Facts Matter: Feinstein not delivered to Capitol in a hearse

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to Congress recently following a two-and-a-half-month absence due to a case of shingles that had her hospitalized. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee were unable to get through some of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees without Feinstein's tiebreaking vote.

A video posted to social media shows Feinstein arriving at the Capitol in an odd vehicle.

"Breaking News: Dianne Feinstein Dropped off at the Capitol by a hearse," reads the text in a tweet with video showing the senator being helped out of a hearse into a wheelchair. Another tweet read, "If you have to show up in a hearse to your job in the senate, it's time for you to go."

But that video is not real, according to The Associated Press. It has been manipulated to add the hearse.

Feinstein, 89, arrived back at work on May 10 in time to take part in an afternoon vote. She was driven to the Capitol in a silver Lexus sedan, where she was assisted into a wheelchair and greeted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. An image of a hearse was superimposed over the Lexus in the doctored clip.

Aside from the added hearse, that video is identical to a clip posted to Twitter by CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. Videos from other angles show Feinstein exiting a Lexus.

In the manipulated video, although it appears the senator is being helped out of a hearse, images on the phones of people nearby filming the event show Feinstein exiting a Lexus.

Border scenes not result of Title 42

An immigration policy issued during the COVID-19 pandemic called Title 42 ended this month. The policy allowed border agents to send some migrants back to Mexico if they were caught crossing the southern border.

A video recently posted to Facebook and Twitter appears to be a warning about the policy ending.

"JUST IN: Massive violent caravan headed to the United States Border. Will The Biden Administration do anything to stop this?" reads the text on posts that show migrants pulling on a barbed wire fence and groups in chaotic scenes.

But this video has nothing to do with Title 42, according to Reuters. The images of migrants fighting to get across the border happened in March.

The clips were originally published by Mexican news outlet Red Michoacán on March 12, following an incident in which U.S. officials stopped hundreds of migrants, mostly Venezuelan, trying to force their way across the border.

Trump wasn't cut off at CNN town hall

News network CNN recently hosted a town hall with Donald Trump in front of a live audience in New Hampshire. Following the event, some social media users claimed the former president was cut short.

"Lol, CNN ended the town hall with Trump early. Biggest ratings they've had in years and they tapped out," a Twitter user wrote.

But the forum didn't end early, according to The Associated Press. The show actually ran longer than the one-hour broadcast that network executives had expected.

"We gave it room to bleed over some for editorial flexibility. It was ultimately just shy of 70 mins," CNN Worldwide Senior Vice President Matt Dornic said in a tweet.

Paul Pronovost, a spokesperson for Saint Anselm College, where the town hall was held, told the AP they were in step with the network.

"I can confirm (the one-hour run time) is what was shared with the college in advance as well," he said.

Nielsen data reported that 2.2 million viewers tuned into CNN for the prime-time town hall.

Earth's temperature is rising

Scientists have said climate change is due to greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuel emissions accumulating in the atmosphere, which then trap heat and increase temperatures on the planet.

But recent social media posts claim the global temperature is actually low.

"We are about 1 degree Celsius above the coldest it's been in the last 10,000 years," read a May 15 Instagram post, which includes a video of a man stating, "So, in a sense, that's why we shouldn't be panicking."

But that's not accurate, according to PolitiFact. The temperature on Earth has been rising.

"(The Earth is) warmer than at any point in the last 125,000 years, warming faster than at any point in the last 2,000 years, and warming due to human emissions rather than natural causes," Bethan Davies, senior lecturer in physical geography at Newcastle University in England, told PolitiFact.

Davis said the past decade has been warmer than any period over the last 125,000 years.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.