Dan Rather was the same "journalist" who was in an on air "tiff" with Bush 41. This was personal for dannyrather. He was more then ready to volunteer.
And before that, he did the same thing in a televised Nixon interview back during Watergate, suggesting that people thought he was crook and then saying, "well, sir, what about it?" Or words to that effect. Nixon's reply, as we know, became a virtual touchstone among liberals. "I am not a crook, I am not a crook, I am not a crook..."