While Egyptians are clashing in the streets, where is President Hosni Mubarak hunkered down? Where does he live? 

Unlike in many other countries, Egypt's main presidential palace is not in the center of Cairo. Mubarak lives in a former hotel in the suburb of Heliopolis, northeast of central Cairo. 

The luxurious hotel was originally built as the grand Heliopolis Palace Hotel in 1910 and hosted international luminaries before the two world wars disrupted travel. The hotel closed in the 1960s and was used by various government departments for years. It was not until the 1980s, after the hotel underwent extensive renovations, that it became the official residence and headquarters for Mubarak's new administration.

However, after his non-resignation speech Tuesday night, Mubarak should expect some friends to come knocking at the palace doors Friday. 

Egyptian protesters have designated Feb. 4 "the Friday of Departure," and are planning a march to the palace to force Mubarak's ouster. Protesters in Tahrir Square on Tuesday night chanted, "Friday afternoon we will be at the palace," according to Al Jazeera.  

Mubarak's Republican Guard heard the message.

While last week the palace was guarded by a single tank, tall barricades of razor wire were erected by the Republican Guard as of Tuesday night, according to The Globe and Mail of Canada. 

Now every entrance of the massive compound is guarded by "a tank or armored personnel carrier with machine guns at the ready." And no fewer than 60 tanks are lined up at the nearby Heliopolis Sporting Club ready to come to the rescue if any protesters show up. 

Update 5:34 p.m. ET: President Barack Obama will speak about the turmoil in Egypt this evening, the White House said.

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A senior U.S. official tells NBC News' Andrea Mitchell that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's speech today has put President Barack Obama in a tough spot:

The official said Mubarak didn't go far enough when he promised not to seek re-election in September but said he intended to serve out his term. The protest movement is likely to intensify, not dissipate, the official said.

"The reality is he has moved," the official said, but "it is not enough."

"There are a few steps more in this process," the official said. "It may take a few more days."  

For Obama, the problem is that if he pushes too hard, he will not only antagonize other leaders in the region but will also be seen as ignoring  Mubarak's legitimate accomplishments during 30 of rule. "He was the first Arab leader to embrace the new Iraq," the official said. "He has had a profound effect on the peace process.

"How you recognize his contributions while also paving the way for fundamental change?" the official asked. "That is hard." 

U.S. officials say the significant factor is the outreach the army has done to the Egyptian people by positioning themselves as protectors — the sign of a professional army that is tied to the state, not to the leader.

Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians gathered Tuesday in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Initial reaction is highly unfavorable to President Hosni Mubarak's announcement that he intends to stay in office through elections in September. 

NBC News' Richard Engel reported from Cairo that the hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square were likely to find the speech "unsatisfactory" because they want Mubarak out immediately.

As protesters watched Mubarak on a giant TV screen, they chanted, "Leave! Leave! Leave!" Organizers remained defiant and vowed to stage another "March of the Millions" on Friday after prayers, NBC's Ron Allen reported. 

Allen said protesters seemed "stunned" by Mubarak's refusal to leave. Some said they intended to stay in the square until Mubarak left the country.

"The bottom line is this has always been a fairly loosely organized opposition ... so I think people are trying to figure out what to do now," Allen reported. "A lot of people in this country are not happy."

There was no immediate reaction from the White House, where President Barack Obama and his entire national security team watched the speech in the Situation Room, NBC's Savannah Guthrie reported from Washington. NBC News previously reported that Obama, through an envoy, tried to persuade Mubarak to leave.

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition movement, told The Wall Street Journal that "no one is satisfied" and that protests would continue.

Update 3:31 p.m. ET: A senior U.S. official tells NBC News that Wisner not only told Mubarak that it was time for him to step down, but he explained that even if Mubarak wanted to stay in office, he couldn't possibly hold on until September.

Asked whether there is a growing security concern in Egypt, the official said "no."

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NBC News' Andrea Mitchell reports that the National Security Council is waiting for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and will then determine what President Barack Obama may or may not say. She reports:

According to a senior official, Frank Wisner and Mubarak met yesterday in Cairo. An official tells NBC News that the perspective Wisner was communicating was that he has to recognize what's happening and that his tenure is coming to an end. 

U.S. officials can't say whether an announcement that he won't run for re-election is enough. That, they say, will be determined by what is happening on the street.

Asked about Ambassador Margaret Scobey's conversations with Mohammed ElBaradei, an official said that was one of a number of conversations with figures in the opposition and that it should not be read as Washington's preferring him as the new leader.  

Officials say they know of no U.S. communications with the Muslim Brotherhood. 

In an interview on MSNBC TV, Mahmoud Kabil, the Middle East regional ambassador for UNICEF — an official U.N. agency — says the "only good solution" would be for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down. 

The United Nations itself has not taken a formal position on Mubarak's future, but it has long ties to the main opposition leader, Mohammed ElBaradei, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as head of its nuclear agency.

Update 4:12 p.m. ET: In a taped address to the Egyptian people, President Hosni Mubarak, 82, said he intends to serve the remaining months of his term so he can oversee a peaceful transition to a new government.

Mubarak said he would not run in the election, which is scheduled for September. Until then, he said, "my main responsibility is to restore order to achieve an easy transition in a peaceful atmosphere."

Msnbc.com has a full report. 

Update 4:07 p.m. ET: "The Hosni Mubarak that is talking to you now is honored for the years that he served the Egyptian people. ... History will judge me."

Update 4:07 p.m. ET: Mubarak says he intends to remain through the end of his term. The next elections are scheduled for September. 

Update 4:05 p.m. ET: Mubarak says he never intended to run for re-election and calls on Parliament to allow court appeals of the disputed November elections to go forth.

Update 4:03 p.m. ET: "My main responsibility is to restore order to achieve an easy transition in a peaceful atmosphere."

Update 4 p.m. ET: "What has hurt the most is the fear that has reached the majority of Egyptians," Mubarak says, according to an interpreter. "The events of Tunisia have been on everyone's mind."

Update 3:58 p.m. ET: Mubarak is speaking.

Update 3:47 p.m. ET: As he did in his address last week, Mubarak has pre-recorded the address he will be giving this evening, NBC News reports.

Update 3:10 p.m. ET: NBC News' Andrea Mitchell reports that the National Security Council is waiting for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and will then determine what President Barack Obama may or may not say.

Mitchell reports details of U.S. discussions with Mubarak here: U.S. tells Mubarak he must go 

Update 3:04 p.m. ET: NBC News, The Associated Press and Reuters are all now reporting that Frank Wisner, whom the United States sent to Cairo, told Mubarak that he must find a way to leave the scene. 

Update 3:01 p.m. ET: NBC News' Ron Allen reports from Cairo that Mubarak will speak in 10 to 15 minutes.

Update 2:49 p.m. ET: Egyptian state television says Mubarak will make an "important statement"shortly. 

Update 2:10 p.m. ET: The New York Times, citing American diplomats, reports that President Barack Obama has urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to seek another term in the September elections.

Update 2:07 p.m. ET: NBC News' Chuck Todd confirms CNN's report that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other national security advisers have been called to the White House for a meeting on Egypt at 3:30 p.m. ET. 

Update 1:57 p.m. ET: CNN reports that President Barack Obama is calling Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other national security advisers to the White House for a meeting on Egypt.

Update 1:50 p.m. ET: NBC News says it has confirmed that President Hosni Mubarak will address the nation tonight and will offer an unspecified "good solution."

Update 1:43 p.m. ET: NBC News' Cairo bureau stresses that the Al-Arabiya report that President Hosni Mubarak will address the nation and announce he is not running for re-election in September is unconfirmed.

A source at the Presidential Palace tells NBC that Mubarak "may" make a speech tonight.

Update 1:34 p.m. ET: The Egyptian site Al-Arabiya tweets, citing "reports," that President Hosni Mubarak will announce today that he will not run in the upcoming elections.
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Reuters reports: 

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak will give a speech on Tuesday after at least 1 million people rallied across the country clamouring for him to step down, Al Arabiya television said. There was no official confirmation.

The channel also said Vice President Omar Suleiman had started meetings with representatives of parties.

Update 4:01 p.m. ET: The State Department tells NBC News that Wisner is not a U.S. "envoy" and clarifies reports elsewhere by stressing he wasn't "sent" to Cairo.

Wisner frequently travels to Cairo on business, NBC's Andrea Mitchell and Courtney Kube report, and he may have contacted the State Department offering to help. It isn't clear who is paying for his travel. 

U.S. officials do says he can reinforce the message that has already been sent, both publicly and privately.

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At the daily State Department briefing, spokesman P.J. Crowley said Frank Wisner, who was U.S. ambassador to Egypt from 1986 to 1991, was in Cairo and suggested that he could be an intermediary to President Hosni Mubarak. 

NBC News' Andrea Mitchell has some background:

Wisner was one of the most senior diplomats before his retirement  and served as special representative to the Kosovo peace talks in 2005. 

He served under eight U.S. presidents as ambassador in four countries, including Egypt, India and the Philippines. He is someone with the stature to deliver a tough message to Mubarak if needed, and he is someone whom Mubarak might listen to. 

Wisner's father was a legendary CIA figure portrayed in the film "The Good Shepherd." And an unusual personally note: His wife was previously married to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's father.

Arno Burgi / EPA file

Update 4:12 p.m. ET: Reuters weighs in with more details of the constitutional "dialogue":

Egypt's vice president, Omar Suleiman, said Monday that President Hosni Mubarak has asked him to start dialogue with all political forces, including on constitutional and legislative reforms, a key demand voiced by anti-Mubarak protesters.

The constitutional amendments include easing restrictions on those who are eligible to stand in presidential election.

"The president has asked me today to immediately hold contacts with the political forces to start a dialogue about all raised issues that also involve constitutional and legislative reforms in a form that will result in clear proposed amendments and a specific timetable for its implementation," Suleiman said in a televised address.

Constitutional amendments are key demands by Egyptian opposition groups and protesters who have staged rallies since last week in Cairo and other cities to press Mubarak to step down after a 30-year rule.

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Egypt's new vice president, Omar Suleiman (right), has just spoken on state TV and announced that the new government will review whether elections last year were legitimate. 

Suleiman, a controversial former intelligence chief whom Mubarak appointed Saturday as part of his new government, said the review would be part of a "dialogue" for constitutional changes that Mubarak had asked him to undertake with all political parties.

NBC News’ Producer Charlene Gubash has lived and worked in Egypt for over 20 years. In a Q &A over the phone from Cairo, she explained the mood in the city today and her sense of how the country is on a precipitous tipping point that could go either way.

What is the mood in Cairo today?  
People are already gathering in Tahrir Square today in anticipation of Tuesday’s planned “million-person march.” Hundreds of thousands of people are reportedly already camping out for the night.

President Hosni Mubarak has just named the new Cabinet – but it hasn’t been accepted by anyone because it’s very similar to the old Cabinet. Many names are similar, but the major posts have changed.    

Basically, people are demanding that Mubarak step down and that there is a transitional government – but they obviously don’t want it to include members of the old government.

What to watch next?
A huge portion of the Egyptian population have now joined the young activists who got the protests going – it’s now swollen into a popular movement to bring down Mubarak’s government.

People are no longer afraid of anything. They are no longer afraid of the police, they have found their voice.  And they are going through with this thing until the end – until Mubarak steps down and the government is changed.

That’s what we have to watch out for.

Meantime, the security situation – is bad. It’s so bad that the U.S. Embassy has offered to help Americans to leave Egypt. Out of the tens of thousands of Americans who are here, many of them have taken the U.S. up on their offer and are heading to places nearby like Istanbul and Athens. 

There is also an exodus of Egyptians. One person who has already left is Mubarak’s daughter-in-law. Many other wealthy families – including one of the most reviled people in the country and a prominent person in the government, Ahmed Ezz, – have left. They have flown to various destinations – primarily London. So, a lot of money has presumably flown out of the country, too. And a lot of other business men are trying to get out. 

As someone who has lived in Egypt for over 20 years, are you surprised by how quickly things have changed? Does the speed of recent turn of events seem almost unbelievable?
My sense is that Egypt has entered a new era. This may be the day that people rue actually.

They need to have a transition – a true democratic transition – with a leader like Mohamed ElBaradei around whom the country can coalesce as kind of a progressive, reformist, revered world figure who is well respected by everyone. Or Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, who is also well-respected by a large segment of the population.

Unless they have moderate transition figures and democratic elections where we don’t see an Islamist figure emerge as the leader of the country, then this country may be headed down the path of becoming another Islamic state. I don’t think that’s completely out of the picture.

It’s a very conservative society. There is no real vigorous political or civil life here.  For example, the best organized-party is the Muslim Brotherhood.

People have become increasingly conservative over the years, so there is a fear that if people do vote, they may be swayed to vote for something like the Muslim Brotherhood. 

There is a real concern that Egypt will move away from being what it was – which is an extremely tolerant, Westernized society – to something that is more of an Islamist, conservative society that would be hostile to Israel.

If it went that way, probably one of the first things Islamist leaders would do would be to abrogate the peace treaty with Israel which has been a big demand of the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups for years. 

But by the same token, you talk to a lot of people and they do bring up the names of ElBaradei and Moussa as people they would like to see as candidates.

So what I think we have to look for is: what’s going to happen with the government. That’s the million dollar question.

Obviously appointing the former head of intelligence as the vice president was not well received. Unless Mubarak appoints someone like ElBaradei or Moussa to head up the government or as vice president and then resigns so that person can effectively become head of a transitional government, I think that these demonstrations will continue until they force the government to fall.

People are coming out because they feel like unless Mubarak steps down, the bloodshed will continue, the looting will continue, the criminality will continue.

You have to understand this is a place where there was almost no crime. For instance, rape is punishable by death. You could walk on the street at 3 or 4 a.m. and no one would touch you. So people have this feeling of safety all the time here – unlike what you would find almost anywhere else in the world. And now it’s the total opposite of that.

So for people to be subjected to the kind of criminality we saw over the weekend – is completely foreign. It’s a different place. It’s like it lost its innocence. 

How do Egyptians see ElBaradei? As an outsider or do they revere him?
A lot of Egyptians do see him as an outsider. He did two things wrong in Egyptian’s eyes when he recently ran for president. 

When he had the chance to explain his platform, he never really did. He said he didn’t really have a plan of action, he didn’t really have a five-year-plan. He said he was coming to listen – and that wasn’t enough for people, they wanted something concrete. That was just before he returned to Egypt. Then when he did come to Egypt, he left right away and didn’t come back until just now.

I think a lot of Egyptians are wondering, why was he absent so long? Why did he just come back now? Is he being an opportunist? So he really needs to prove himself to people.

Of course, they are immensely proud of him because he is a Nobel laureate, he was head of the IAEA, he stood up to the United States. So he has a lot of credentials, but he does have prove himself as a patriot. 

And Mubarak?
I think he’ll hang on until the bitter end. If he were not going to hang on, one would think he would seen the writing on the wall and have left by now out of concern for the country.

But it’s difficult to say. He’s obviously out of touch. He’s obviously concerned about the stability of the country. And I think in his mind, stability means having a tight grip on things.