GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is one step closer to securing the job permanently after the Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly approved his nomination earlier today.

SEN.

CHARLES GRASSLEY (R-IA): The nomination will be favorably reported.

GEOFF BENNETT: The nomination advanced along party lines after Blanche won over two Republican holdouts by rescinding the so-called anti-weaponization fund aimed at paying Trump allies, including January 6 rioters.

SEN.

THOM TILLIS (R-NC): It's done.

It's been rescinded, and I am satisfied.

GEOFF BENNETT: But Senate Democrats say they remain concerned the fund could be revived and that Mr.

Trump's tax immunity remains intact, raising broader questions about the nomination of the man who once served as President Trump's personal defense attorney.

SEN.

CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): He's about being Donald Trump's lawyer and not the people's lawyer.

This is so deeply wrong.

We will rue the day that we let this man have this much power under such a corrupt president.

GEOFF BENNETT: Blanche's nomination now heads to the Senate floor for a full vote, which could happen as early as this week.

In New Jersey, civil rights groups are demanding answers after a man from El Salvador died in ICE custody over the weekend.

PROTESTER: When I said ICE, you say out.

PROTESTER: ICE.

PROTESTERS: Out!

PROTESTER: ICE.

PROTESTERS: Out!

GEOFF BENNETT: Activists joined the family of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo today and called for an independent investigation.

His 12-year-old daughter fought back tears as she spoke about the loss of her father.

ASHLEY CORNEJO, Daughter of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo: We're both dead, but the only difference is that his heart stopped beating.

And I'm going to grow up without a father.

GEOFF BENNETT: Federal officials say the 41-year-old died following a medical emergency, though no official cause of death has been released.

It marks the second death in less than a year at Delaney Hall, the Newark detention center that has seen months of protests over its treatment of detainees.

Several European Union nations are calling for tougher action against migrant smuggling after last week's surge of people into the North African enclave of Ceuta.

Roughly 72,000 migrants entered the Spanish territory, sparking a humanitarian crisis, as well as a fierce debate over immigration policy within the E.U.

At least 80 people died in the crossing.

Spanish officials say most of the migrants have since returned to Morocco.

After a meeting of E.U.

ministers today in Brussels, Spain's interior minister defended what he called Madrid's immediate and efficient response.

FERNANDO GRANDE-MARLASKA, Spanish Interior Minister (through translator): There are things that happen where there does not necessarily need to be someone responsible.

Any other security department could also have foreseen this or another European Union country.

We are all involved in security, in intelligence, in gathering information on social media.

GEOFF BENNETT: Today's emergency meeting comes after 22 nations signed an open letter criticizing Spain's policy on the legal status of migrants within its borders.

Iran and Oman are reportedly nearing a potential deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Foreign Ministry says the two sides are in talks about designating shipping lanes in the vital waterway.

Two regional officials tell the Associated Press that a possible plan would have ships enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a passage controlled by Oman.

But any deal would require the U.S.

to end its blockade on Iran's ports.

At an unrelated event today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S.

is involved in the talks and struck an optimistic tone.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S.

Secretary of State: Suffice it to say there's been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet.

We're hoping that will happen in a very short period.

GEOFF BENNETT: Any deal that would give Iran partial control of the strait would be a dramatic shift from before the war started, when the waterway was completely open to maritime traffic.

In Gaza, 112 Palestinians were laid to rest in a mass funeral today nearly three years after they died in an Israeli airstrike on a residential area shortly after the Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

Mourners gathered for the ceremony in Gaza City.

Each victim remains draped in a Palestinian flag.

Gaza's Civil Defense says it took more than two weeks to recover and identify the remains, which had been buried all this time beneath the rubble.

Officials say 157 additional bodies are still missing.

Relatives said the day was a mixture of closure and of grief.

TAYSIR AL-HASSAYNA, Relative of Victims (through translator): It has reopened our wounds three years after this massacre.

It has brought sorrow back to our children, women, and sons.

But our consolation is that we believe they are martyrs with God.

GEOFF BENNETT: Also, today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces will not withdraw from their current positions in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed.

In his comments on social media, he suggested there were differences between Israel and the Trump administration over a recent deal announced to disarm the militant group.

In Guatemala, hundreds of people are being evacuated from villages near the Fuego volcano after it erupted yesterday.

Video from the site located just 20 miles or so from the country's capital shows a fountain of lava up to 1,000 feet high and ash reportedly spewing nearly four miles into the air.

Authorities issued a nationwide orange alert, one level below its most serious emergency, and closed a major highway nearby.

The volcano was part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and is one of Guatemala's most active volcanoes.

After the closing bell on Wall Street, SpaceX posted a half-a-billion-dollar loss for the second quarter.

It was the rocket company's first such report since going public in June, but that loss was smaller than expected and revenues soared.

Meantime, Wall Street rallied to new records today amid strong corporate profits and cooling oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 900 points on the day.

The Nasdaq added more than 2.5 percent.

The S&P 500 beat its previous high set in June.

Still to come on the "News Hour": artificial intelligence proves a promising tool for stopping wildfires before they burn out of control; we examine the science behind how prescribing art helps combat loneliness; and the latest episode of our "Settle In" podcast explores the threats of biological warfare.