?

KIRBY: No, we don`t.

We`re just not at the point, Neil, where we`re able to get into attribution here for what we do believe was an act of sabotage. Separate and distinct from that, though, it has been very clear over the last seven months that Putin has been willing to weaponize energy, to hold people hostage for energy supplies.

So, again, I can`t say that they were responsible for this, but it`s very clear where Mr. Putin is in terms of being willing to use energy resources as a way to punish people for supporting Ukraine in a war, quite frankly, that he started in a completely unprovoked way.

CAVUTO: The Ukrainians didn`t like this, John. It`s my final question. I know you`re pressed for time.

But Elon Musk thinks that the only way to end this is to give Russia something, maybe formalize the fact that they own and control Crimea. Of course, you have heard the Ukrainians` response. I can`t repeat it. This is a family show.

But do you think the only way to end this is to give Vladimir Putin something, some land, or keep fighting until he has to leave with his tail between his legs?

KIRBY: Yes, we would all like to see a diplomatic end to this war, a peaceful end to this war.

Obviously, Mr. Putin could do the right thing and end it today by moving troops out. Clearly, that`s not going to happen. Every action he has been taking, including mobilization of 300,000 people, tells you that he wants to keep the war going.

We all want to see it end as quickly as possible. We want to see it end in a negotiated settlement. But, Neil, it`s really important here that President Zelenskyy gets to be in the driver`s seat when it comes to when that negotiated settlement occurs and what is negotiated in the settlement.

Mr. Zelenskyy gets to determine what victory looks like here, what success looks like for Ukraine. What we`re going to do is make sure that he has the tools and capabilities to succeed on the battlefield, which he has been, so that he can succeed at that negotiating table when they get to that point.

CAVUTO: So, when President Zelenskyy says not one inch of Ukrainian land, and there is no middle ground, you support him in that regard?

KIRBY: President Zelenskyy is the president elected of his country. He`s the commander in chief. He gets to determine what the terms of victory and success are. And we`re going to respect his perspectives on that.

CAVUTO: And does the administration hope and pray maybe that Putin is overthrown?

KIRBY: What we are hoping for, what we pray for, what we are working for is Ukraine`s success here, Ukraine`s success on the battlefield and Ukraine success at the negotiating table.

We want to see this war end. We want to see, quite frankly, Ukrainian sovereignty fully respected by Russia, their territorial integrity resumed and returned to them, as is their right, and for them to continue to exist as a sovereign, independent nation. That`s what we -- that`s what we want to see happen.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you very, very much.

John Kirby following all those fast-moving developments.

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