0 "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. we begin this morning with breaking news. a sizzling new report on the u.s. economy out. america's gdp, the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 4.1%, that is the fastest rate in two years. our chief business correspondent christine romans is here to tell us what it means. good morning. >> good morning, carol. this is stronger than the government first predicted and stronger than many economists thought, that means in july, august and september you had the strongest economic growth in more than two years, 4.1%. we have been muggling along, carol, at about 2% economic growth which is nothing to write home about, for some time now. 4% growth rate, 4.1% growth rate is something that shows an improvement in the economy, but did it last until the fourth quarter, already economists saying maybe some of this could be taken back in the fourth quarter because this strengthens the economy in part because of a retailer stocking their shelves getting ready for the holiday season. we have to see how much that product really moves. that is the trend. it's important here. you see how the last year we have done better. you have seen the economy starting to gather momentum. it's exactly what the fed is making the fed more comfortable about taking its foot off the gas in terms of helping the economy, taper light as we've been talking about it. again, this is an economic number that is again confirmation that the economy is healing, carol. >> a bit of good news this morning, thanks, christine romans. millions of target customers are waking up to find an e-mail from the store, in their inbox. the nation's second largest retailer in full damage control mode after one of the largest breaches in retail history. as many as 40 million credit and debit accounts may have been compromised. it started just before thanksgiving and ended on sunday. now target is reaching out to customers via e-mail. the message which is also posted on the company's website reads in part we began investigating the incident as soon as we learned of it. we determined the information involved in this incident included customer name, credit or debit card number and the card's expiration date and cvv, the shorthand can number on the back of your card said to give protection. >> $2,309.51 they tried to get out of the account. >> you think you have money in your account and then you have nothing. you have beyond nothing because i went shopping at target. >> unfederal laws, consumers who use credit cards have more protection than those who use debit cards because you get cash out of the credit card accounts. check your statements. just hours from now the holiday travel season kicks into gear. for millions of americans those plans may grind to a halt just in time for the start of winter a sprawling storm is plowing across much of the country, painting scenes that are spectacular and a little scary. >> oh my gosh! >> yes. wicked combination of high winds, freezing rain and heavy snow knocked out power across much of salt lake city and now indra petersons is in the cnn severe weather center. okay, hit us. >> does this sound familiar, carol, like groundhog day from thanksgiving? yes, i am not making friends here once again, going to a holiday travel weekend and seeing a series of storms and a lot of variety, too, like you mentioned talking about freezing rain, ice and the threat for tornadoes and record-breaking heat, we'll talk about that coming up, feels like here we go again. as holiday travelers bombard the airports and roadways this weekend, a wicked weather system could derail travel plans with snow, freezing rain and severe thunderstorms across the country. according to aaa, the wide ranging storm potentially threatening the travel plans of 94 million americans. >> do you want to go on the airplane? >> no. >> reporter: from the south to the midwest, the risk of severe thunderstorms include damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. up north, freezing rain will be the problem from chicago to wichita. holiday commuters will have to watch for icing on bridges and overpasses. snow already caused issues for air travelers this holiday season. in wisconsin this week a plane slid off the snow-slicked runways. >> we didn't know what was happening and they said that the airport was shut down. >> reporter: further east, up to ten inches of rain could dampen holiday travel plans, and once millions finally arrive to a destination, who will have a white christmas? right now it's looking like colorado and parts of the great lakes. so here we go. look at several storms. here is the first one, producing icy conditions, from michigan back down through missouri but not the big system is dissipating, the rain affecting the northeast but again it is the system behind it. we keep really talking about it. notice the low moves into the southeast, it's warm, tons of moisture and fuels the moisture from the ohio valley back down to the mississippi valley and the back icing conditions. farther north it is colder, the back side fueling in heavy snow around the great lakes. it doesn't end there, we have the icing threat through upstate new york, new hampshire, vermont, maine, over half an inch that can take down power lines. huge ice storm possibly for sunday morning. it does not end there, into the southeast the same system showed you the moisture in the southeast the record-breaking temperatures tonight already looks like from little rock down through waco a threat for severe weather, thunderstorms, even isolated tornadoes, even a moderate risk in through tomorrow, this is dangerous stuff memphis through monroe the threat for severe weather and in the east, yes, record-wreaking heat. that's not the big story. lot going on but for many warm and showery. >> people will leave early today, the safest time for most of the country? >> it depends on where you are. we're talking about icing conditions in many prayses so talking about ice out there, places like madison you already have problems as we speak. >> all right, indra petersons, thanks so much. fears of a tuberculosis outbreak in california. 1,800 high school students and staff will be tested for tb after 45 students at indio high school in palm dellsert tested positive for possible exposure. only one student is confirmed with an active case of tuberculosis. the school is requiring the test out of an abundance of caution. the risk of transmission appears to be moderately low but some parents are upset it wasn't handled sooner. >> i'm shocked it wasn't addressed earlier and i felt like, i feel like if it was addressed earlier it wouldn't be this big of a problem. >> casey wian is live outside indio high school with more. good morning. >> reporter: it is scary for a lot of parents and students and staff members here at indio high school. let's talk about how this started because parents are raising concerns about the timetable. few weeks back one student came down with tuberculosis. school officials decided to test everyone that that student was in class with and everyone that that student was known to have come in contact with. that was 131 other students. of that 131, 45 students were tested positive for exposure to tb. doesn't mean they have the disease, it means what health officials say is they have possible or likely latent tb which means they could develop it about a 10% chance they could develop it at some point in their lifetime. all of those students will be treated with antibiotics. five students have been sent for further tests, because chest x-rays showed that there was some abnormalities that may or may not be related to tb. they still don't know. so out of an abundance of caution, school officials say they're testing all 1,800 people at this school. students and staff alike. we spoke with the principal of the school and the county health director. here's what they had to say. >> i also am a parent. i have a senior girl and a freshman boy. i as a parent am concerned. >> it can spread to people in unpredictable fashion and even though tuberculosis is not nearly as serious as it used to be it is still a serious disease and can have significant health consequences. >> reporter: if the tuberculosis scare is not bad enough today is the last day of school before winter break. everyone who has tested today has to come back on monday to get the results of their tests, so they won't be allowed back to school after the winter break until they're cleared, carol. >> casey wian reporting live from indio, kaleic iccalifornia morning. a jury has found two personal assistants to nigella lawson not guilty. the defense team argued that lawson's admission she used cocaine tarnished her credibility as a witness. the assistants who are sisters are accused of defrauding the tv chef and her ex-husband out of more than $1 million. cnn's erin mclaughlin is live in london to tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ca l carol. it took the jury nine hours. neither sister in court to hear it due to poor health. following the hearing the defense attorney reading a statement on their behalf saying "this has been a long, hard fight played out in the gaze of the world's media elisabetta and francesca would like to thank friends and relatives for their love and support and members of the public who expressed their best wishes." the prosecutors alleged the sisters fraudulently funded a lavish million-dollar lifestyle using company credit cards. they had to prove not only what they did was dishonest but they thousand it was dishonest. they argued these transactions took place over a time period of four years and nigella lawson implicit or explicitly authorized the transactions in order to hide her drug abuse, something that lawson vehemently denied in court, they also argued at no point did the sisters try to hide these transactions and they argued that they were the casualty of the very public breakdown of the marriage of the celebrity chef and her former husband, charles saatchi. clearly the jury listening to the defense and it was enough to create reasonable doubt in this case, carol. >> erin mclaughlin, surprising verdict i must say, erin mclaughlin reporting live from london. still to come, saying no to sea world, young students joining the outcry sparked by the cnn documentary "blackfish" and the theme park taking a new approach to this mounting controversy. stick with innovation.