*By Spencer Feingold*
Nevada's 2020 Democratic caucus is still over eight months away, but party organizers are wasting no time in their efforts to draw the broadest possible swath of the constituency into the process.
"We think this contest is going to be really competitive here," Shelby Wiltz, the state's 2020 caucus director, told Cheddar. "We have a really diverse state, and Nevadans are really reflective of what the electorate across the country is going to look like in 2020."
Like Iowa and a handful of other states, Nevada Democrats elect their presidential nominee through a caucus, which entails voters gathering to openly debate and decide on a candidate. This process differs from a primary — used in the majority of states — where voters simply cast a ballot and leave.
Yet the Silver State now offers multiple options for caucusing to ensure a high turnout. Aside from participating on caucus day, voters now have the option to make their voices heard through a four-day early caucus period or by participating in a virtual caucus, which will allow residents to phone-in their preferred candidates.
It is "an option for folks who may have a disability, folk who are homebound due to illness, single parents, or parents in general who are busy and taking care of their kids and may not have time to come to the caucus," Wiltz said.
The phone option will be available to the [roughly 667,000](https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showdocument?id=6171) Nevada Democrats in English, Spanish, and Tagalog.
"Folks are eager to get involved, they are eager to come out and vote," Wiltz added. "We have really strong prospects for the future."
The actual in-person caucus is set for February 22, 2020; the date for the Republican Nevada caucus has not yet been announced.
U.S. stocks ended today's session sharply lower on the heels of rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Melissa Brown, Managing Director of Applied Research at Qontigo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin to impose sanctions on Russia, calling recent troop movement into Ukraine an 'invasion.' Biden and other government officials including from the State Department have begun to classify the Russian troop movement as an invasion after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to two independent Ukrainian areas in an alleged "peacekeeping" mission — which the West considers an act of aggression. Biden said Russia will continue to pay 'an even steeper price' if it continues sending troops into Ukraine. What happens next? Will Putin find a way around these sanctions? Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Closing Bell to discuss Biden's remarks, how the West will protect Ukraine since it doesn't belong to NATO, and more.
Russian lawmakers have given President Vladimir Putin a military force authorization in Ukraine, and President Biden has described Putin's announcement declaring the independence of two provinces within Ukraine and his subsequent deployment of peacekeepers as tantamount to "invasion. David Tafuri, a former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and Bush State Department official, joined Cheddar News to discuss. "The Ukrainian military occupies more than 70 percent of those provinces still," Tafuri said, noting Putin alleged having a responsibility to defend those regions. "This would put Ukrainian forces and Russian forces right at each other engaged. And that might be how the war starts."
The major indexes ended Tuesday's session sharply lower due to escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Bill Stone, Chief Investment Officer at The Glenview Trust Company, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he reminds viewers that Wall Street doesn't like uncertainty, and more of the recent losses are due to geopolitics than inflation.
Karim Hijazi, CEO of Prevailion, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that crypto's decentralized nature will pose obstacles for the FBI's new crypto unit, but it will also make progress with items such as managing fraudulent exchanges.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association released a report alleging the safety risks, economic losses, and potential job losses they link to a surge in shoplifting crimes in the United States. Lisa LaBruno, senior EVP of retail operations at the trade organization, joined Cheddar News to discuss the impact of websites that allow for the resale of unverified goods and passing the INFORM Consumers Act to stamp it out. “We need to hold the online marketplaces accountable for being a favored venue for criminals to resell stolen product," LaBruno said. "And that is exactly what the INFORM Act is designed to do."
The East-West faceoff over Ukraine has escalated dramatically, with Russian lawmakers authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and President Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks.
