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good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight a dramatic culmination to a month-long manhunt for that tennessee teacher who allegedly

abducted his teenaged student. the pair found today after evading authorities for over a month. tonight new details on the disturbing steps police say he took to prepare for the trip and how authorities mobilized citizens across the nation to help track them down. here's abc's kayna whitworth. >> we are beyond elated. words really can't express the feelings that we have. >> reporter: a family's nightmare finally over. >> their daughter, their sister, is on her way home. a wonderful family that has been through so much. >> reporter: their 15-year-old daughter, elizabeth thomas, rescued this morning after being allegedly kidnapped nearly six weeks ago by her 50-year-old teacher, tad cummins. >> we know she's been through a lot of trauma, more trauma than just about any child should ever have to even imagine. >> reporter: police acting on a tip they received late last night. >> around 11:00 central last night, from an individual in california who indicated he may have encountered tad cummins and elizabeth thomas.

the suggests of an ongoing amber alert. >> reporter: authorities closing in on an extremely remote area in northern california. >> the caller indicated they had taken up residence in a cabin in a remote area in cecilville, california, within the last week and a half. >> reporter: police found the silver nissan suv parked near one of these cabins. the same car cummins was seen fueling the day the two disappeared. >> authorities in siskiyou county kept this car under surveillance for several hours. and as daylight broke this morning, they were able to take tad cummins into custody and safely recover elizabeth without incident. >> all we know is that she's apparently healthy and unharmed. >> reporter: the horrific ordeal finally over for the thomas family just as desperation was turning into lost hope. >> i left that meeting thinking there was literally nothing that these folks could do that hadn't already been done. >> reporter: their only clue this surveillance video captured at a walmart in oklahoma city just a few days after their disappearance.

the video revealing small changes to their appearance. elizabeth's hair dark and red. cummins' gray facial hair now brown. the pair buying food and paying with cash. >> they could have lived in obscurity for years without being found there. i mean, think about it. tad cummins had outsmarted everyone and gotten thousands of miles away from home. all the way up in northern california from columbia, tennessee. >> reporter: the first signs of trouble happening months earlier. school officials began investigating the health sciences teacher after another student claimed to see him kissing elizabeth in his classroom. cummins denied any wrongdoing but was later suspended. >> i didn't see this coming at all. you send your kids to school, you know -- you trust they're going to be all right there. >> he is a predator. and she does not have any will of her own as we understand it. she is under his spell. she's being controlled by him. >> reporter: cummins' daughters, ashley and erika, last saw their father the weekend before police

say he kidnapped 15-year-old thomas. >> he was at my house saturday night before they left. he came over to see our newborn. and just hung out on the couch and talked. just a normal night together. >> reporter: the very next day, his former student, elizabeth thomas, was seen being dropped off early in the morning of march 13th at a restaurant in columbia, tennessee. but before she left, her sister says elizabeth woke her with a warning. >> she said, if i'm not back by 6:00, you need to come find me, call the cops. >> a short time later, this security footage showing cummins filling up his suv at a nearby gas station. police say just days earlier, he took out a $4,500 cash loan. sources also telling abc news that cummins researched camping and suvs and even watched a tv show about living off the grid. >> one of the keys when you're on the run is staying out of sight. in my view, he just was lucky.

they were able to stay on the run this long because he does strike me as fairly unsophisticated as far as being a fugitive. >> reporter: hours after that gas station surveillance footage from monday, elizabeth thomas is declared missing. sometime later another clue, a cell phone ping from decatur, alabama, over 80 miles away. that evening, tad's wife jill came home to find a note from her husband. according to a criminal complaint, it said he was going to clear his head, that he would return, and asked for his wife not to call police. it also said that she noticed two handguns were missing. >> i found out she was also missing, and that was what i knew. that was the moment that i knew. that it was all off. >> reporter: jill had thought tad was mentoring 15-year-old elizabeth. she had been spending time at their home prior to the disappearance. >> she would come to him with her problems. about her past. i think he was mentoring her.

>> reporter: but police say that a few months before he allegedly kidnapped 15-year-old thomas, tad was secretly searching "age of consent" and how to marry a teen online. >> i think she went by her own choice, but i don't think she was old enough to make that choice. i don't think he forcefully took her. she was manipulated by him. >> reporter: according to the criminal complaint, police learned that cummins had filled a prescription for cyalis, a drug for erectile dysfunction, three days prior to leaving. while they were on the run, he had also purchased women's razors, chocolate, and ky jelly. >> elizabeth thomas is not only the victim in this case, she is truly the only real witness. any jury is going to want to hear from elizabeth thomas. >> reporter: authorities say thomas will be flown back to tennessee tomorrow. >> our main concern is how is she emotionally and mentally? if she needs help, whatever help

we can offer, we will make sure that's provided for her. >> elizabeth is likely in crisis. when a girl really trusts somebody like a teacher, it can be a wonderful relationship. but in this case, it crossed lines. >> reporter: developmental psychologist robin silverman says, it's a long road ahead for young elizabeth thomas. >> she's going to come back and be confused, she's going to be filled with a lot of emotions that she needs to work through. and this is not going to be an easy road. >> reporter: after a month on the fbi's most wanted list, cummins is sitting in a siskiyou county jail awaiting arraignment, facing both state and federal charges including aggravated kidnapping and taking a minor across state lines for sex. >> she's 15 years old. she's a young girl that's with a grown man that's 50 years old. he needs to be held accountable for kidnapping this girl. >> reporter: the thomas family

thankful and relieved their daughter is safe and sound today, thanks to a tip from a good samaritan. >> you've got to understand we mobilized a nation during this six weeks. we mobilized a nation. and when you do that, something good most likely is going to happen because you can't hide from that many millions of people that are looking for you. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm kayna whitworth in cecilville, california. up next, we're on the road in europe to see the rise of far-right nationalism firsthand. how a candidate some call france's donald trump is now in contention for the presidency there. c contention for the presidency there. [rock music] with the lighter feel... of this. [classical music] for a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste...

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it was a chaotic scene in paris today as a gunman opened fire on police at one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. the attack coming just days ahead of the heated french presidential election. now many are wondering if reaction to today's violence could propel a far-right candidate who's been called france's donald trump to victory. abc's chief foreign correspondent terry moran takes us on a road trip through a changing europe. >> reporter: one of the most beautiful streets in the world. the iconic champs-elysees on lockdown tonight. a gunman armed with a military-style weapon opening fire. one police officer killed, two others wounded. this man says he saw it all. within two hours came that claim, that boast of responsibility by isis.

all this three days before france goes to the polls in the first round of a bitterly contested presidential election. a leading contender in the presidential race, marine le pen, the candidate everybody's watching. a far-right nationalist with an incendiary anti-immigration argument. this is our home, a rallying cry reminiscent of a familiar refrain. >> and america first! >> reporter: the u.s. president today sending his condolences. >> that's a very, very terrible thing that's going on in the world today. >> reporter: for france, for all of europe, this is a moment truth. last month we went on a road trip across these political battlegrounds where the continent's future will be decided. the big question, has the election of donald trump in america and the grim uncertainties of this age of terror emboldened the populist movement around the world, and

could the ripple effect mean the end of europe as we know it? first stop, paris, the city of lights, now also known for the ever-present reality of terror. we're going to the headquarters of the national front. we're going to go and talk to some of the younger members. so this is where it all happens, right? why, why sign up with madam le pen? >> she's saying like trump did in the u.s., make france great again. she has a strong, really strong message. and she brings hope, more jobs, less immigration. >> reporter: sounds familiar, right? but in europe, that human tide of refugees from the middle east has made the immigration issue even more intense. le pen suggests immigration like this is dangerous,emrs of the cf attacks like the massacre in paris almost two years ago now.

we're in a special place. this bar is called labelle keep, the good team. the last time i was here, this was all shuttered. this is where one of the attacks on the horrible night of november 2015 happened. >> 20 person died here. 10 was in my life. >> reporter: gregory ridenberg was behind the bar when the terrorists opened fire. he cradled his former wife in his arms as she died. but even after experiencing the unimaginable, he is not a supporter of le pen who he sees as a fearmongerer. i cannot imagine the horror that happened here that night. and for many men, it would have made them angry. >> you can do nothing with angry, nothing.

>> reporter: that sounds familiar too. just like in america. europeans are in a fierce debate about globalization. and like donald trump, marine le pen is an economic nationalist. so we traveled two hours south to chateauroux to see if she can persuade people here to vote for her. le pen's campaign is both slick and emotional. packaged populist anger. marine le pen tells a story, a story about how these people here have been ignored by the establishment and that now, through her, they can take their country back. this feels like a lot of the donald trump rallies that i covered. it's more than just a political campaign.

it's bigger than that. >> reporter: and we even saw the parallels to the trump campaign in the crowd itself. this guy with the iconic trump campaign hat. backstage, we were granted a few moments with le pen herself. she's brusque, all business. we've seen brexit in britain. president trump in america. and maybe le pen in france. how would you describe this political moment? >> translator: it's a global movement. in reality it's a rejection of savage globalization, of free trade that's been imposed for decades that benefited very few. >> if you're elected does that mean the end of the european union? >> translator: eu is a political structure that i find deeply harmful. think it should cede its place to the nations and to the corporations. >> reporter: but a big reason le pen is popular and feared is her

railing against what she sees as islamic fundamentalism and against muslim women wearing head coverings or veils. she wants to band the so-called burkini on french beaches. >> translator: in reality it's a representation of radical islam. women don't want to put on this kind of swimsuit. it's a uniform for radical islamists and radical islamists absolutely will not have a voice in my country. >> reporter: everywhere we traveled, from france to the netherlands where an election was held last month, we heard the same debate about nationalism and diversity. this is a city that made its wealth, and you can see it here, by being open to the world. it's a merchant city. the question in this election, has there been too much diversity? >> we need politicians who are not removed from the population. we want real people. not the socialist rhetoric and

[ bleep ]. we're sick of it. >> reporter: in the netherlands this guy, geert wilders often called the dutch donald trump, but voters didn't buy it. he finished a distant second. we had a moment with him while still in the throes of his campaign. you called for the banning of the koran, closing of mosques. what do you say to people who call that hate speech? >> i'm not in the habit of banning books but this is a book that is more anti-semitic and more dangerous -- >> it's the holy book of a billion and more people in the world. >> it's a book full of hatred, of an ideology that does not want to assimilate. >> reporter: millions of voters across europe are rallying to that kind of message. others hear only hatred in it. the next test, france and marine le pen. with blood on the streets of paris tonight, her moment may be at hand. for "nightline," i'm terry moran in paris.

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finally tonight, caitlyn jenner famously supported donald trump in the election. but could the president's stance towards transgender issues be causing her to change her mind? abc's diane sawyer asked that question as part of her exclusive interview. >> as you know, the question has been raised, especially now, are you still a trump republican? >> here's the deal. yes, i did vote for trump. but here's the dealbreaker with the republican party. and the dealbreaker is, you mess with my community, you do the wrong thing with our community, you don't give us equality and a fair shot, i'm coming after you. >> do you still think mcconnell, pence, do you think they'll see you if you call them?

>> i know they will. >> you can see the full new diane sawyer exclusive interview with caitlyn jenner tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on abc. thanks for watching abc news. as always we're online at abcnews.com and our "nightline" facebook page. good night, america. ht, america.