Pushing back against West's claim that NATO provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine and his call for ceasefire negotiations, Cooper argued that Putin was too evil and murderous to agree to stop slaughtering people.

"I mean, you saw what he did to Grozny in the nineties," Cooper said. "I mean, he flattened that city. Civilians were trapped in that city. The world didn't come to the rescue of Grozny. He did exactly what he wanted to do. I mean, unchecked, he will slaughter people."

"Well, I mean, unchecked, he will slaughter folk, unchecked, what we did in Iraq was slaughtering people, unchecked," West replied, when Cooper began frantically interrupting him.

"Nation states do that and they are wrong. And when they're wrong, you have to point it out," West continued while Cooper talked over him.

"Look, again, I respect you," Cooper said. "You know I love you, but I do think it's inappropriate to compare the Russian bombing of Grozny, and what we witnessed there with the war in Iraq. I mean, to say that innocents were killed. I mean, there's no doubt about it. I mean, the horrible things happen—"

"Half a million Iraqis killed, my brother? Half a million," interjected West.

"I certainly understand," said Cooper. "I also saw a lot of Americans getting killed. And I saw, you know, the horrors of Saddam Hussein.I don't think it's accurate to compare the pummeling of a city by Russian artillery, with civilians inside, pummeling every single day with the intention of just destroying and flattening a city with actions the US took."