meanwhile, the trump desantis rivalry is heating up. we ll show you how the florida governor responded to the covid criticism. we ll look at the rnc s 2024 playbook as party leaders want to double down on an issue that lost them the elections in the midterms. running straight into loserville. and today, president joe biden and speaker kevin mccarthy sit down at the white house in hopes of ending the standoff over the debt ceiling. plus reverend al sharpton joins us live from memphis ahead of his eulogy today for tyre nichols. good morning and welcome to morning joe, it s wednesday, february 1st. along with joe, good to have you back. good to be back. willie and me. we have jonathan lemire, u.s. special correspondent for bbc news katty kay is with us. and member of the new york times editorial board mara gay. so we start with today s high stakes meeting between president joe biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy. their focus, ending the standoff over the debt ce