and the base was just not into many of the things that he wanted to do. >> woodruff: chris buskirk, he tried to make the best of it. how do you see this announcement? >> well, i don't know. i don't drink, but if i did, i would have had champagne for breakfast this morning. i think it's a good day for the party. i think if anything-- you know, it's a bit of both i think heading into the midterms. but if anything, i think it's slightly positive. i mean this-- what we have seen with paul ryan is somebody who just really wasn't up to the job. he was sort of the boy wonder who always was full of promise but never really delivered. he was out of step with the party. he was out of step with the president, and just wasn't very good at being speaker. he was never able to pass any meaningful legislation, or even act on the promises whether it be obamacare, balancing the budget, regular order, all of those things went by the wayside. i think it's good. we get new blood in there and that's cause for hope. >> woodruff: charlie sykes, how do you see paul ryan's legacy? >> well, i think that our fell

chris buskirk, charlie sykes, thank you both. >> thanks. >> woodruff: now, to syria, and the incrsing likelihood of new american strikes against the regime of bashar al-assad. as we reported earlier, the president telegraphed his n today to strike syria again. william brangham charts theda potentiallerous road ahead. >> reporter: so, what options are available to the united states and its allies if there a military response to last thekend's chemical attack? t walk us througcomplex battlefield, i'm joined by ambassador douglas lute. he was u.s. ambassad to nato from 2013 to 2017, served on the national security staffs of presidents bush and obama, and is a retired u.s. army lieutenant general. he's now at harvard's kennedy school. doug lute, welcome back to the newshour. welcome back to the newshour. >> it's good to be back. >> first off, let's just address this issue of you can confidently said this chemical attack that happened last weekend was carried out by assa >> well, i think we have some degree of because of the scale of the attack. this was not an assassination attempt of one