GK & JFZ - The AF chief's comments were in response to a direct question as to whether the AF would buy the F-35B. That had been studied and dismissed a few years ago, Schwartz said that the B was fine as air support for the MAGTF. And Panetta's comments would have been scripted before Schwartz had spoken.
Mind you, most people in the AF realize that the idea of the Marines having the second most expensive fighter in history, so that they can put half a dozen of them on their amphibs and do CAS, is plain silly. They just don't say so in public.