Under new guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics, for the first time pediatricians will discuss with parents the importance of early literacy.

Research has shown that much of the brain's development happens during the first three years of a child's life, The Washington Post reports. When it comes to literacy, less than half of all children under the age of 5 are read to daily, and by the age of 4, children living in poverty have heard 30 million fewer words than wealthier kids. To help combat this, the AAP and the publisher Scholastic will donate 500,000 books to Reach Out and Read, a nonprofit that gives out books to low-income families.

"Reading to children and with children is a very joyous event and a way of fostering a relationship, as well as [helping] language development," says Dr. Pamela High, lead author of the policy statement. "And we don't have to wait until we're getting them ready for school. We can make it part of regular routine." Catherine Garcia

President Trump said he has not promised Saudi Arabia the U.S. will offer protection in the event the kingdom goes to war with Iran, but Saudi investments in the U.S. over the years have at least inspired the president to consider sticking by the U.S. ally. And he apparently really appreciates that the country "pays cash" when making those investments.

Trump made the cash comment in response to a question about whether the U.S. was prepared to enter a conflict alongside Saudi Arabia in the wake of drone strikes on two major Saudi oil production facilities that may or not have been orchestrated by Tehran. Trump maintained that he doesn't want to get involved in a conflict, but added thathe is willing to "work something out with" Saudi Arabia, whose allegiance with the U.S. has raised many an eyebrow thanks to human rights abuse allegations against the kingdom.

"They've been a great ally," he said to reporters Monday before a White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. "They spend $400 billion in our country over the last number of years." And, unlike other countries, Trump said, Saudi Arabia does not want any conditions. "No. No," the president said. "Saudi Arabia pays cash." Tim O'Donnell

Alex Trebek has some disappointing news on his cancer fight.

Less than a month ago, the Jeopardy! host revealed he'd made remarkable progress fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer, saying he'd finished his chemotherapy treatments and was back at work. But after replacing chemo with immunotherapy treatments, Trebek's "numbers went sky high" and doctors opted to put him back on chemotherapy, he told Good Morning America in an interview aired Tuesday.

Trebek announced his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March, pledging that he was "going to fight this" and "beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease. As of late May, that seemed to be happening, as Trebek revealed his cancer was in "near remission." "Some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50 percent," Trebek said at the time.

Those positive results led doctors to stop chemotherapy and begin immunotherapy with Trebek. But when his "numbers" went "much higher than they were when I was first diagnosed," Trebek says doctors told him he had to resume chemo. As he has all along, Trebek tried to stay positive, telling Good Morning America that he's had "one hell of a good life" and isn't afraid to acknowledge that "there is an end in sight for me, just as there is for everyone else." Watch all of Trebek's interview below. Kathryn Krawczyk

Time out!

A reboot of Saved by the Bell was announced by NBCUniversal Tuesday, and its official plot description in just two sentences takes us on quite a journey.

According to the show's official logline released by Variety, this continuation picks up with Zack Morris, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the classic sitcom, having become governor of California, and he apparently spends much of his administration closing low-income schools. Zack Morris, it seems, really is trash.

"When California governor Zack Morris gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state – including Bayside High," the logline reads. "The influx of new students gives the over privileged Bayside kids a much needed and hilarious dose of reality."

Despite his character being mentioned three words into that logline, Gosselaar is not actually confirmed to be returning for the show, although The Hollywood Reporter reports he's in talks. Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley, however, are confirmed to be back as A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano. Saved by the Bell will debut on NBCUniversal's new streaming service, Peacock, though it hasn't been announced when class at Bayside High will be back in session. Brendan Morrow

A resurfaced video from 2017 of former Vice President Joe Biden recounting how in 1962 he faced down a black neighborhood gang leader caused a stir this weekend. Many people questioned the veracity of the tale, and some even figured the adversary was a figment of Biden's imagination, but it turns out that William "Corn Pop" Morris was real.

Biden said he was working as a lifeguard at a pool in Wilmington, Delaware, when he reprimanded Morris for breaking pool rules. Morris supposedly threatened to fight Biden after the pool closed, but Biden instead used diplomacy to prevent a physical altercation. The two then allegedly reconciled and became friends, and Biden has since told the story as an example of his conflict resolution skills, while noting that the event was key to developing his relationship with the black community in Delaware. (The latter aspect, in particular, has garnered criticism).

It turns out that many people remember Morris and Biden interacting at the pool, even if they can't verify the specifics of Biden's retelling, The Washington Post reports. Even if they never did almost fight, sources do recall the two eventually hitting it off. The late Morris' family also remembers Morris talking about the Democratic presidential candidate. His son, Leon Morris, reportedly has no issue with Biden telling the story; he just doesn't want his father, whom he said was a "kindhearted man" to get a bad reputation because of it. Read more at The Washigton Post. Tim O'Donnell

Yet another new streaming service is entering the crowded marketplace next year, and let's just say it's got a ... unique name.

NBCUniversal just announced new details of its upcoming streaming service, including what it's called: Peacock. That, of course, is a reference to the NBC logo, although despite the name, those famous peacock feathers don't seem to actually be included in the logo for Peacock. The Peacock Network is also a nickname for NBC.

Peacock is set to feature more than 15,000 hours of programming, The New York Times reports, including reboots of Battlestar Galactica, Punky Brewster, and Saved by the Bell. Some of the new originals that aren't reboots include a comedy from Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur starring Ed Helms. Despite what the name Peacock might suggest, the service will also feature content outside of the NBC network, including movies from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.

Perhaps just as importantly, though, Peacock will also be the exclusive streaming home of The Office, which is set to leave Netflix, where it has been among the streamer's most popular offerings. Every episode of shows like Parks and Recreation and Saturday Night Live will also be exclusive to Peacock. But two notable NBC classics missing are Friends, which is instead headed to WarnerMedia's streaming service HBO Max, and Seinfeld, which is headed to Netflix.

This announcement comes a few weeks before Apple launches its new streaming service, Apple TV+, which will shortly be followed by Disney's service, Disney+. NBCUniversal didn't announce a price point for Peacock, but it'll enter this race for viewers' streaming dollars in April 2020. Brendan Morrow

Sean Spicer has just scored a key endorsement — for his Dancing With the Stars run.

The former White House press secretary dazzled during his Monday night Dancing debut — not that he had much of a choice thanks to the terrifyingly neon shirt he was wearing. But the judges granted Spicer far less than the largest score ever to grace a DWTS performance, prompting former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to step in and try to give him a boost.

Showing there's no bad blood between Huckabee and the man who preceded his daughter as press secretary, the former GOP presidential candidate tweeted Monday evening that voting for Spicer would "create an emotional meltdown in Hollyweird." Spicer thanked him for the compliment, and then apparently decided he has a lock on the DWTS Evangelical vote.

Watch Spicer's whole Monday night performance here, at your own risk. Kathryn Krawczyk