NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS News apologized Monday for a "mistake in judgment" in its story questioning President Bush's National Guard service, claiming it was misled by the source of documents that several experts have dismissed as fakes.

The network said it would appoint an independent panel to look at its reporting about the memos. The story has mushroomed into a major media scandal, threatening the reputations of CBS News and chief anchor Dan Rather.

It also has become an issue in the presidential campaign. The White House said the affair raises questions about the connections between CBS's source, retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, and Democrat John Kerry's campaign.

Bush Attends GOP Fund-Raiser in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) -- The crowd shouted him down repeatedly, once with a roar so loud he confessed it shook him up. But President Bush liked these shouters: loud voices of support in a state where he was soundly defeated four years ago.

"I love New York!" Bush said as Hispanic donors chanted "Viva Bush" at a $3 million fund-raiser for the Republican National Committee.

Bush returned Monday to the city where he held his nominating convention three weeks ago, and said he saw brightening political prospects here and in neighboring New Jersey and Connecticut - equally Democratic-leaning in presidential contests.

Top Republicans here said they were buoyed by new polls showing the race between Bush and Democrat John Kerry tightening in the Empire State. Two polls released last week showed Bush closing the gap but still trailing by 6 to 8 percentage points in a three-way race with independent Ralph Nader.

Nevertheless, Gov. George Pataki introduced Bush by saying, "Welcome back, Mr. President, to the swing state of New York."

Bush, Kerry Teams Agree to Three Debates

DERRY, N.H. (AP) -- Negotiators for President Bush and Democrat John Kerry agreed Monday to three 90-minute debates beginning Sept. 30, including one town-hall format with questions from undecided voters.

The two campaigns essentially went along with recommendations from the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates - except for the proposed subject matter of the first and third debates.

The topic of the first meeting will be foreign policy and homeland security, rather than the economy as the commission had suggested. The final debate, which was to be on foreign policy, will now be about the economy.

Details of the agreement were announced by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, the chief negotiator for Bush, and attorney Vernon Jordan for Kerry.

The first debate will be Sept. 30 at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. The second, a town-hall style format, will be Oct. 8 at Washington University in St. Louis, and the third will beheld Oct. 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Bush Campaign Raises $260 Million Total

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush raised a record $260 million for his re-election bid through last month and spent roughly one-third of it trying to reach voters over the airwaves.

The Republican incumbent took in $18 million in August, his last month of campaign fund raising before accepting full government financing for the general election. That lifted his total to $260 million, more than double the presidential record of roughly $106 million he set in the 2000 primary race - when he had GOP opponents.

Bush spent nearly $224 million from the official start of his re-election effort in May 2003 through last month, according to a monthly campaign finance report he filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission. He spent about $14 million in August.

Ads consumed roughly $87 million of Bush's money, according to an analysis by the Political Money Line campaign finance tracking service. Among other top expenses in the race, Bush spent at least $34 million on mailing, postage and related costs, $17 million on staff, consultants and related costs, and about $4 million on "message" phone calls.

Bush finished the primary campaign with nearly $37 million on hand and only about $21,000 in bills to pay. He cannot spend the leftover money on his own campaign, but can give it to Republican Party committees and candidates.

Edwards Faults Bush on Iraq, Health Care

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards on Monday criticized President Bush's health care policies and faulted the commander in chief for his execution of the war in Iraq.

Campaigning in his Republican-leaning home state, the North Carolina senator echoed the comments of his running mate Sen. John Kerry, who told an audience in New York that Bush's invasion of Iraq has created a crisis that could lead to unending war and raised questions about the president's judgment.

"Iraq's a mess. And Iraq is a mess because of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. It is that simple," Edwards told supporters at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The Democrat said the administration's decision to go to war rather than build a broader international coalition has resulted in a $200 billion price tag for U.S. taxpayers. And he said subsequent events have shown the administration's reasons for going to war to be suspect.

Cheney Again Warns Against Choosing Kerry

CORNWALL, Pa. (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday assailed Sen. John Kerry as a vacillator on Iraq and warned against choosing the Democrat in November.

"The danger here is without a very firm commitment on the part of the president of the United States to put in place a vision to make a decision and live with that decision ... what you get out there on the other end is confusion, weakness, uncertainty and indecision," the vice president told about 200 people at a town hall meeting.

Cheney spoke as Kerry addressed an audience in New York, where he accused Bush of "stubborn incompetence," dishonesty and colossal failures of judgment in waging war in Iraq. The vice president said Kerry was offering his "ninth position with respect to the war in Iraq."

Cheney also took a tour of the business, PRL Industries Inc., which supplies metal castings for valves, turbines, and pumps, and counts the military among its customers.

PRL President Janis Herschkowitz said the company "almost didn't survive" defense spending reductions implemented by former President Clinton, but Bush's tax cuts have enabled it to expand its foundry in nearby Lebanon.

Kerry Says He Wouldn't Have Ousted Saddam

NEW YORK (AP) -- Staking out new ground on Iraq, Sen. John Kerry said Monday he would not have overthrown Saddam Hussein had he been in the White House, and he accused President Bush of "stubborn incompetence," dishonesty and colossal failures of judgment. Bush said Kerry was flip-flopping.

Less than two years after voting to give Bush authority to invade Iraq, the Democratic candidate said the president had misused that power by rushing to war without the backing of allies, a post-war plan or proper equipment for U.S. troops. "None of which I would have done," Kerry said.

"Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell," he added. "But that was not, in itself, a reason to go to war. The satisfaction we take in his downfall does not hide this fact: We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure."

Bush hit back from a campaign rally in New Hampshire, interpreting Kerry's comment to mean the Democrat believes U.S. security would be better with Saddam still in power. "He's saying he prefers the stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy," the Republican incumbent said.

More Young People Registering to Vote

Voter registration drives aimed at young people are turning 18- to 24-year-olds into an important variable in the presidential election, especially in decisive battleground states such as Michigan - where nearly 100,000 young people have registered in recent months - and Wisconsin, where the numbers are even higher.

They are the nation's newest swing voters, with polls showing their support for the major candidates has vacillated in recent months. A Harvard University poll found that, in a five-month period, 19 percent of young potential voters changed their minds about whom they'd support.

"It's a big population of fluid voters, and they're largely unknown," says Ivan Frishberg, outreach and communications coordinator for the nonprofit New Voters Project, which has registered tens of thousands of young people across the country.

Take Kristin Wilson, a 23-year-old in Perrysburg, Ohio, and her 18-year-old sister, Kellyn, a freshman at Ohio State University. Both have registered to vote, but neither identifies as Republican or Democrat and both are taking their time deciding who to vote for.

Judge Strikes Down Campaign Finance Rules

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A judge has struck down several government rules on campaign fund raising, ordering tougher restrictions on big political money in the long term while creating uncertainty about how candidates, parties and interest groups should proceed in the current election's final weeks.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly did not specifically address how political spenders in the heat of the 2004 campaign should act in the absence of the rules, which spell out how the Federal Election Commission interprets the nation's campaign finance law.

Lawyers for Democratic and Republican campaigns said they were assuming the FEC's current regulations would remain in effect while new rules were written. They noted that the judge declined to issue an order blocking the commission from enforcing the regulations while it worked on new ones.

At least two commissioners, Republican Michael Toner and Democrat Scott Thomas, said they wanted further guidance from FEC lawyers or the judge before concluding the current rules are still in place for this election. If there is any debate about it, the commission should seek a stay of the ruling or advice from the judge on which rules are in effect, Toner said.