rally tonight. you know, it is going to be a peaceful rally on our side. but we will protect each other. i mean, if i have to jump in front of you and take a punch or a but to protect you, i will, and no one has to feel unsafe to come to this rally. we'll protect each other. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez is joining us on the ground now in dallas in advance of this. we know that it starts in less than two hours. but explain what the organizers anticipate in terms of crowd size. >> reporter: hi, there, thomas. good afternoon. well, organizers expect a much, much, much smaller crowd than what we saw in boston today. still several thousand people sl signed up to come here on facebook. in fact, i'll just show you something we just saw within the past few moments right now. right now state troopers here in texas are standing in front of this confederate war memorial, which has statues of robert e. lee, stonewall jackson. this monument dates back to the late 1800s, and it's not new that there is a debate over what