nbc's ayman mohyeldin is following the developments from cairo. ayman, good evening. >> reporter: brian, it was 12 years ago today that president assad took power in syria. tonight his fight to stay in power is playing out in syria's capital. the violence and bloodshed that has ravaged other parts of the country has reached damascus. activists say that government tanks and armored personnel carriers backed by helicopter gunships have been deployed in key parts of damascus, pounding opposition rebels and protecting important government installations. it's the most intense fighting to hit the capital since the conflict began a year and a half ago. the opposition says it intends to expand its operations in the coming days, while syria's minister of information tries to downplay the fighting saying the military has repelled infiltrators and the government remains firmly in control. but clearly that fight has now come to damascus itself. >> ayman mohyeldin, thanks. >>> ten days to go now until the olympic games get underway in london. and today, the man

>>> ayman mohyeldin from our bureau in cairo tonight. thanks. >>> in washington another outrage from the agency that's supposed to be promoting efficiency in government. the gsa, general services administration, tonight we are learning they blew more than $250,000 on what amounted to an awards ceremony for their own employees. our senior investigative correspondent lisa myers has our report on what some are saying is just another example of the fleecing of america. >> reporter: the latest gsa conference that generates bipartisan outrage features drummers supposed to help the audience find its working rhythm. >> it's all about rhythm. there's monday morning rhythm. there's friday afternoon rhythm. >> reporter: the one-day affair to highlight performance awards was held in this virginia hotel in november, 2010. it cost taxpayers a stunning $268,000. >> what troubled me most was this one-day conference was a party to celebrate the fact they were getting bonuses with taxpayer money. >> reporter: gsa has handed out tens of millions of dollars

nbc's ayman mohyeldin in cairo this morning. thanks. >>> a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows weeks of negative campaigning taking a toll on both images of president obama and mitt romney. the president's lead is eight points, 49-41, unchanged from june in sbing swing states. one of the biggest take-aways is how both candidates are viewed now. the president viewed negatively by 43% of viewers, mr. romney's negative rate something at 40%, his worst negative rating ever in this poll. when asked who is running a more negative campaign, 22% of respondents said president obama's campaign is worse. 12% said it's romney's, 34% say they're both bad. when it comes to the economy, 4 when asked who has better ideas for improving the economy, mr. romney leads the president 43-36 on that question. also revealing, the way viewers, voters view the direction of the economy. just 27% think it will get better within the next 12 months. today mitt romney leaves on an overseas trip. stopping in london for the opening of the olympic cerem

. >> ayman mohyeldin, thanks. >>> ten days to go now until the olympic games get underway in london. the man whose company was hired to provide security at all the olympic venues admitted his company screwed up and now they're working overtime to make it right, and they're going to need a lot of help. our report from nbc's stephanie gosk in london. >> reporter: at london's olympic park, british soldiers are doing a job very few imagined when they enlisted. manning metal detectors and searching bag. the private company hired by the government was supposed to provide 10,000 security guards, but last week admitted they were at least 3500 short and on any given day, they don't know how many of the employees they do have will even show up. the british military and police are feeling the gap. the head of g4s got a grilling in parliament. >> it's a humiliating shambles for the company, yes or no? >> i cannot disagree with you. >> reporter: the problem continues to grow at olympic venues around the country. 180 local policemen had to fill in today at this hotel for olympic soaker players nor

we will start now with nbc news foreign correspondent eamon mohyeldin and mike viqueira at the white house. ayman, you say today's attack is tactically significant. >> tactically, you've taken out the deputy minister of defense, the defense minister and a senior military officer all within the command and control structure of the military at the tip and spear of these. 0 rations to suppress the uprising. have you disrupted that to the extent that the military can not trust of who is among its midst. how did they penetrate the inner circle of the regime to carry out such a lethal explosion. even if they cannot meet to discuss out who carry out operations you get the sense of the kind of paranoia that can infiltrate the inner circles of the regime. from a psychological point of view that somebody was able to go deep into the heart of the regime with little collateral daniel no doubt is going to raise the anxiety levels because president assad, the question is how can he even meet with his senior officials if those among them cannot be trusted. it will have an impact on both fronts. >> ayman, there'

we will start now with nbc news foreign correspondent eamon mohyeldin and mike viqueira at the white house. aymanday's attack is tactically significant. >> tactically, you've taken out the deputy minister of defense, the defense minister and a senior military officer all within the command and control structure of the military at the tip and spear of these. 0 rations to suppress the uprising. have you disrupted that to the extent that the military can not trust of who is among its midst. how did they penetrate the inner circle of the regime to carry out such a lethal explosion. even if they cannot meet to discuss out who carry out operations you get the sense of the kind of paranoia that can infiltrate the inner circles of the regime. from a psychological point of view that somebody was able to go deep into the heart of the regime with little collateral daniel no doubt is going to raise