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Altered Video

Was CNN anchor Larry Madowo "threatened on live TV" by a Ugandan government minister? No, that's not true: An authentic interview between CNN One World's Larry Madowo and Ugandan Foreign Minister Gen. Jeje Odongo that aired on August 24, 2021, discussed whether Uganda's citizens were being tried for treasonous acts. Two days later, the entertainment YouTube channel EduTV KE posted a manipulated satirical version of the video that replaced Odongo with an unnamed "government official" who was presented as Uganda's minister -- but was an actor -- who instead comedically described Americans having mistaken "tree zones" for "treason."

Though iterations of the claim have circulated online since the original interview was broadcast in 2021, the satirical version resurfaced on June 9, 2023, (archived here) in a series of posts shared to Twitter that claimed a Ugandan "minister" threatened a CNN news anchor. A caption that accompanied the video read:

So, Ugandans have many funny interview clips 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

This Minister threaten CNN journo for TV 😭😭😭 E clear Larry sey decorum dey necessary 😂😂

Below is how the post on Twitter appeared at the time of this publication:

(Source: Twitter screenshot captured Mon July 24 21:48:00 UTC 2023)

In an email to Lead Stories received July 25, 2023, Usman Haruna, owner of the Twitter account that reshared the above clip in 2023, confirmed that "the video was altered" and that the respondent in the video is a Kenyan comedian.

A reverse image search of stills captured from the supposed interview revealed that the clip shared to Twitter was initially posted to the entertainment YouTube channel EduTV KE on August 26, 2021, (archived here) titled, "LARRY MADOWO THREATENED ON LIVE TELEVISION #cnn #larry #news." A caption that accompanied the video read:

WATCH CNN NEWS WHERE JOURNALIST LARRY MADOWO REALLY HAD IT ROUGH WHEN INTERVIEWING UGANDAN POLITICIAN

The satirical video posted to the EduTV KE channel was a manipulated version of an authentic 6:31-minute interview between Madowo and Odongo published by CNN on August 24, 2021. Though Madowo's statements made in the satirical video were genuine, Odongo was replaced with a comedian who did not represent Uganda's government.

EduTV KE confirmed to Lead Stories in an email received on July 26, 2023, that the clip was satirical in nature.

Below is a side-by-side comparison of the original CNN broadcast (left) and the EduTV KE satirical version (right):

(Source: Lead Stories screenshot compilation captured Mon July 24 21:46:15 UTC 2023)

Various components of the EduTV KE recording screenshot above reveal that it is manipulated. For example, the lower third that reads "Larry Madowoh threatened on Live TV" features a different font and sizing than CNN typically uses, and Madowo's name is misspelled. Another giveaway is that the actor in the right-hand video appears squished and is unprofessionally lit. Lastly, what is meant to resemble a flag above the actor's left shoulder is not the Ugandan flag, which can be seen in the original CNN broadcast.

Lead Stories transcribed both the CNN and the EduTV KE recordings. Those transcripts can be compared below, beginning with the satirical EduTV KE dialogue:

Madowo: You say that everybody is free in Uganda and yet you as internal affairs minister in large presented a list to parliament of 177 people who are under military detention and later President Museveni said at least 50 people had been arrested for treasonable acts of opposition. Is this the sign of freedom to you?

Actor: Larry, let me first of all congratulate you for the good job at that CNN and actually for finding a suit that looks like mine. You are doing a good job. But I would like to remind you where you come from. You were just from here, Kenya. Okay? And where you come from you know you don't ask such questions to the government. So, I'll give you another chance, Larry, and please rephrase your question and ask with a bit of decorum now knowing that you are addressing a government official.

Madowo: What do you consider treasonous acts? Is it being part of the opposition a treasonous act? is organizing to try and build an alternative government to that of President Museveni a treasonous act? Is opposing President Museveni a treasonous act?

Actor: Larry, you are insisting on the issue of treasonous and I would like to get done with it. One, the government had said categorically that there are places that are meant to be tree zones. And so, when people went into the tree zones, they were known as tree zoners. And now when we say that the people have committed tree zoners acts, it means that they are going and actually invaded the tree zones and there is nothing wrong with the government saying that people have invaded the tree zones and I don't see how the tree zoners are affecting the coming of the Afghanistan refugees here in Uganda. And Larry, I want to remind you again that when a verb comes before a noun and the pronoun and the verb is a product of the noun that comes before the adverb, then it means that the proverb is also a pronoun and a product of the noun that comes before it. So, the tree zoners issues...

Below is the genuine CNN interview with Odongo's responses:

Madowo: You say that everybody is free in Uganda and yet you as internal affairs minister in large presented a list to parliament of 177 people who are under military detention and later President Museveni said at least 50 people had been arrested for treasonable acts of opposition. Is this the sign of freedom to you?

Odongo: I think let's get our facts correct. It is true a number of individuals were arrested because of disobeying the standard operating proceedings. Some were arrested because of the treasonous acts that [they] got themselves involved in.

Madowo: What do you consider treasonous acts? Is it being part of the opposition a treasonous act? is organizing to try and build an alternative government to that of President Museveni a treasonous act? Is opposing President Museveni a treasonous act?

Odongo: All of those you have mentioned are not treasonous acts. Treasonous acts are completely different by any imagination that you know, by definition, treasonous acts involve activities that are injurious to the well-being and good of the country.

According to the EduTV KE "About" section, the YouTube channel was created on July 7, 2015. It features some satirical content and is described as:

WELCOME TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND ENJOY OUR CONTENT THAT RANGES FROM ENTERTAINMENT,MUSIC,LIVE CONVERSATIONS AND INTERACTIONS.

Lead Stories has also debunked other satirical viral content posited as genuine, including that the state of Ohio did not introduce a death penalty procedure that "quickly and humanely rips off the heads of death row inmates using powerful robotic arms," that a video shared on social media did not show "leaked footage of our flat Earth from 1977," and that Elon Musk did not threaten in a series of tweets to block DirecTV's satellite dishes after the TV provider banned NewsMax from their channel lineup.