Tom Hanks is returning to the stage for a play he co-wrote, "This World of Tomorrow." Hanks stars in it with Kelli O'Hara. The two, along with director Kenny Leon, spoke to "CBS Mornings" about the play and what they want people to take away from it.

Los Angeles

Tom Hanks has returned to the stage for the first time since 2013, starring in and co-writing the new play 'This World of Tomorrow,' which is currently running at The Shed in New York. The play, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon and co-starring Tony winner Kelli O'Hara, is based on two of Hanks' short stories and explores themes of chance encounters, love, and the ripple effects of small decisions across time.

Set in both 1939 and 2089, the story follows Hanks' character, scientist Bert Allenberry, as he travels back to the 1939 World's Fair. The cast and creative team emphasize the play's universal human themes and the collaborative nature of theater, with performances running until December 21st.

Tom Hanks and Kelli O'Hara give inside look at new play

Tom Hanks is masterful on the big screen, but now he's returning to the stage for the first time since 2013 in a play he co-wrote called This World of Tomorrow. He stars alongside Tony Award winner Kelly O'Hara, and I spoke with them and their Tony-winning director, Kenny Leon, at The Shed in New York, where the play opens tonight. Oh, look at all these murdered trees. Tom Hanks' latest role is playwright. He's now starring in This World of Tomorrow, a play he co-wrote based on two of his own short stories. Both of them are about these chance meetings between people who made prior decisions that brought them to this very specific place that alters their lives in ways that are irrefutable. Take my button so you can say you have seen the future no one will know. Hanks stars as scientist Bert Allenberry, and travels back in time to the 1939 World's Fair in New York. If you had a time machine, and you could go back for a single day to something, what would it be? Well, some people would go see Beethoven perform. Some people go to the Cavern Club to see the Beatles. I have always said I would go to the 1939 World's Fair just to take in that example of hard work, accomplishment. Sylvia, the fair. I can see a picture of the Roxy anytime. Alongside Hanks is one of musical theater's greatest leading ladies of all time, Kelly O'Hara, as his character's love interest, Carmen. What does this feel like, just doing a play where there isn't any music, and there aren't any cameras, but you gotta hit the back of the room? It's quite a relief to not worry about the phonation of making a song work out on the stage. It feels the same to me as far as honesty. Today is the present, a gift I am giving myself and you. Embodying a person and a story and caring about that honestly, it feels the same. This story, which is at the heart of it, is about true love, right? Love that is meant to be. Love that is meant to be. There's a lot of hope and love and within the complication of how we're all living. And we're not even, your play isn't set now. It's set in 2089 and 1939, and yet we can all identify with both places, because it's a human story. Same place, same time. A human story in which subtle changes can have a big impact. If you don't go back to change the whole world, but you're just trying to make a, what do you call it, the tiny ripple? Oh yeah, just a small pebble dropped in the pond of time, you know? Yeah. But that sends out ripples, not forever. Yeah, and they'll dissipate eventually. They said, we're gonna send you the script and read it and let us know. And I said, I don't wanna read it. It's Tom Hanks. Kenny Leon is the award-winning director at The Helm. His list of Broadway credits is extensive. When I witnessed this play in rehearsal, I'm laughing, I'm crying at the end. I'm wishing for a world like Tom is writing about in the play and the themes, you know? Sometimes we have to go to the past to look at our present. Maybe he says, hey, Tom, why don't you try it this way? Bring it on. How does that feel? You have to, because there's no one who has the omnipotent vision of what a thing is. If he said something on our, literally within the first three minutes of our rehearsal, he said, I don't wanna hear how you are going to say these words. What does that mean? Well, what it means is I want to hear what you are saying. And there is a difference between artifice and seeking of some degree of truth, how you get to the conclusion of this play. Make me feel something. Yeah. Make me feel something. What would you like for people to come away with? Hopefully, you come out of the theater thinking, there is nothing I would have rather done than seeing that play tonight. There's no place I'd rather, I can't imagine a better way of spending time by going through time. None of us really feel like where we should be or what we're supposed to be doing, but you just put a foot forward towards a new something that it is possible, because life is ever-changing and ever-evolving, but only if you look for it. The world, this world of Tomorrow is playing until December 21st at The Shed in New York. This was such a fascinating discussion, because the moment that you could go back and choose to rejigger or to, I always call it the zig versus the zag. If you moved one way, but you can go back in time and move another way and find that moment, that true love, that thing that you don't have now, but that you can go back and recapture. It's a fascinating subject. But what a trifecta of talent you have. It seems like Tom and Kenny both have a mutual admiration society, and then you throw Kelly O'Hara in the mix. Yeah. It's really really good. Three of some of the greatest in art. I mean, it's really remarkable. Everybody should go see this play. Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you very much, Tom. Thank you. Thank you, Tom. Always.

Hopes for a strong G20 declaration on climate and debt relief are slim as South Africa readies to host the summit from Saturday (November 22). Global tensions and a boycott by the United States threaten to overshadow the gathering.

Johannesburg

South Africa readies for G20 despite U.S. boycott

At least one person is dead and three others were injured after an attack in the West Bank, Israeli forces said. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council backed the U.S. plan for Gaza. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio has the latest.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Tensions escalate as U.N. Security Council backs Trump's plan for Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, his first visit since Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in 2018. The crown prince has denied any involvement.

Washington

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting White House

The sale of the fighter jets is one of several major deals between the two countries expected to be announced during the visit.

Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

The U.K. government has proposed a major overhaul of its asylum rules, making it easier to deport people and quadruple the amount of time it takes to become a permanent resident.

London

U.K. introduces tougher laws for asylum seekers

In a blistering opinion, a federal judge in Virginia accused Justice Department prosecutor Lindsay Halligan of misconduct, saying there was a "disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps."

Virginia

DOJ accused of 'profound investigative missteps' in Comey case

The United Nations Security Council has voted to adopt a U.S. resolution outlining President Trump's peace plan for post-war Gaza. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams has the details.

New York

U.N. Security Council adopts U.S. resolution on Gaza plan

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford has arrived in the Caribbean, giving the United States the ability to strike inside Venezuela if President Trump gives the order. The U.S. has also sent thousands of troops to the region.

Trump 'won't rule out' sending troops to Venezuela amid rising tensions

President Trump now says Republicans should vote to release all of the files related to the federal investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi and Nikole Killion have the latest on what could happen next.

Trump's Epstein files reversal comes amid pressure from allies

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called an explosion on a railway line “an unprecedented act of sabotage.” Donald Tusk did not say who he believed had carried out the attack, but a government minister said "foreign intelligence agencies" were responsible.

Warsaw

Railway line blast in Poland ‘unprecedented act of sabotage’

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy signed a landmark deal in Paris on Monday to buy 100 Rafale jets, drones, and air defense systems from France.

Paris

Ukraine signs deal with France for jets, air defense systems

The Federal Aviation Administration ended mandated cuts in domestic flights at 40 major U.S. airports, easing restrictions that had been imposed over air traffic control concerns during the federal shutdown.

FAA ends mandated cuts in domestic U.S. flights

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, a day before the UN Security Council will vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution on Gaza that leaves the door open to Palestinian independence.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Netanyahu insists there can be no Palestinian state ahead of UN vote

A Bangladesh court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity on Monday (November 17), concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

Dhaka

Bangladesh's ousted PM sentenced to death for protest crackdown

President Donald Trump now appears to support the release of all Jeffrey Epstein files as the House of Representatives readies for a vote on the matter. CBS News' Natalie Brand reports.

House vote on Epstein files expected Tuesday

In the latest round of the Trump administration's sweeping immigration raids, federal agents arrested 81 people in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday alone. In videos posted online, some who were detained said they do have legal status.

Charlotte

ICE detains dozens in Charlotte

If the bill passes, the U.S. Justice Department would be required to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as details about the investigation into his death in federal prison.

Trump calls on House Republicans to vote to release Epstein files

Chile heads to a December runoff after Sunday's presidential vote left no clear winner. Leftist Jeannette Jara and far-right José Antonio Kast will now face off in a race dominated by concerns over crime and migration.

Santiago

Chile leftists advance to next month's presidential runoff

Construction work of a concrete wall continued on the Israeli side of southern border with Lebanon, despite the Lebanese presidency's threat to complain to the U.N. Security Council over the wall's extension into Lebanese territory.

Israel constructs wall along Lebanon border

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro slammed planned joint military exercises by the United States and its ally Trinidad and Tobago as "irresponsible," with Washington increasing its armed presence in the Caribbean.

Caracas

Maduro denounces US military exercises

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to kill the effort to release federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein, House Republican leaders are planning to hold a vote this week on legislation to force the issue.

Claims Epstein emails mentioning Trump were 'selectively leaked'

President Trump says he has "sort of made up my mind" on whether to take military action in Venezuela. The comments come as America's largest aircraft carrier, the Ford, and other U.S. forces move within striking distance of the country. Charlie D'Agata has new details.

Trump says he's "sort of made up my mind" on Venezuela military action

President Trump says he will no longer support onetime close ally and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene amid the ongoing fallout over the Epstein files. Willie James Inman reports.

Marjorie Taylor Greene 'threatened' by Trump supporters amid Epstein fallout

Flash flood warnings expanded on Saturday as rain hit wide swaths of California amid fears that the atmospheric river will intensify. Andres Gutierrez has the latest details.

Pacific Palisades

Rainstorm pummels California, triggering flash flood warnings

Large-scale protests at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, have drawn attention to environmental concerns and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. Inside the summit, negotiations have been complicated by the absence of the United States.

Belém

Protesters block entrance to COP30 climate talks in Brazil

The UN climate talks in Brazil are facing increasing disruption from protesters. Thousands joined the "Great People's March" outside the conference venue to demand action on global warming instead of empty promises.

Thousands join protest at COP30 climate talks in Brazil

Air travel and other government services, including SNAP benefits, are returning to normal following the end of the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Los Angeles International Airport

Flights begin to get back on track as shutdown ends

The U.S. military is expanding operations in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico amid its deadly boat strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats, while the Trump administration weighs military action against Venezuela.

Trump administration weighs U.S military action in Venezuela

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced "Operation Southern Spear" in the Western Hemisphere as U.S. strikes continue in the region near Colombia and Venezuela. CBS News' Eleanor Watson reports.

Hegseth announces 'Operation Southern Spear'

The U.S. has approved the sale of $330 million worth of weapons to Taiwan as tensions rise in the region with China. CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports.

Breakdown