The Note: The Unshackling of Donald Trump

— -- NOTABLES

--TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER BERATES 'WISHY-WASHY' REPUBLICAN LEADERS: Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway today denounced some top Republican leaders for being "very wishy-washy" in their support of the GOP presidential nominee, after House Speaker Paul Ryan said he will no longer defend or campaign for Trump, according to ABC’s MORGAN WINSOR. “We want the support of anybody who’s going to publicly endorse us. But enough of the pussyfooting around in terms of, you know, do you support us or do you not support us," Conway said today on ABC News’ "Good Morning America." "Some of these leaders have been very wishy-washy.” http://abcn.ws/2e8Syzs

--TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s RYAN STRUYK: Donald Trump has been at odds with top GOP leaders over the last 24 hours, blasting Paul Ryan on Twitter repeatedly yesterday for telling House Republicans he would not defend or campaign for him. Trump has two campaign events this afternoon in Florida -- a must-win state for the real estate mogul, who has stumbled in recent polls but mostly halted the cascade of un-endorsements from the weekend with his Sunday night debate. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton will be in Colorado and Nevada -- both Hispanic-heavy states that may tip her way in November. Clinton dealt with hecklers yesterday who called her husband a "rapist" during an event. She'll be at a voter registration event this afternoon in Colorado and then an early vote event late tonight in Nevada.

--VEEP WATCH: Mike Pence will be back on the stump again for Donald Trump this afternoon in the crucial battleground states of North Carolina and Virginia, although many analysts believe Virginia is a lost cause in the presidential race. And Clinton's team will be covering several battlegrounds today: Tim Kaine will take to North Carolina for Hillary Clinton this afternoon and his wife Anne Holton will be in New Hampshire.

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’S RICK KLEIN: Unshackled Trump is a dangerous thing – to his own party perhaps more than anything else. Donald Trump has responded to the rebellion inside the GOP by lashing back at those who are expressing concerns about his candidacy, blasting “weak and ineffective” Republican office-holders. This list includes, in his telling, House Speaker Paul Ryan (whom he’s not sure should stay in the job) and Sen. John McCain (who is fighting to keep his job in the complex storm Trump stirred up). Trump also released an ad so over-the-top that “SNL” would have trouble beating it, featuring a coughing and stumbling Hillary Clinton. Trump has always felt he wasn’t getting the respect he deserved for winning the primaries from members from Republican insiders. But his very Trumpian response to the latest developments threatens to narrow, not broaden, his appeal. This is a campaign, and now an entire political party, that’s in the process of melting down. Trump’s campaign is adding heat to that mix.

YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

TRUMP SLAMS CLINTON FOR WIKILEAKS EMAILS. Donald Trump spent last night taking aim squarely at his Democratic rival and not, as some expected, hitting “disloyal Republicans” in his own party who have denounced him, as he did earlier in the day. He excoriated Hillary Clinton for the information allegedly revealed through a WikiLeaks publication of supposedly hacked emails of John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chair. Trump, speaking in an outdoor amphitheater, began the onslaught. "The Hillary Clinton documents released today by Wikileaks make more clear than ever just how much is at stake in this election. So much corruption,” he said. He went on to pick apart specific emails. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH has more. http://abcn.ws/2d6MZUS

LET’S REVIEW -- TRUMP’S TWITTER TIRADE AGAINST PAUL RYAN AND 'DISLOYAL' REPUBLICANS. Donald Trump went on a Twitter tirade against House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican leaders after Ryan in a conference call Monday with GOP House members told them that he was not rescinding his endorsement of Trump but would not defend or campaign for him. Ryan also told House members, "You all need to do what's best for you in your district." Trump blasted Ryan Tuesday morning as a "weak and ineffective leader." ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI has more: http://abcn.ws/2dIRGWr

TRUMP HITS CLINTON OVER HAITI CONTROVERSY. Trump Tuesday accused Bill and Hillary Clinton and their foundation of having “ripped off Haiti,” as they sought to guide the reconstruction after the devastating 2010 earthquake there. “Folks, there has never been anything like this, what’s gone on here,” Trump said to a crowd in Panama City, Florida. “Today as Haiti’s death toll from Hurricane Matthew is on the rise, we should never forget how Bill and Hillary Clinton handled Haiti the last time out.” Trump’s remarks came hours after an ABC News investigation revealed a series of email exchanges between the U.S. Department of State and top Clinton Foundation officials during the hours after the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake, report ABC’s MATTHEW MOSK and BRIAN ROSS. http://abcn.ws/2e0NMDy

'UNPRECEDENTED' RIFT AMONG REPUBLICANS PUTS PARTY'S SURVIVAL IN LIMBO, EXPERTS SAY. The disarray within the Republican Party is so unprecedented, experts say, that it is unclear how the party could – or ever will – reunify after the presidential election. The cracks come as more GOP leaders broke with Donald Trump in the wake of the release of a 2005 recording in which he is overheard making lewd and vulgar comments about how he makes moves on women, which has damaged his already beleaguered campaign. Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist and former aide to Mitt Romney who has not supported Trump, predicts that Trump will lose the presidential election and, “unfortunately, hurt several” of the down-ballot Republicans, notes ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. http://abcn.ws/2dGOs3i

TRUMP'S DEBATE TALK CONTRADICTS GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE TYING RUSSIA TO RECENT HACKS. During Sunday night’s debate, Donald Trump not only questioned whether Russia is behind a series of recent hacks targeting American political organizations, but he also suggested that perhaps those highly-publicized hacks never really happened in the first place, writes ABC’s MIKE LEVINE and MEGHAN KENEALLY. Such rhetoric contradicts a growing body of evidence gathered by both the political organizations targeted and the nation’s top intelligence agencies, which just days ago released a rare statement saying they are "confident" that the Russian government is responsible for many of the recent hacks. http://abcn.ws/2dJ9wFd

ERIC TRUMP: 'ALPHA PERSONALITIES' SOMETIMES ENGAGE IN 'LOCKER ROOM TALK.' Donald Trump's son Eric chalked up his father's 2005 conversation about groping women, which drew fire from both sides of the aisle and comparisons to advocating sexual assault, to "locker room banter" that "alpha personalities" sometimes engage in. Donald Trump's son Eric is the first of the Republican nominee's children to talk about the recording since it surfaced on Friday. While he said that he was "glad" that his father apologized and maintained that "I'm not saying it's right" he appeared to explain the behavior, reports ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. http://abcn.ws/2dHp9Ox

CHRIS CHRISTIE SLAMS DONALD TRUMP'S 2005 REMARKS ABOUT WOMEN AS 'COMPLETELY INDEFENSIBLE.' New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of Donald Trump’s staunchest advocates, denounced the Republican presidential candidate’s lewd comments about women in a leaked 2005 tape, saying he was with Trump when the video surfaced, writes ABC’s MORGAN WINSOR. “Let’s be really clear. It is completely indefensible,” Christie told Craig Carton on WFAN radio Tuesday morning when asked about the comments. “I won’t defend it and haven’t defended it. That kind of talk and conversation, even in private, is just unacceptable.” http://abcn.ws/2ec3pMG

REPORTERS' NOTEBOOK -- IN THE EYE OF THE TRUMP FIRESTORM. It started on a Friday afternoon. The debate was two days away and Donald Trump was supposed to travel to Wisconsin the next day for an appearance at the Elkhorn Fall Fest. The press was excited for fried fair food. But that fateful afternoon everything changed. Audio had leaked and, in it, the Republican nominee boasted about how his celebrity status gave him license to touch women's genitals and kiss them without permission. He talked about a married woman he once tried to have sex with. Friday evening, Trump released a video message in which he apologized, but contended that Bill Clinton’s actions had been worse. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH has more. http://abcn.ws/2dJ8fOr

WHAT WE’RE PODCASTING -- BLOOMBERG’S ‘MASTERS IN POLITICS’: Betsy Fischer Martin and Tammy Haddad interview Ana Navarro, the Republican political strategist and contributor for CNN, ABC and Telemundo whom the Miami Herald dubbed "the voice of the outraged Republican woman." They also speak with Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and a Hillary Clinton supporter, about Donald Trump, Russia, and WikiLeaks. LISTEN: http://apple.co/2dc8I9b

WHO’S TWEETING?

@MichaelTConte: "That is an extraordinary sign that we are truly at war."-@jonkarl on @GMA re Conway's refusal to say if they want Ryan to remain speaker

@realDonaldTrump: Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by Wikileakes. So dishonest! Rigged system!

@NYTnickc: NYT: http://nyti.ms/2dvRO6b WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/2dTQzzl WaPo: http://wapo.st/2duY5zc CNN: http://cnn.it/2dJ6Jvy

@bterris: It's almost like the media DID cover this, but readers/viewers were more interested in another story

@hunterschwarz: Salt Lake Tribune endorses Clinton, "the only qualified candidate, and the best choice”