At the White House, Frank Carlucci, thepresident's newly appointed national securityadviser, said he will have direct access to theOval Office and has free rein to shake up thestaff and operation of the White House NationalSecurity Council.

He said he has put a 10-member team to worksizing up the NSC to determine "what kind ofchanges may be appropriate" in the wake of theIranian-Contra operation that was coordinated byan NSC aide.

Retiring House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.,D-Mass., predicted that "everybody will be smokedout" in the investigations that will come, even ifthey use the Fifth Amendment to avoid answeringquestions.

But O'Neill, who has been a point-man forDemocratic opposition to Reagan for the past sixyears, added that the issue does not appear to bea Watergate-type scandal that will force thepresident to resign.

Speaking to reporters during a photo sessionwith Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, Reagansaid he has not "given any thought" to claimingexecutive privilege to prevent Cabinet secretariesfrom testifying.

Reagan defended the action taken by departednational security adviser John Poindexter andNorth in exercising their constitional rights,saying, "It is not new or unusual--it's happenedmany times before--that when there is going to bean independent counsel starting an investigation,that individuals that have no access to files orpapers or time for preparation for questions, havedone just exactly the same thing, so that theythen can be witnesses for the investigation."

Reagan himself was not asked about Weinberger'scomments, but chief administration spokesman LarrySpeakes took issue with the defense secretary.

"Obviously the president is on the record andso are the rest of us that there were moderatefactions in Iran that we were dealing with,"Speakes told reporters who questioned him. "So weare a little bit at odds with the secretary onthat one."

In comments Wednesday in Paris to Frenchreporters, the defense secretary said thepresident's advisers were wrong in telling himthat there were moderate elements in Iran withwhom Washington could negotiate. Weinberger saidit appeared that there is no one to talk with inTehran except "fanatical lunatics."

Weinberger said yesterday he believes theadvice originated with former National SecurityAdviser Robert McFarlane.

Appearing on both ABC and NBC morningtelevision programs, he said he was "horrified" tolearn that funds from the Iranian operation wentto the Contras. But he said he did not think thepresident's competence was at issue in thecontroversy