Ron Haviv, one of several photojournalists working in Cairo whom we've been following this week, witnessed the crowd's reaction to Pres. Hosni Mubarak's speech announcing again that he was not stepping down, but handing power to his vice president. "Not speaking Arabic...I was trying to understand what he was saying by reading faces."

Ron Haviv / VII

Egyptians gather in Tahir Square and celebrate based on rumors that President Mubarak will step down.

In anticipation of the speech, protesters were celebrating in the square (shown above). But as the speech started, despite a crowd of tens of thousands, the square turned remarkably quiet. The tone of the speech was soon clear to him as he saw dismay, disappointment and even tears in the eyes of the crowd as they watched. "The look of utter surprise...by that point, they had really convinced themselves that Mubarek would say he was going to leave."

After the speech, the noise and anger swelled. Shoes were held up, an insult in the Arab world, and the crowd quickly returned to the chants of the past two weeks of protests calling for regime change.

Ron Haviv / VII

Egyptians gather in Tahir Square and react to President Mubarak's speech.

As he left the square to file his images, he sensed in the crowd a nervous anticipation for tomorrow. "People were saying that the speech is probably going to inflame both sides. They felt the Mubarak regime was trying to get them to be violent to discredit them...and they don't know if they're going to be able to control everyone to be peaceful." Cell phones started ringing, calling protesters back to guard their neighborhoods, fearing a return to the violence that occurred late last week.

Earlier in the day, Haviv recalled a bright moment. "It very rarely rains in Cairo. Today the skies opened up for a few moments. People were looking at this as a blessing from God. They started to pray and chant. They really thought that this was a sign that something good was going to happen."

See images from three weeks of protests

Photojournalist David Degner and journalist Egyptian Mohamed Abdelfattah just returned from Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt where tens of thousands of anti-democracy protesters are gathered asking for President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power.

The journalists were concerned about staying in square because of the intense crowding. “It’s really overcrowded, it feels like there is no oxygen in the air.”

Mohamed was working as a videographer, covering the protests in Alexandria. But three days ago, he traveled to Cairo because he wanted to be part of history, to see the movement there in person.

“It’s a type of dream to see...a very amazing show of people power in recent weeks in a really modern and civilized way.”

He continued, "This type of revolution is the kind that we only hear about in history textbooks outside of Egypt…it’s surreal to us."

Of the mood in the square, he says: "You see all of Egypt in front of you – people from all sects and all types of workers.. It's really like a beautiful painting, you can’t speak about it, you just watch. That’s the kind of shock we are in."

David Degner / IncendiaryImage.com

Egyptian journalist turned protester Mohamed Abdelfattah

Following Pres. Hosni Mubarak's latest announcement saying he is going to remain as president but transfer power to his vice president Omar Suleiman, Egyptian Nevine Zaki expresses some of the outrage felt by the protest movement via Twitter:

How can u play with feelings like this? they should have a special feature 4 us in z Guiness Records about how heartless our government is!

Yup he poured more gasoline unto the fire!

Ron Haviv for msnbc.com

Photojournalist Ron Haviv texts from Tahrir Square: The mood is a mix of tense anticipation as news moves through the square – Mubarak will speak soon and most likely resign but the next steps are already on people’s mind – military or civilian and then what. But for now it seems people will be happy to celebrate the new beginning if and when it happens.

After hearing from several photojournalists that they didn't want to leave the square long enough to file images via their laptops from hotel or other Wifi connections for fear of missing news, I started asking them to send in cell phone images to fill the gap. He used his iPhone to capture this image.

Watch live video from Tahrir Square

View images from three weeks of protests

Read the latest on spreading strikes in Egypt today here. Check out our slideshow of the developing unrest.

Ben Curtis / AP

An artist, center, chats with and gives artistic commentary to two women who had drawn posters of their own, left, outside a closed fast food outlet, in a street which has become a meeting point and workshop for artists to create political posters at the continuing anti-government demonstration in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt on Feb. 9. Tahrir Square has witnessed an explosion of political expression and free speech since the anti-government protests began.

Ben Curtis / AP

An artists hangs another political drawing on the shop front of a closed fast food outlet, in a street which has become a meeting point and workshop for artists to create such posters, at the continuing anti-government demonstration in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt on Feb. 9.