[Blitzer:] Welcome back. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, is in Jerusalem today. He has been meeting with Israeli officials, Palestinian leaders. CNN's John Vause standing by in Jerusalem with the latest on the effort trying to jump-start the peace process. John, what's going on?
[John Vause, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, Tony Blair has now met with both Palestinian and the Israeli authorities, the prime minister from Israel, Ariel Sharon, as well as the man who is likely to be the next president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. But before those meetings got under way, Tony Blair visited the grave of the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. And chances are, if Arafat were still alive today, then none of this would be happening now. Mr. Blair is proposing an international summit next year in London which will focus solely on Palestinian reforms, reforming their political institutions, their economy, their security service as well. Now, the other big factor in all of this, Wolf, is Israel's plan to pull out Jewish settlers and troops from all of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Mr. Blair says it is crucial that the Palestinians are ready to become a viable partner for peace the day after disengagement. Although the Palestinians were hoping for a lot more from that international summit. They wanted it to tackle the whole issue of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. They didn't get that, still putting a positive spin on in this international summit, saying they're hoping it can lead back to the stalled U.S.-backed roadmap peace plan. That is what Ariel Sharon was also saying, the Israeli prime minister, when he met with Tony Blair earlier today. But both Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and British Prime Minister Blair making it perfectly clear that there will be no negotiated peace here until there is an end to the terrorist attacks on Israelis Wolf.
[Blitzer:] John, is there a sense that these Palestinian elections on January 9, scheduled for January 9, that everything is in place, the easing of the roadblocks, the opportunity for Palestinians to show up at voting booths, the opportunity for international monitors to come in and make sure that everything is going along OK? Are all the elements falling into place?
[Vause:] Very much so, Wolf. The Israelis announced a few days ago that they are willing to pull out of Palestinian towns and cities the day before the elections, the day of the elections and the day after the elections. As you mentioned, the monitors, the international monitors, will be here. But in many ways, this election seems like more of a formality, or a coronation, if you like. It seems that Mahmoud Abbas is the one and only real candidate in all of this. So, while the elections are in place, everything looks like it will be set for a smooth run, it looks as though Mahmoud Abbas is the man who will simply walk away with this election January 9 Wolf.
[Blitzer:] And he's someone the Israelis certainly say they can deal with. The U.S. says they can deal with him. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, is in the region. So let's see what happens. John Vause reporting for us from Jerusalem. John, thanks very much. Good luck with the coverage coming up in connection with these elections. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. He's standing by. We'll get his thoughts on what's happening in Iraq and the region. He's just back from the region. Stay with us.