the airline industry likes to see crowded airports and this year is no different. almost 4 million people are expected to take flight this weekend, the most in a decade. it could be a welcome sign as airlines face higher fuel costs. phil lebeau is at ch >> reporter: the long lines say it all. the thanksgiving travel rush is on. >> we were wondering how crowded it was going to be. when we got here, it was crazy already. >> it's not as bad as i expected, it's a little better. >> i'm surprised it's not worse than it is. >> reporter: overall, the number of people flying at some point this long thanksgiving weekend is up 5%. they may not like the packed plane but they are paying less for their seat. airfares remain near their

lowest level in years, good news for passengers. for airlines, the pressure on prices has made it tougher to booth revenues. meanwhile, jet fuel prices have been rising, which is cutting into airline profits. >> since july, we have been seeing a pretty strong surge up ov 30%. so right now, it's a race between fares and fuel. right now fuel is winning the race. >> reporter: the mixed picture on revenue growth is one reason airline stocks have drifted lower. but for the millions flying this weekend, the best news is that the vast majority of flights should be on time. the weather is expected to be relatively mild for most of the country. >> i've been checking the weather, the incoming flight and where i'm going to all week. it's been nice to see that they have no snow, no rain, no nothing. should be smooth sailing. >> i'm on the basketball team at the university of chicago. we get, you know, about a day to come home. if there's any delays, we're probably not going home. no delays is great for me.

>> reporter: a smooth thanksgiving weekend in the skies with few delays or cancellations would be wel news for the airline industry, and set it up for what could be a strong holiday season that extends into january. phil lebeau, "nightly business re chicago. now, if you're taking a car this weekend, good luck. higher gas prices do not seem to be stopping drivers from hitting the road. morgan brennan is in ridgefield, ne >> reporter: nearly 51 million americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles this thanksgiving week. according to triple a, the most in a dozen years. for the mavast majority, that means a road trip. >> we started at 4:00 a.m., it was busy towards d.c. it picked up here, heading to new york. we're looking forward to getting there soon. >> it's been a while since i've done this, mostly because i want to avoid this pain of travel.

>> it seems that everybody i've been talking to seems a lot more confident in the way the economy is going, anyway. so people are spending, and that's all good. >> reporter: triple a warns all those extra cars on the road could cause some big delays, with drivers in some major metro areas likely to experience travel times up to triple a normal day. travelers in los angeles know the pain, as standstill traffic snaked on both directions on the freeway tuesday night, all this despite higher prices at the pump, gasoline at its highest level since 2014, the national average $2.53, according to gasbuddy. >> motorists have shown an incredible resiliency to higher prices. we're starting to see a lot of chatter associated with higher gas prices. >> reporter: climbed after hurricane harvey took a lot of refining capacity offline. since then, crude oil prices have strengthened as well. still, experts say consumers are

shrugging it off because they're feeling more confident about the economy. it isn't just more travelers hitting the road. there's more trucks as well. more packages are being shipped. the american trucking association says truck tonnage surged 10% last month. that means more trucks, more cars, and more traffic. >> horrendous. not really into new jersey yet. >> reporter: for "nightly business r" morgan before then adjust in bridgefield, new jersey. on wall street, the nasdaq closed at a record, despite the federal reserve's concern about the impact the stock market's sharp rise has had. we'll have more on that in a minute. trading volumes were light as they usually are the day before thanksgiving. the dow jones industrial aver fell 64 points. the nasdaq rose 4. the s&p was off nearly 2. consumer sentiment has cooled from a 13-year high this

month. americans do remain optimistic about thei progressi for income and inflation, as we head into the critical holiday shopping season. in theory of course, the better people feel, the more they spend. that hel >> meantime, the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to continued steady job growth. according to the labor department, jobless claims dropped 13,000, remaining below the 300,000 level, associated with a strong employment market, bill. meantime, the federal reserve does seem to be ready to increase interest rates at its next meeting next month. that's what the minutes of the last meeting out today appear to be saying. but the decision may not be an easy one for some policymakers. steve li >> reporter: fed officials continue to grapple with the persistent conflict of inflation that's too low and asset prices

that to some at the fed are worrisomely high. the fed is likely on track to hike rates in december, another quarter point. but the minutes also showed a broad inflation debate with a few participants saying the fed shouldn't hike until the data show that continued low u.s. inflation is convincingly on track. while most still think the fed will ultimately hit its inflation target, many are concerned that the forces behind low inflation could prove to be persistent, not temporary as they've said most of this year. fed chair janet yellen in a speech tuesday night provided a curtain raiser on those broad ba based concer my colleag and i a not certain that it is transito monitoring inflation very clo go back to what i said earlier about keeping an open mind and not assuming you have a

monopoly on truth. it may be that there is something more endemic or long lasting here that we need to pay attention to. >> reporter: but from the other side, arguing for higher rates, many fed officials think the economy is operating at or above the employment rate, that could spark inflation. they believe the connection between low unemployment and high inflation will begin to work in the u.s. economy. after the meeting, markets continue to see a 93% chance of a rate hike this september and they're about split on whether another rate hike follows in march of 2018. keeping rich too low for too along could cause increased risk of financial stability and worried about the buildup of financial imbalances translation, stock prices may be too high. for "nightly business report, i'm steve liesman. meantime, corporate america's decisionmakers are feeling more optimistic about the economy. and there are a few issues in

particular that are top of mind. jackie deangelis surveyed the nation's chief financial officers and got some intere >> reporter: chief financial officers are more than just number crunchers. they make some of the most important decisions in the business community. from hiring to pay raises to investment. cnbc's global cfo council represents some of the largest public and private companies in the world, collectively managing more than $4 trillion in market capitalization across a numof s. we asked them a lot of questions. the takeaway is they're optimistic about the future. here's why. tax reform. the majority answered that they think the proposed plans making their way through congress will create jobs and stimulate growth, although they don't expect their effective tax rate next year to be lower than this year's. about a third say tax reform will increase wages, although others weren't sure. they do have plans to repatriate cash using that money to buy back stock. second, there are opportunities

for growth. the most attractive place seems to be on the other side of the globe. cfos bumped up their outlook on asia pacific, china and japan. the feel-good scenario could bode well for investors. nearly half have said the dow will cross 24,000 before it drops under 22 k. but they do have one big concern. cyber attacks. hackers have now got them worried. i'm jackie deangelis. still ahead, from prisoner to programmer. a man who lived behind bars for years is now making a living doing something few ever .

facebook will soon let users find out if they liked or followed pages created by russian operatives. the decis p social media company's effort to be more transparent about russian activity on its site. the tool will be available by the end of the year. and it will track activity from the beginning 2015 through august of this year. as we all know, amazon has become more than just an online retailer. it's also a major player in the cloud, which is basically a network of servers that store data. it's pretty much the hottest thing in tech right now. amazon's cloud unit is close to making a deal with medical data company cerner which would give amazon a foothold in the lucrative health care market. that report sent shares of cerner and amazon higher. cnbc.com's chrissie farr broke

the story and joins us from san francisco. chrissie, how big a deal is this cerner deal for them? >> reporter: bil me this is act huge deal for amazon aws which has some contracts in health care. it's been tough for amazon to break in. that's because of concerns about things like information security, compliance. having a stamp of approval from cerner is going to really help amazon make that push. it's a big deal, i would say, for both of these companies. >> and how does it play into amazon's broader strategy which you've been reporting on previously that they might enter the pharmacy business? >> reporter: well, sue, that is the topic of discussion. everybody wants to know, is amazon going to do pharmacy, are they going to start selling rx. it's not really clear if it is related. it might suggest that amazon is building up more expertise, more partnerships, and cerner would certainly be helpful to them. but this is more of a health i.t. or health technology deal

versus anything that very clearly would bring them closer towards that pharmacy push thata >> cerner's stock was the best performer in the s&p today. what's in it for them and why amazon and their cloud unit as their partner? >> cerner is not exactly known for things like artificial intelligence, which is more an amazon aws territory. for cerner it really makes them look like they're going to start offering more of this advanced technology. and the partnership i'm told by sources is initially around their population health product, that's things like bringing predict i have analytics to hospitals. with amazon aws, i think it gives cerner a bump over its rivals as it pushes more into the global market and it starts more of a technology rollout. so ai potentially coming next from cerner. >> very interesting. cnbc.com's chrissie farr, thank you, have a good weekend, happy

thanksgiving. >> r thanks, happy thanksgiving. uber was hacked. the breach affected 57 million customers and drivers. now, that's a problem. but not uber's only problem. the hack happened last year and it was covered up, and it comes as the ride hailing company is in negotiations with investors to raise billions of dollars. deirdre bosa >> reporter: harry campbell has been an uber driver since 2014. and he started a well-known blog among other drivers, the ride share guy, with the goal of helping drivers earn more by working smarter. he was one of the 57 million uber users around the world who had his data hacked nearly a year ago. but he along with others has only just found out. that's because uber paid $100,000 in hush money to the hackers to hide the breach from the public and from regulators for over a year. >> if uber lied to the federal trade comm while under investigation for a previous

data breach and concealed this new one, that's a really serious claim and possibly a criminal one. >> reporter: uber's chief of security joe sullivan has taken the fall for the coverup. uber firing him and a deputy this week. he was a high profile hire back in 2015, coming from facebook as their head of security. in a blog post, uber's new ceo, dara khosrowshahi, wrote that he won't make excuses, and he can't erase the past but commits to learn from uber's mistakes. but the damage is already done, and the fallout has been swift. the ftc, already investigating uber for another earlier breach, says it is, quote, closely evaluating the serious issues raised in uber's handling of this hack. cybersecurity experts say that the latest could potentially open it up to criminal liability. >> it's like if the cops came to your house to respond to a noise complaint and you said everything's fine, officers, but there's a dead body stuffed in

the closet behind you. you can't lie to the ftc's face. if that is what occurred here, that would be a different order of magnitude of these data breach stories we've been seeing persistently for the last several years. >> reporter: a lawsuit has also already been filed by a user, accusing the company of negligence. and a key democrat has called for uber to testify in d.c. the followout has even exte with the uk's information commissioner expressing, quote, huge concerns. uber says it's in touch with several state attorney generals and the ftc and is ready to cooperate. as for ceo dara khosrowshahi, he's left cleaning up yet another mess from uber's past while trying to repair its reputation and shore up its business as rival lyft makes inroads. for "nightly business repor i'm deirdre bosa, san francisco. >> uber hired a unit of fireeye to investigate this massive data

breach. that helped lift shares of the cybersecurity firm in trading today. bill? sue, deere's business picked up steam. that's where we begin tonight's market focus. improving demand in the u.s. and abroad helped the tractor maker top expectations. deere expects that strength to continue, saying it expects sales for the coming year to outpace analysts' estimates. shares closed at $145.25, up 4%. rockwell automation has turned down emerson electric's third takeover offer. rockwell determined that the $2t interests of its shareholders and that it presents long term risks, includi difficulty staying competitive in a very quickly changing market. rockwell automation shares were off by 1% to $191.02. shares of emerson were higher by 2.5% to $61.88. tivo has won a patent

infringement case against comcast. ruled that comcast' de set-top boxes violate two of tivo's boxes. comcast is now prohibited from selling certain versions of the device. shares of tivo jumped 7% to $18.90 while shares of comcast, the parent company of cnbc which produces this program, comcast shares off a penny to $36.41, sue. private equity firm apollo global management is reportedly close to reaching a deal to buy the restaurant chain cordova mexican eats. shares rose nearly 1% to $30.43. chip maker broadcomm is reportedly considering upping the $103 billion offer to buy

qualcomm. broadcomm may offer more of its own stock. the potential move represents broadcomm's eagerness to merge with its rival, even saying that it is not opposed to launching a takeover battle. broadcomm is preparing to submit a new slate of nominees for qualcomm's board. qualcomm's shares were up 2% to $68.13. shares of broadcomm finished down marginally to $275.37. earlier this year, we brought you a series called "business behind bars." and it was then that you met a convict at san quentin state prison who was learning to code. months later, life for that now ex-convict is very, very different. jane wells has that story from saci >> can i ask what your number is? >> t-31014.

>> reporter: he's a convicted murderer who spent years in prison. >> it's amazing to think that in a few short weeks, i'll be walking out of the gates as . few short weeks f later, chris should y did leave san quentin. he's now a software programmer at a san francisco tech company. >> the code i wrote will work on any device. >> reporter: even he can hardly believe it. >> i mean, like this, right, just my mind is blown. >> reporter: the story of how a felon learned to code inside a state prison where there is no internet and then got hired by the website fandom when he was freed, it's a the story of a venture capitalist who teaches

willing, qualified inmates coding skills on a fake server so they can be productive members of society when and if they leave prison. >> it's another thing to then have to face the decision individually to say, do i want somebody with chris's background sitting next to me, working with me. >> reporter: fandom's craig palmer decided to give schumaker an interview. >> it wasn't as hard as the parole board but it was pretty tough. >> reporter: when chris showed up for his first day of work, most of his co-workers did not know about h they did notice his age. >> there were a couple of jokes about who is the old intern. >> reporter: a week after being hired, chris schumaker told his whole story to the entire company. >> t? and of course it's always nervewracking. you wonder how people are going to think. the feedback and the support has

been really positive. >> i was i think a little afraid. it turned out great. >> i was excited and curious rather than scared. >> reporter: there's been a lot to learn outside the office. like smartphones. not long after leaving san quentin, schumaker and other graduates and supporters hiked into the hills above the prison. >> i do not miss that place. >> reporter: of the 30 last mile graduates, none has gone back behind bars. the program is expanding to other prisons and other states. for chris schumaker, it's been a long journey of self-improvement, which isn't over. where do you see yourself in two years, five years, ten years? >> oh, my gosh. th you know, i see myself on this being a family man.

being somebody that cares really about life and people and somebody that's -- has a strong mind and a strong character. >> reporter: he hopes to live by a new code. for "nightly business repor still to come "nightly business" stores say they've found a faster, easier way to shop. but is it? we put a relativel retailers are always looking for a way to stay ahead of the competition. this year a number of stores are pushing a service that they

describe as more convenient than ordering online and waiting for delivery. it's called buy online and pick up in store. but is it faster and easier? our courtney reagan puts six of the biggest chains to the test with tea >> reporter: walmart and target. macy's and kohl's. home depot and lowe's. each have an order online and pick up in store option. each store we shopped, the experience was consistent. it was the same case for each retailer we tested. >> 42 minutes, the target was 45. >> reporter: bad news, not all experiences were without hiccups. >> i just got a call from lowe's that our order is ready for pickup except for one item which isn't available. >> reporter: that happened at chicago lowe's too. ordering online is supposed to be convenient. but each team thought it was the more cumbersome part.

>> this isn't even the closest store, it keeps going back. >> reporter: pickup was the easier part. >> that was pretty easy. the order was ready in one minute from the time i got to the counter. >> reporter: which retailer was the fastest? target. all four orders were ready in an average of 33 minutes. kohl's was second, averaging 46 minutes. thn ease of ordering and pickup was factored in, kohl's was slightly ahead of targets. home depot, one hour and 15 minutes. macy's was fourth, two hours and 11 minutes. lowe's fif, at two hours 45 minutes. walmart last, averaging six hours, 32 minutes. the dallas order was placed just before 5:00 p.m. but wasn't ready until after 9:00 a.m. the next day. for "nightly business repor and finally tonight, if you plan on shoppingor barga this black friday, there may be one item to avoid. the christmas tree.

according to square's 2016 sales data, christmas trees are the most expensive on the day after thanksgiving, averaging $66. the closer to christmas, the cheaper the tree, which makes sense of course, which also means on christmas eve, trees are the cheapest, averaging $30 on average. i'm not sure what -- >> don't buy that tree on friday. i'm making a note right now. you got it. that does it for us tonight, i'm sue herera. thanks so much for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth. have a great evening. be sure to join us tomorrow on thanksgiving for a special "nightly busines"

♪ >> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends