hung out in the pool a it will. >> reporter: it's funny. you said i wish i could have stayed longer. nobody wishes for a longer layover, do they? >> i know. >> reporter: except here. a reporter recently wrote not about her trip to singapore, but singapore's airport. when you're talking about the best airport in the u.s., north america, you come indiana. >> absolutely. why woouldn't you come to indiana? >> reporter: mario rodriguez is the executive director of the indianapolis international airport. for seven years in a row, it's been ranked north america's best by the airports council international. opened in 2008, indianapolis is the first airport terminal in the u.s. designed with post-9/11 security in mind. its high ceilings and large windows let in ample natural light which better illuminates the restaurants and local artwork. there is even live music on

friday. >> we've been desensitized, and we've been trained to think that the airport experience is horrible. why should that be? that only happened just recently. you know, before it was the miracle of flight. traveling was exciting. >> reporter: but for most americans, it's been a long time since flying was anything close to exciting. smaller seats, fuller plane, and often dark, dingy terminals that feel a bit like bus stations. >> we invented the aviation system, and we don't have one of the top 30 airports in the world. records tory barnes is a vice president of the u.s. travel association. >> we don't need a taj mahal. we're not asking for that. we just need the government and private sector to be willing to invest in making it a better system. >> reporter: the average airport in the u.s. is now 40 years old. experts estimate $128 billion in new investment is needed over the next five years just to keep up with the growing number of flyers.

if things stay the way they are now, will travelers' experience at u.s. airports get better or worse in the years to come? >> quite frankly, we think it will get worse. >> reporter: that fear has led to a nationwide building boom with major overhauls in progress at nearly 50 airports, including orlando, chicago, los angeles, and salt lake city. but none is as ambitious as the project under way at what may be america's most notorious airport, new york's la guardia. >> if i took you blindfold and took you to la guardia in new york, you would think i must be in some third world country. i'm note joking. >> when the vice president made that comment, many of the new york area elected officials were outraged that he would criticize la guardia. i said the exact opposite. i said the vice president is right. >> reporter: new york governor

andrew cuomo knew la guardia had become the butt of jokes. >> this is representative of what we're talking about by a world class design. >> reporter: and in 2016, he made an $8 billion bet he could make those jokes a thing of the past. three of the four existing terminals are being completely rebuilt to create a state-of-the-art unified airport. >> we want to have a front door as good as any front door on this globe. and not out of pride. out of sheer business interest. we want your business. we want you to come here and visit. >> reporter: construction at la guardia is expected to be complete in 2022, but some new gates have already opened. and while few would confuse it with singapore, some surprised passengers have wondered if they landed at the wrong airport. >> it's more like a modern airport now. >> they're a 100% improvement over what the old ones were.

>> reporter: 80% of the money for the new terminals at la guardia comes from the private sector. but these kind of public/private partnerships don't work at every airport, and many are calling on congress to allow an increase in fees on passengers to be used to upgrade facilities. wherever the money comes from, governor cuomo says the cost of doing nothing is far, far greater. >> you fly in and out of any airport, any train station, you know that our facilities are all dated. we need to get to work. we need to build, because we need to build, because ev ♪ ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy.

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it's what you do. dog, dog, dog. artists and director tim burton is best known for his films beetle juice, batman, edward scissorhands. there is a whole list. but burton's latest work isn't coming to a theater near it's on display in las vegas. michelle miller reports. >> you know, i kind of almost grew up here. i've been coming to vegas since i was born. >> reporter: southern california native and hollywood heavyweight tim burton has a love affair with the desert city of light. not new vegas, but the old one. >> i love the neon, the old signs and the beauty of them and the sort of artistry are important to me in part of my artistic development. >> reporter: and so the brains behind such films as batman. >> beetle juice.

>> it's showtime. >> reporter: and "the nightmare before christmas" -- ♪ oh somewhere >> reporter: threw his artistic expression into the one place he says still represents it, the boneyard of the city's abandoned landscape. >> what you do on the inside, great, great, great. >> reporter: in october at the only museum in the nation dedicated to neon, burton debuted his own artwork, an assortment of animatronic signs and drawings of all sizes are mixed in with the permanent collection. if any of this looks familiar -- >> you want my watch? >> reporter: -- think back to danny devito's demise in the cult classic "mars attacks." he directly nods to nostalgia by using the demolition of the landmark tower. you said that had a very distinct impression on you.

>> yeah, it was like watching an ancient dinosaur being killed or something. after it happened, it was silent. everybody couldn't speak. it was so strangely powerful, sad, beautiful. ♪ >> reporter: for more than three decades, burton's films have ranged from delightfully dark -- >> you're alive! you made it. >> reporter: to weirdly whimsical, grossing more than $4 billion worldwide. >> you have "edward scissorha s scissorhands", the nightmare before christmas, frankenweanie, alice in wonderland. should it surprise anybody there is this side of you? >> it kind of brings me back to where i started. i've always liked to draw and make things. >> reporter: burton's singular style was apparent early on. his short "stomp of the celery monster" helped land him a job at disney studios.

>> i had a room when i was an mater, and i saw from my room where i felt trapped like rapunz rapunzel, i could see the hospital where i lived and forest lawn where all my family was buried and i felt like i was in the bermuda trial, you know, this weird place of life and death. >> burbank existed. >> reporter: fired after a few years, he found his footing directing "peewee's big adventure." >> thanks for stopping. >> reporter: that began a string of hits that made burton a household name. >> this exhibition is an immersive experience into the mind of tim burton. >> reporter: perhaps no one knows better than jenny hee, burton's chief exhibition curator. >> what he puts on screen or on a page or in a sculpture is identifiable for all of his fans. so there is really no disconnect between tim and his viewer or tim and his visitor because of that intense emotional connection that he imbues into his work. >> reporter: his art has

700-piece collection that was a viewed at new york's museum of modern art, where it drew the third largest crowd in moma's 8 moma that is new york same tim draws 43 million tourists a year. >> hello. >> reporter: neon museum ceo rob mccoy hopes burton's appeal will draw more people here. what is your favorite tim burton piece? >> it would have to be the signature sign "lost vegas." and here is the reason why. we lost the dunes sign. and as an homage to the dunes, he created that wonderful outline of the old dunes sign, and then the icing on the cake, he put stardust stars from the stardust sign up through the middle of it. so in one fell swoop, he captured probably two of the

most famous signs in the history of las vegas. >> reporter: jenny hee says each bulb on that 40-foot sign was o >> visitors are supposed to come in and they this has been here for decades. >> reporter: what does your artwork do for you? >> therapy. >> reporter: we asked burton specifically what some of those pieces mean, from the blue girl with wine. >> she's hot! >> it's been a long time with not having a girlfriend. so there you go. >> reporter: to the blueprint of his most famous creation. >> that's edward scissor hands. he took on many forms as a drawing. >> reporter: it all reaches back to the boneyard, his way of keeping las vegas's past present. >> we sneak in to where they kept the signs in the '90s. it was on the other side of town. and they're beautiful. to me, beautiful art. >> reporter: what are you hoping people will feel from this? >> vegas to me is very

dream-like in a weird way. the memories are like little snippets of dreams you. kind of do things, and it's all very pe onal, no matter wh

and we end this half hour with the story of old friends coming to the aid of an old friend. here is steve hartman on the road. >> okay. >> reporter: life has its ups and downs, but rarely do you see a swing as dramatic as what 66-year-old koy featherston just went through. >> i'm speechless sometimes because of how it happened. >> reporter: koy, who used to work as a concert lighting director and artist says he still hasn't fully processed his good fortune to end up here from here. and to do it virtually overnight. >> i was beginning to lose hope. >> reporter: a month ago, you're homeless. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: now you're here. how does that happen? >> it was just two friends. they started coming from

everywhere. >> i figured i could find him. >> reporter: leah mechling was his first blast from the past. she started looking for koy after seeing his picture in the local newspaper. leah said if not for the caption, she would have never recognized her high school football friend, the talented football player who was once voted best all around boy. koy was everyone's friend. which is why leah felt compelled to return the kindness. >> i came here and look atted this church. >> reporter: after three days of searching, she found him. i said do you remember me and he said of course i do. >> i was relieved because it was someone i knew. >> reporter: and it wasn't just leah. >> it's really shocking when you find an old friend that you have known is living in your hometown on the street. >> reporter: all these buddies saw the same picture in the peun ep t same response. >> i got him a phone, put him on my telephone plan. >> got him some dental work

done, got him social security. . he can stay as listening as he wants. >> reporter: rtunately, his friends say koy doesn't have any drug or alcohol problems. they say he ended up on the streets of austin after a series of unfortunate events and mental health issues. and once he started spiraling, there was just no crawling out on his own. >> i don't know if i would have really gotten through without my friends. make friends now. >> reporter: you may need them some day. >> you may need them some day. you may be glad that you have them because kit happen to anyone. >> reporter: a friendly reminder from one of the richest men on earth. stevehartman, on the ro on the austin, texas. >> a little kindness goes a long way. and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us a little later for the morning news and of course "cbs this morning." from the cbs broadcast center in new york city, i'm tom hanson.

it's thursday, december 2nd, 2020. this is the "cbs morning news." growing unrest. more american troops are headed to the middle east after pro-iran supporters attacked the u.s. embassy in iraq. what finally convinced the protesters to retreat. a spike in anti-semitic attacks. new york city is ramping up security after 13 incidents in a little more than a week. how the jewish community is pushing back against hatred. >> they're going to attack jews, they're going to pay a price. bush fire crisis. thousands of australians are forced to flee their homes as the deadly fires continue to cause havoc.