Sanders Wins Again, Solidifying Status As Democratic Frontrunner In Big Nevada Victory

Bernie Sanders will win the Nevada caucuses, CBS News projects, a victory that adds to his momentum in the field of candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

Sanders, coming off a victory in New Hampshire and a lead in the popular vote in Iowa, dominated with several key demographics. He had a big lead among voters under 45 and Latino voters, with more than 50 percent support. He won 49% support from both independent voters and very liberal ones.

Even among moderate voters, he trailed Biden only slightly. Joe Biden had 23 percent of moderate voters to Sanders' 22 percent, trailed by Pete Buttigieg at 21 percent, Amy Klobuchar at 14 percent, Tom Steyer at 10 percent and Elizabeth Warren at six percent.

One in five caucus-goers were Latinos, and Sanders led with 53 percent of them. Biden followed at 16 percent, Buttigieg at nine percent, Steyer at eight percent, Warren at seven percent and Klobuchar at four percent.

By Saturday night, Sanders had already moved on to Texas, which votes on Super Tuesday on March 3. He gave a speech earlier Saturday in El Paso and delivered his victory speech at a rally in San Antonio.

"No campaign has a grassroots movement like we do, which is another reason why we're going to win this election," Sanders said at a speech in San Antonio.

"The American people are sick and tired of a government which is based on greed, corruption and lies."

It comes just a day after Sanders had to defend a bombshell report from the Washington Post which claimed the Russian government was trying to interfere in the Democratic primary process in order to aid his campaign.

It was not clear what form the Russian assistance took, the paper said. However, the article quoted an unnamed Congressional source who claimed lawmakers had been told that Russian operatives appear to be engaging in disinformation and propaganda campaigns to boost the 2020 campaigns of both Sanders and Trump.

Sanders released a blistering statement soon after the report was published on Saturday, warning Russia and its president Vladimir Putin to stay out of the election.

Sanders said "unlike Donald Trump, I do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend."

"He is an autocratic thug who is attempting to destroy democracy and crush dissent in Russia," Sanders' statement continued.

In Bakersfield, California, Sanders told reporters: "The intelligence community is telling us they are interfering in this campaign, right now, in 2020. And what I say to Mr. Putin, if elected president, trust me you are not going to be interfering in American elections,"

Sanders said he was briefed about a month ago about the Russian claims.

"We were told that Russia, maybe other countries, are going to get involved in this campaign," he told reporters.

"Look, here is the message: To Russia, stay out of American elections."

"What they are doing, by the way, the ugly thing that they are doing - and I've seen some of their tweets and stuff - is they try to divide us up," he said. "They are trying to cause chaos. They're trying to cause hatred in America."

The Kremlin on Friday denied Russia was interfering in the US presidential campaign to boost Trump's re-election chances, following reports that American intelligence officials warned Congress about the election threat last week.

With AAP, CBS.