CNN Films and HBO Max have announced that the two are backing a new true-crime story, “American Pain,” directed by Emmy® Award-winner Darren Foster. 

The film will document the rise and fall of Chris and Jeff George, identical twins who are considered to be America’s most prominent opioid kingpins. 

Over their run in the drug trade, the Georges operated a pill mill cartel that drew clients from around the country and generated a prescription drug trafficking network with an assessed street worth of more than $500-million. 

“The George brothers were early pioneers in Florida’s pill mill boom and kicked the door open for colorful imitators who together turned prescription painkillers into the greatest drug racket to hit the Sunshine State since the cocaine cowboys of the 1980s,” Foster said. 

“The big difference: this time, the suppliers weren’t some Colombian drug cartel; it was the U.S. pharmaceutical industry pumping out billions of powerful and addictive pills, unleashing the worst drug epidemic in American history. I couldn’t be more grateful to CNN Films, HBO Max, TIME Studios, and my talented partners at Motto Pictures for helping me realize this wild tale.”

The film will detail how the George’s took an opportunity to expand their steroid business into the bigger bucks of opioid pain clinics. The twins explain how they hired rogue physicians to prescribe disturbing amounts of opioid painkillers to the maximum number of patients through exclusive jailhouse interviews.

“American Pain” will premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in June and is currently expected for release in 2023.

This week marks the final days of Jen Psaki’s tenure as White House press secretary. On Thursday, she stated that she’d miss her back-and-forth with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy. 

Psaki and Doocy have been no strangers to back-and-forths during her time at the podium, with some going viral on social media. 

Nonetheless, she was asked whether she’ll miss butting heads with the Fox News reporter during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, where the White House press secretary said it’s something that she will miss on her end. 

“I will,” Psaki said, per The Hill. “I will tell you, and people know this who are in the White House every day.” However, despite the clashes, Psaki states there’s a good working relationship between the two. 

“And I understand that he’s coming there to ask questions every day that are important to report and the outlet he works for, and I respect that, and we have healthy debates and discussions,” Psaki continued. 

“Doesn’t mean I agree with his line of questioning on most days. But I think that’s — I’ve called on him every day he’s been there or a Fox person, Jacqui [Heinrich], who’s been there a lot as well.”

Psaki will exit the White House and reportedly head to work as a host and analyst for MSNBC.

It’s the start of the primary elections heading into the midterms in a couple of months. Nonetheless, the results in Nebraska have “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough stating that Republican candidates who go up against opponents backed by former President Donald Trump can be defeated. 

Jim Pillen, a University of Nebraska Regent, defeated businessman Charles Herbster, who Trump endorsed, in Nebraska’s Republican gubernatorial primary. Furthermore, Herbster faces sexual misconduct accusations from eight women, including a state senator.

“They humiliated Donald Trump in Nebraska,” Scarborough said on Wednesday’s edition of “Morning Joe.” “It sends a message to a lot of other Republicans that you can take this guy on, and you can beat him.”

The former president has garnered primary election wins from candidates he’s endorsing this year, including vital wins in the presidential battleground of Ohio.

However, the results in Nebraska have Scarborough pointing out that only because Trump has endorsed a candidate, it doesn’t guarantee them a victory. He also adds that some Republican voters may be souring on Trump and the party’s inability to move on from the former president and his policies. 

“The one thing that is constant … is Republicans say one thing about Donald Trump on the air and off the air; even people who have worked with him trash him; they can’t stand him,” Scarborough added.