1) When the page is initially created by DataAssist, the form element bindings are created to replace any double quote (") with the html entity ""e;". You will need to rebind the HTML Edit to the ShortDesc column to remove this.
Edit the HTMLEditor instance on the page, click the lightning bolt next to Initial Value and Select the ShortDesc column.
2) Edit the HTMLEditor instance and click the Customize button next to Editor Preset. On the Formatting tab, select the option to "Use <br> for rreturn"