The Note: Hillary Clinton Confronts 'Stubborn' Facts

— -- NOTABLES

--CLINTON JOKES ABOUT WIPING EMAIL SERVER 'WITH A CLOTH OR SOMETHING': Hillary Clinton joked to reporters Tuesday in Las Vegas about whether she "wiped" her email server clean before giving it to the FBI. "What? Like with a cloth or something?" she asked, then laughed. "I don't know how it works digitally at all." Clinton maintained that she has turned over the server to investigators and gave them "every single thing" that was work-related. Federal investigators are looking into the security of the server and whether there was classified information in the emails from the private account she used while serving as secretary of state, ABC's RYAN STRUYK and LIZ KREUTZ report. She made the quip during an exchange with Fox News' Ed Henry. http://abcn.ws/1NsfLcv

--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: "The facts are stubborn," Hillary Clinton declared Tuesday, in the same news conference where she joked about wiping her email server "with a cloth or something," and professed not to know "how it works digitally." How it works politically, at least, is indeed based on a series of stubborn facts. Clinton chose to create a private server for her State Department emails. When asked by the State Department to turn over those emails, she chose to decide for herself which were relevant and work-related, and took steps to delete the rest. She then chose to wait months before turning over the server itself and a copy of her work-related emails retained by her lawyer -- and her campaign says neither device will provide any new information. The FBI is now on that case, looking at how classified information was handled under this unusual arrangement. Perhaps reporters are the only ones asking her questions about the emails. But the FBI is using tools more complex than cloth for its search, surely.

--BY THE NUMBERS: A CNN/ORC poll released this morning shows Hillary Clinton with 47 percent support and Bernie Sanders with 29 percent support in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, ABC's BEN GITTLESON reports. The poll also shows that, for "the first time in CNN/ORC polling, [Donald Trump's] gains among the Republican Party have boosted him enough to be competitive in the general election," according to CNN -- Trump's just 6 points behind Clinton when matched up against her. The poll also found that Clinton's favorables have dropped. http://cnn.it/1hM8uIh

--TRUMP'S GOP RIVALS BLAST HIS IMMIGRATION PLAN: After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump unveiled his six-page immigration policy paper earlier this week, his GOP rivals have wasted no time in lambasting his plan. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio hit back against Trump Tuesday, saying that he doubts that Trump's policies could ever become legislation, according to ABC's CANDACE SMITH and JOSH HASKELL. Trump has called for a wall to be built across the southern border of the United States, and his plan seeks to "impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages." He has also pledged to end birthright citizenship. But for the candidate who famously alluded to getting his military policy ideas from the Sunday political shows, any policy proposals are an easy target for other GOP hopefuls, who are eager to break Trump's lead in national polls. http://abcn.ws/1KupTvQ

TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC' SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Donald Trump is back on the trail today, holding his first town hall ever this evening in Derry, New Hampshire. He is also expected to take questions from the press before the event. Six of the GOP candidates will speak at the New Hampshire Education Summit in Londonderry. Moderated by Campbell Brown and sponsored by the American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy organization, the goal is to engage leaders in discussions on the country's education system, per the group. They will also hold a similar event in Iowa at a later date. The Iowa State Fair also continues and it's Rick Perry's turn at the Soapbox.

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

HILLARY CLINTON BREAKS WITH OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ON ARCTIC DRILLING. Hillary Clinton has made a rare policy break from the White House, coming out in opposition of off-shore drilling in the Arctic Ocean just one day after the Obama administration gave Shell the go-ahead to drill for oil and gas there, ABC's LIZ KREUTZ notes. "The Arctic is a unique treasure. Given what we know, it's not worth the risk of drilling," the front-running Democratic presidential candidate tweeted Tuesday morning. On Monday, the Obama administration approved a permit for Shell to drill in the undersea Arctic, a move seen as a crushing defeat for environmentalists and one that may hint at how the president will vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline. http://abcn.ws/1MACML2

OBAMA MAKING IRAN PITCH FROM VACATION. Between golf rounds and beach days at Martha's Vineyard, President Obama is continuing to make phone calls to members of Congress to sell the Iran deal, according to ABC's ALI WEINBERG. "While the President takes some time off to be with his family, he remains engaged as does our entire team in making sure that all those interested in the deal understand why this is the best approach to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," White House deputy spokesman Eric Schultz told ABC in an email. Schultz said the White House is confident that they will have a veto-proof majority in favor of the deal. "We remain confident that ultimately a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate will support the deal, and if necessary, sustain the President's veto," he said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

WATCH HILLARY CLINTON GET UNUSUAL MEASURE OF SUPPORT FROM ELDERLY VOTER. Anyone watching Hillary Clinton's town hall in Nevada yesterday may have done a double take when an elderly voter stood up and gave her an unusual message of support. Calling Clinton "Big Mama," she said the Democratic hopeful has "got the b**** that the men don't have" during the town hall. The crowd at the Dr. William U. Pearson Community Center in North Las Vegas went wild -- most of the women in the audience erupted into laughter and applause, ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI notes. http://abcn.ws/1PykFUe

WHO'S TWEETING?

@JillDLawrence: How Hillary squandered a savvy campaign on an idiotic scandal. 5 stages of Dem grief all at once. My latest @TheWeek http://bit.ly/1hMf8hD

@seungminkim: I rang up how much @realDonaldTrump's #immigration plan would cost. It ain't cheap http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/donald-trumps-immigration-tab-166-billion-121500.html ...

@Hadas_Gold: Carly Fiorina's play for the varsity debate - the more polls the better http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/carly-fiorinas-play-for-varsity-debate-121505.html?hp=lc1_4 ...

@agearan: How Black Lives Matter moved from a hashtag to a real political force http://wapo.st/1JhDVA6

@nationaljournal: A GOP alternative to Obamacare would have to grapple with the 20 million newly insured http://buff.ly/1hMdnBg